Elise Edson wrote: > Specifically, how sensitive is the human eye to changes > in brightness?
Hi Elise, This is precisely the type of perception that George Miller measured for his 1956 paper: The Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Miller/ He was measuring how many levels of difference in a one-dimensional stimulus (hue, tone, sweetness) people could reliably discriminate. It varies, but most people can distinguish about seven different levels in any particular continuum. Some people are better at it than others, hence the plus or minus two. Miller wasn't particularly studying brightness, but since it only varies in one dimension, I'd say that the results would probably be similar. Having said that, remember that just because people can distinguish seven different brightness levels in a lab when they're being asked to pay attention doesn't mean that you should actually _use_ seven different values to communicate information. That number would be much lower, probably approaching two. // jeff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=29844 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
