Abstract
A description is given of an apparatus which has been used to investigate how the color sensation corresponding to a given stimulus changes as the state of adaptation of the eye is altered.
A limited series of results obtained with the apparatus reveals some very striking changes in color sensation as the adaptation is varied. Most colors appear much more saturated to the light-adapted eye than to the dark-adapted eye, and changes of hue also occur. The light-adapting radiations used were the I.C.I. standard illuminants, A and B, and their effects exhibited large differences.
A few adaptation and recovery curves plotted against time are given, and indicate that photo-chemical rather than electrical processes are controlling the adaptation effects.
The saturation effect is used to deduce a picture of retinal processes in the light- and dark-adapted states, and this is summarized in Table I and Fig. 11.
A practical demonstration of the increase in saturation on light-adaptation can be seen in Fig. 12.
© 1950 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
R. W. G. Hunt
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 42(3) 190-199 (1952)
R. W. Burnham, R. M. Evans, and S. M. Newhall
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 42(9) 597-605 (1952)
R. W. Burnham and R. J. Malach
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 50(11) 1071-1074 (1960)