the percentages and or size of deformities in different areas of the panel is necessary in order to provide a uniform light output distribution for example the amount of light traveling through the panels will ordinarily be greater in areas closer to the light source than in other areas further removed from the light source a pattern of light extracting deformities 21 may be used to adjust for the light variances within the panel members for example by providing a denser concentration of light extracting deformities with increased distance from the light source 3 thereby resulting in a more uniform light output distribution from the light emitting panels the deformities 21 may also be used to control the output ray angle distribution of the emitted light to suit a particular application for example if the panel assemblies are used to provide a liquid crystal display backlight the light output will be more efficient if the deformities 21 cause the light rays to emit from the panels at predetermined ray angles such that they will pass through the liquid crystal display with low loss additionally the pattern of light extracting deformities may be used to adjust for light output variances attributed to light extractions of the panel members the pattern of light extracting deformities 21 may be printed on the light output areas utilizing a wide spectrum of paints inks coatings epoxies or the like ranging from glossy to opaque or both and may employ half tone separation techniques to vary the deformity 21 coverage moreover the pattern of light extracting deformities 21 may be multiple layers or vary in index of refraction print patterns of light extracting deformities 21 may vary in shapes such as dots squares diamonds ellipses stars random shapes and the like and are desirably 0.