In doing research at cemeteries, you may have encountered gravestones with unreadable words or numbers. While I've seen advice about using a mirror to assist in deciphering information on the stone, I hadn't experienced the benefits until recently.

A friend had salvaged a piece of reflective material from an old TV. It was light and unbreakable so she brought it to the cemetery where we sought out an old, particularly discolored headstone. See what a difference the reflected light made. One can much more easily read the name and birth/death dates. It's truly striking when you're there in person.

We'll be restoring the stone's readability with D/2 solution, but using a mirror is a good alternative.