Beam spread describes the width of a beam, either as an angle or as the illuminated width at a stated distance. It is one characteristic of a light pattern and may be specified using beam angle and field angle. The illuminated width increases with distance, so a quoted width is meaningful only when the measurement distance is also given. Beam spread does not show how evenly the light is distributed or how much intensity reaches each point. For lighting design, it should be considered together with isolux diagrams, aiming, mounting height, and overlap between lamps.