Visual acuity performance of several observers using the triangle orientation discrimination methodology

摘要

The Triangle Orientation Discrimination (TOD) is one of several methods to characterize electro-optical system performance. It is conducted by presenting an equilateral triangle pointing either up, down, right or left, to an observer who is forced to judge the direction. Based from the probability on the correctness of the answers in dependence of the size of the triangle, the quality of the system can be assessed. In order to gain experience with this method it was applied here to test Fraunhofer IOSBs new equipment for perception experiments. An experiment with four observers, ten contrast levels and six triangle sizes was conducted. Its results were analysed for observer performance versus time, illumination conditions and variations in the TOD-curve. Furthermore, different approaches on analysing the data were compared. The outcome showed the observers performance variation on different days to be statistically insignificant. In addition, the illumination conditions had no statistically significant influence on the result. Interestingly a larger difference was found between the observers. Although they had normal or corrected to normal eyesight, different visual acuity is the only explanation for the differences. This leads to the necessity to check observers of perception experiments more closely. The different approaches to curve fitting also gave variations, which would result in different ranges when applied in camera assessment. Here a standardization seems necessary when the method is applied in analytical models for imaging systems.