Comment Not new, but still fascinating (Score 1) 96
Without looking at the paper in detail (things to do today, I'm afraid) I'd have to agree that this doesn't sound like anything new. I worked in video compression about, oh, ten years ago, and I remember it being explained to me as already fairly well established that:
1. The eye makes tiny, constant movements referred to as "tremor".
2. While the iris reacts to total constant light levels over time, the rods, cones, and optic nerve work to transfer transition data, primarily, to the visual cortex-- like other nerve activity, steady-state levels are of lesser importance than transitions, and seem to be processed slower.
3. If a sharp edge or feature is focused on the retina, tremor will cause rods and cones to move onto and off of that edge or feature, causing a sort of pulse train for the optic nerve and visual cortex.
4. This seems to account for things like conflicting results when early graphics researchers were trying to figure out the minimum acceptable frame rate for a flight simulator: We detect motion of edges and large objects at extremely high rates (I have heard 120-160 frames/sec equivalents), color (at all) at lower rates, texture features at even lower rates, and so on. This is why 24 frames per second can be either adequate or jarring, depending on what's in the scene and how things are moving.
One thing to share for sure, though: the physiology and related science of visual perception is absolutely, positively fascinating. Utterly rewarding stuff to read about-- you'll see it everywhere, once you learn some. Anybody the least bit interested in optics or graphics-- programmers, photographers, and videographers, sure, but even gamers-- should get a kick out of studying perception.
1. The eye makes tiny, constant movements referred to as "tremor".
2. While the iris reacts to total constant light levels over time, the rods, cones, and optic nerve work to transfer transition data, primarily, to the visual cortex-- like other nerve activity, steady-state levels are of lesser importance than transitions, and seem to be processed slower.
3. If a sharp edge or feature is focused on the retina, tremor will cause rods and cones to move onto and off of that edge or feature, causing a sort of pulse train for the optic nerve and visual cortex.
4. This seems to account for things like conflicting results when early graphics researchers were trying to figure out the minimum acceptable frame rate for a flight simulator: We detect motion of edges and large objects at extremely high rates (I have heard 120-160 frames/sec equivalents), color (at all) at lower rates, texture features at even lower rates, and so on. This is why 24 frames per second can be either adequate or jarring, depending on what's in the scene and how things are moving.
One thing to share for sure, though: the physiology and related science of visual perception is absolutely, positively fascinating. Utterly rewarding stuff to read about-- you'll see it everywhere, once you learn some. Anybody the least bit interested in optics or graphics-- programmers, photographers, and videographers, sure, but even gamers-- should get a kick out of studying perception.
