Electric and magnetic spilt forms in PML are used in a modified set of Maxwell's equations in stretched coordinates. With stretched coefficients, the general propagation constants, impedance, reflection, and transmission coefficients are given and are called PMLS characteristics. The equivalent constitutive parameters in PMLS are provided. Based on PMLS, with specified stretched coefficients, the ideal absorption condition (IAC) is proposed. It can be used in isotropic lossy dispersive media for FDTD calculation. It is proved that PML is a special case of the ideal absorption condition (IAC). The constitutive equivalent principle is proposed for a general case. Numerical examples are also provided. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.