Effect of Wavelength on the Relationship between Critical Flicker Frequency and Intensity in Foveal Vision*

Amedeo Giorgi

doi:10.1364/JOSA.53.000480

Journal of the Optical Society of America
Vol. 53,
Issue 4,
pp. 480-486
(1963)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSA.53.000480

Effect of Wavelength on the Relationship between Critical Flicker Frequency and Intensity in Foveal Vision

Amedeo Giorgi

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Get PDF
Email
Share
Get Citation
Copy Citation Text
Amedeo Giorgi, "Effect of Wavelength on the Relationship between Critical Flicker Frequency and Intensity in Foveal Vision*," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 53, 480-486 (1963)

Export Citation
- BibTex
- Endnote (RIS)
- HTML
- Plain Text
Citation alert
Save article

Abstract

The precise effect of wavelength on the judgment of critical flicker frequency (CFF) has been a controversial issue for a number of years. Some studies report no effect of wavelength; other studies indicate that wavelength is a basic determiner of the CFF threshold. The purpose of this study was to attempt a resolution of the controversy by means of a systematic and thorough investigation of the problem. The apparatus used was the Fordham calorimeter. By means of monochromators it was possible to deliver various spectral colors with a constant passband of 10 mμ to the subject. The intensity of the light source was controlled by means of neutral tint filters and an optical wedge. Flicker was produced by intercepting the beam of light with a sector disk driven by a Graham variable-speed motor. Eight wavelengths covering most of the range of the visible spectrum were used, and CFF thresholds were obtained at seven different luminance levels in eight experimental sessions for each wavelength. Three subjects with normal color vision were employed.

The results showed that the wavelength of the stimulating light changes the slope of the curve relating CFF to log I. The curves at the blue end of the visible spectrum are steeper than those at the red end. Furthermore, the greater the separation between wavelengths, the greater is the probability of a significant difference between slope values. The fact that the slopes of the curves differed with wavelength does not mean that the Ferry–Porter law is invalid, but rather that one should adjust the “constants” of the equation for the particular wavelength being used. Consequently, it can be stated that CFF is a function of the wavelength of the stimulating light. The most explicit interpretation that could be made was that this change reflected some sort of change in the receptor system of the eye.

Full Article | PDF Article

More Like This

Relationship between Critical Flicker-Frequency and a Set of Low-Frequency Characteristics of the Eye

H. de Lange Dzn
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 44(5) 380-389 (1954)

Photoreceptor-specific light adaptation of critical flicker frequency in trichromat and dichromat observers

Cord Huchzermeyer, Cristiane M. G. Martins, Balázs Nagy, Mirella T. S. Barboni, Dora F. Ventura, Marcelo F. Costa, and Jan Kremers
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 35(4) B106-B113 (2018)

Analysis of visual modulation sensitivity. V. Faster visual response for G- than for R-cone pathway?

Russell D. Hamer and Christopher W. Tyler
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 9(11) 1889-1904 (1992)

Previous Article Next Article

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (4)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Tables (3)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article tables are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Subject I
	Wavelength (mμ)
Session	450	480	510	540	570	600	630	660
I	18.38	18.87	13.70	17.04	14.38	13.90	13.20	16.49
II	12.84	12.31	11.31	11.85	13.39	12.17	12.56	13.12
III	11.96	13.21	13.72	13.05	10.19	10.50	12.62	12.75
IV	14.39	12.36	12.36	13.10	12.92	11.60	10.60	10.70
V	15.56	12.56	12.31	13.40	11.12	12.18	12.54	11.73
VI	17.79	14.29	12.09	13.45	12.83	11.72	10.90	11.57
VII	15.48	15.07	12.12	14.33	13.27	14.49	13.61	13.94
VIII	14.66	13.76	15.40	14.96	15.63	14.92	15.66	13.49
Mean	15.13	14.05	13.00	13.90	12.97	12.69	12.71	12.97
σ_M	2.06	2.04	1.35	1.47	1.60	1.46	1.48	1.68
Subject II
I	13.43	14.15	13.86	13.90	13.07	12.40	14.29	12.90
II	13.38	13.22	15.18	12.96	13.20	12.71	12.82	12.49
III	13.08	12.96	13.47	13.07	12.88	12.12	12.00	11.50
IV	15.19	14.32	14.42	13.80	13.07	13.01	12.78	12.82
V	16.21	13.82	14.26	12.93	13.00	13.01	13.03	13.48
VI	15.49	14.14	13.99	13.53	12.95	12.65	11.38	12.35
VII	14.73	13.38	14.57	13.92	13.57	13.65	12.87	12.39
VIII	14.96	14.61	14.90	13.61	13.74	13.35	13.98	13.12
Mean	14.56	13.83	14.33	13.47	13.19	12.86	12.89	12.63
σ_M	1.05	0.46	0.52	0.39	0.29	0.45	0.89	0.56
Subject III
I	13.23	12.67	14.24	11.59	11.23	8.9	11.40	12.62
II	13.14	12.45	12.11	13.98	12.20	10.37	12.38	12.33
III	15.19	13.65	13.79	11.74	14.55	9.64	12.13	11.24
IV	12.98	12.97	13.71	12.61	11.82	10.57	11.38	11.18
V	14.34	12.93	13.40	14.20	13.02	11.39	11.76	12.74
VI	11.54	12.36	12.53	12.20	12.14	10.30	12.41	12.42
VII	14.00	11.55	13.46	12.35	11.89	9.63	11.06	11.60
VIII	13.89	12.12	12.65	11.58	12.28	10.08	12.08	12.19
Mean	13.54	12.59	13.24	12.53	12.39	10.12	11.83	12.04
σ_M	1.02	0.58	0.68	0.97	0.94	0.69	0.47	0.56

Subject I
λ(mμ)	$\bar{X}$	$\bar{X}$ -12.69	$\bar{X}$ -12.71	$\bar{X}$ -12.97	$\bar{X}$ -12.97	$\bar{X}$ -13.00	$\bar{X}$ -13.90	$\bar{X}$ -14.05
450	15.13	2.44^a	2.42^a	2.16^a	2.16^a	2.13^a	1.23	0.98
480	14.05	1.36	1.34	1.08	1 08	1.05	0.15
540	13.90	1.21	1.19	0.93	0.93
510	13.00	0.31	0.29	0.03	0.03
570	12.97	0.28	0.26
660	12.97	0.28	0.26
630	12.71	0.02
600	12.69
Subject II
λ(mμ)	$\bar{X}$	$\bar{X}$ -12.63	$\bar{X}$ -12.86	$\bar{X}$ -12.89	$\bar{X}$ -13.19	$\bar{X}$ -13.47	$\bar{X}$ -13.83	$\bar{X}$ -14.33
450	14.56	1.93^b	1.70^b	1.67^b	1.37^b	1.09^b	0.73	0.23
510	14.33	1.70^b	1.47^b	1.44^b	1.14^b	0.86^b	0.50
480	13.83	1.20^b	0.97^b	0.94^b	0.64	0.36
540	13.47	1.09^b	0.61	0.58	0.28
570	13.19	0.56	0.33	0.30
630	12.89	0.26	0.03
600	12.86	0.23
660	12.63
Subject III
λ(mμ)	$\bar{X}$	$\bar{X}$ -10.12	$\bar{X}$ -11.83	$\bar{X}$ -12.04	$\bar{X}$ -12.39	$\bar{X}$ -12.53	$\bar{X}$ -12.59	$\bar{X}$ -13.24
450	13.54	3.42^c	1.71^c	1.50^c	1.50^c	1.01	0.95	0.30
510	13.24	3.12^c	1.41^c	1.20	0.85	0.71	0.65
480	12.59	2.47^c	0.76	0.55	0.20	0.06
540	12.53	2.41^c	0.70	0.49	0.14
570	12.39	2.27^c	0.56	0.35
660	12.04	1.92^c	0.21
630	11.83	1.71^c
600	10.12

Subject I
450 mμ		600 mμ
logμμW	Mean CFF (cps)	logμμW	Mean CFF (cps)
2.3759	24.3	1.2438	24.9
2.5360	27.6	1.8810	32.1
2.7401	30.8	2.2332	37.7
2.9610	34.3	2.5526	42.4
3.1081	36.9	2.9158	46.3
3.3237	39.6
3.6609	43.2
Subject II
450 mμ		660 mμ
logμμW	Mean CFF (cps)	logμμW	Mean CFF (cps)
2.0411	19.4	2.1414	19.6
2.3769	23.6	2.4882	22.9
2.5360	26.1	2.8000	27.0
2.7401	29.6	2.9456	29.5
3.1081	34.5	3.3633	34.6
3.3237	38.0	3.7057	39.0
3.6609	42.2	4.0111	42.5
Subject III
450 mμ		600 mμ
logμμW	Mean CFF (cps)	logμμW	Mean CFF (cps)
2.0411	19.5	1.2438	22.3
2.3769	24.3	1.8810	29.5
2.5350	26.6	2.2332	34.6
2.7401	29.2	2.5526	39.1
3.1081	33.5	2.9158	43.9
3.3237	37.0	3.4039	49.5
3.6609	42.2

Subject I
	Wavelength (mμ)
Session	450	480	510	540	570	600	630	660
I	18.38	18.87	13.70	17.04	14.38	13.90	13.20	16.49
II	12.84	12.31	11.31	11.85	13.39	12.17	12.56	13.12
III	11.96	13.21	13.72	13.05	10.19	10.50	12.62	12.75
IV	14.39	12.36	12.36	13.10	12.92	11.60	10.60	10.70
V	15.56	12.56	12.31	13.40	11.12	12.18	12.54	11.73
VI	17.79	14.29	12.09	13.45	12.83	11.72	10.90	11.57
VII	15.48	15.07	12.12	14.33	13.27	14.49	13.61	13.94
VIII	14.66	13.76	15.40	14.96	15.63	14.92	15.66	13.49
Mean	15.13	14.05	13.00	13.90	12.97	12.69	12.71	12.97
σ_M	2.06	2.04	1.35	1.47	1.60	1.46	1.48	1.68
Subject II
I	13.43	14.15	13.86	13.90	13.07	12.40	14.29	12.90
II	13.38	13.22	15.18	12.96	13.20	12.71	12.82	12.49
III	13.08	12.96	13.47	13.07	12.88	12.12	12.00	11.50
IV	15.19	14.32	14.42	13.80	13.07	13.01	12.78	12.82
V	16.21	13.82	14.26	12.93	13.00	13.01	13.03	13.48
VI	15.49	14.14	13.99	13.53	12.95	12.65	11.38	12.35
VII	14.73	13.38	14.57	13.92	13.57	13.65	12.87	12.39
VIII	14.96	14.61	14.90	13.61	13.74	13.35	13.98	13.12
Mean	14.56	13.83	14.33	13.47	13.19	12.86	12.89	12.63
σ_M	1.05	0.46	0.52	0.39	0.29	0.45	0.89	0.56
Subject III
I	13.23	12.67	14.24	11.59	11.23	8.9	11.40	12.62
II	13.14	12.45	12.11	13.98	12.20	10.37	12.38	12.33
III	15.19	13.65	13.79	11.74	14.55	9.64	12.13	11.24
IV	12.98	12.97	13.71	12.61	11.82	10.57	11.38	11.18
V	14.34	12.93	13.40	14.20	13.02	11.39	11.76	12.74
VI	11.54	12.36	12.53	12.20	12.14	10.30	12.41	12.42
VII	14.00	11.55	13.46	12.35	11.89	9.63	11.06	11.60
VIII	13.89	12.12	12.65	11.58	12.28	10.08	12.08	12.19
Mean	13.54	12.59	13.24	12.53	12.39	10.12	11.83	12.04
σ_M	1.02	0.58	0.68	0.97	0.94	0.69	0.47	0.56

Subject I
λ(mμ)	$\bar{X}$	$\bar{X}$ -12.69	$\bar{X}$ -12.71	$\bar{X}$ -12.97	$\bar{X}$ -12.97	$\bar{X}$ -13.00	$\bar{X}$ -13.90	$\bar{X}$ -14.05
450	15.13	2.44^a	2.42^a	2.16^a	2.16^a	2.13^a	1.23	0.98
480	14.05	1.36	1.34	1.08	1 08	1.05	0.15
540	13.90	1.21	1.19	0.93	0.93
510	13.00	0.31	0.29	0.03	0.03
570	12.97	0.28	0.26
660	12.97	0.28	0.26
630	12.71	0.02
600	12.69
Subject II
λ(mμ)	$\bar{X}$	$\bar{X}$ -12.63	$\bar{X}$ -12.86	$\bar{X}$ -12.89	$\bar{X}$ -13.19	$\bar{X}$ -13.47	$\bar{X}$ -13.83	$\bar{X}$ -14.33
450	14.56	1.93^b	1.70^b	1.67^b	1.37^b	1.09^b	0.73	0.23
510	14.33	1.70^b	1.47^b	1.44^b	1.14^b	0.86^b	0.50
480	13.83	1.20^b	0.97^b	0.94^b	0.64	0.36
540	13.47	1.09^b	0.61	0.58	0.28
570	13.19	0.56	0.33	0.30
630	12.89	0.26	0.03
600	12.86	0.23
660	12.63
Subject III
λ(mμ)	$\bar{X}$	$\bar{X}$ -10.12	$\bar{X}$ -11.83	$\bar{X}$ -12.04	$\bar{X}$ -12.39	$\bar{X}$ -12.53	$\bar{X}$ -12.59	$\bar{X}$ -13.24
450	13.54	3.42^c	1.71^c	1.50^c	1.50^c	1.01	0.95	0.30
510	13.24	3.12^c	1.41^c	1.20	0.85	0.71	0.65
480	12.59	2.47^c	0.76	0.55	0.20	0.06
540	12.53	2.41^c	0.70	0.49	0.14
570	12.39	2.27^c	0.56	0.35
660	12.04	1.92^c	0.21
630	11.83	1.71^c
600	10.12

Abstract

Cited By

Figures (4)

Tables (3)

Journal of the Optical Society of America