The effect of pupil and observation distance on the contrast sensitivity function.

Measuring the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) is becoming more frequent in the analyses that are routinely done in optometric practice. This measurement is generally done in far vision, and the observation distance and its effects are not considered to significantly alter this function. Among these effects we should point out the accommodation of the visual optical system to the stimulus and the errors in accommodation associated with this, changes in pupil diameter and therefore in retinal illumination when the observation distance changes, the different level of aberrations (spherical aberration, astigmatism) for different cases, and so on. All of these factors contribute to the fact that the contrast sensitivity of a visual system varies according to the accommodative stimulus. In this study we attempt to clarify the influence of these different parameters by evaluating the CSF for three observation distances. The study was done in monocular vision, with a natural pupil and with a 3 mm artificial pupil that made it possible to maintain the same level of retinal illumination for all distances.

Influence of contrast on the recognition of defocused letters: a geometrical model.

We show how contrast (C) affects the recognition of defocused letters. To do this, the maximum distance (threshold distance) at which a subject, with an induced refraction of -5.5 D, can recognize a letter was determined. Our results show that when C = 1, the recognition threshold distance is such that the ratio eta/xi, between the pseudoimage of the letter (eta) and the blur circle (xi), corresponding to any point of the letter at this distance is about eta/xi = 2; the exact value depends on the difficulty of recognition, in agreement with previous experiments. This ratio represents the sharpness of the image in a geometrical treatment of image formation, providing a geometrical criterion for recognition. Reduction in contrast can be compensated by improving the geometrical sharpness; i.e. bringing the object closer to the subject's are point. Our results show that the increment of eta/xi as a function of the contrast is between C = 0.1 and 1.0. We suggest that a similar geometrical criterion for recognition could be used for any contrast (at least down to C = 0.1 and defocus > 1 D), provided that the proper value of eta/xi is used in each case. On this basis we propose a purely geometrical model, which agrees well with the data and predicts the relationships between tolerance to defocus, contrast and visual acuity; including the well-known relation between visual acuity and defocus when contrast is unity.

Variation of the visual acuity--luminance function with background colour.

The relationship between visual acuity (VA) and background colour is a question that still creates a certain amount of confusion even today, although most authors agree that colour background does not basically affect VA, or at best, values that are only slightly better are obtained with monochromatic yellow light. The object of this paper is to try to clarify if, when the axial chromatic aberration (ACA) has been compensated for, certain differences due exclusively to colour persist or not. In order for this, the VA-luminance functions with red, green, blue and white backgrounds have been measured for two emmetropic observers, before and after compensating for the ACA. The results show that after the compensation, the curve corresponding to red is above the one corresponding to blue, with the one corresponding to green in between. The achromatic function (white background) practically overlaps with the green one. This behaviour is consistent with that shown recently for contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs). However, the asymptotic values are identical for the three colours, and so, it is understandable that no significant differences are normally found when only a standard measurement of VA is taken using the typical illumination from an optotype projector.