TABLE OF CONTENTS An anamorphic system is one which has a different magnification or focal length in each of the prime meridians. This is usually accomplished with lens elements whose surfaces are cylindrical (or toric). Figure 2.16 shows a system consisting of two cylindrical elements with their power axes at right angles to each other. The first element focuses the rays of a horizontal fan (shown dashed) to produce a magnified image of the square object; for rays in a vertical (meridional) fan this first element behaves as a plane-parallel plate and does not deviate these rays. The second element will focus the meridional rays, producing an image smaller than the object; the horizontal section of this element is plane-parallel. The image of the square object is a rectangle. Because the power of a cylinder varies as the square of the cosine of the angle that a ray fan makes to the power meridian of the lens, it turns out that if the anamorphic system is in focus in both prime meridians, it is in focus in all meridians. This means that a sharp (if anamorphically distorted) image can be produced by such a system.
