Abstract

Evidence is presented which suggests that the mechanism determining Mach bands is not achromatic, as has been supposed, but may have different spatial-response characteristics according to the particular color mechanism that is being stimulated. Both an increment-threshold technique across a luminance gradient and subjective estimates of the bright Mach band indicate that the spatial response of the blue mechanism differs significantly from those of both the red and the green mechanisms in the fovea. These spatial-response data compare closely with previous findings on visual acuity and the resolution of the blue mechanism, indicating that the mechanism has relatively poor spatial integration in the fovea.

© 1967 Optical Society of America

Transfer of Spatial Chromaticity-Contrast at Threshold in the Human Eye*

Gerard J. C. van der Horst, Charles M. M. de Weert, and Maarten A. Bouman
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 57(10) 1260-1266 (1967)

Blue-Blindness in the Normal Fovea*

George Wald
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 57(11) 1289-1301 (1967)

Two-Color Threshold as Test of Color Vision*

Robert M. Boynton and Mahlon Wagner
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 51(4) 429-440 (1961)

Appearance of Color for Small, Brief, Spectral Stimuli, in the Central Fovea*

Donald O. Weitzman and Jo Ann S. Kinney
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 57(5) 665-670 (1967)

Differences Among Color Normals: Classes I and II*

Whitman Richards
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 57(8) 1047-1055 (1967)