Visual recognition efficiency of handheld infrared thermometer interface information under low ambient illuminance

One of the symptoms of plagues, epidemics or pandemics is often a fever, so during such unprecedented times, handheld infrared thermometers are vital devices for monitoring symptomatic individuals. It is therefore very important to enhance reading efficiency when these thermometers are used for lengthy periods of time in a low illuminance environment. The need for the efficient reading of infrared thermometers or a fast reaction time when reading the information is even more relevant now during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, a target search experiment of digital characters is carried out through a simulated interface and use scenarios of a handheld thermometer based on three variables: the inclination angle or slant of the seven segment display characters, screen brightness, and ambient illuminance. The experimental results show that the inclination angle or slant of the characters and ambient illuminance have a significant effect on the reaction speed. In general, the slowest reaction time is found when reading characters with a slant of 10° to the left and the reaction time is the fastest with a right slant of 20°. A continued reduction in ambient illuminance does not affect the visual recognition performance but instead further enhances reading efficiency. Increasing the screen brightness increases the reaction time more in relatively low ambient illuminance conditions as opposed to relatively high ambient illuminance, which implies that in higher ambient illuminance conditions, a brighter screen needs to be used to obtain the same reaction speed as that in lower ambient illuminance conditions.     

Survey of actual viewing conditions at home and appropriate luminance of LCD‐TV screens

Abstract— To understand actual viewing conditions at home is important for TV design. And the preferred luminance level of LCD TVs under actual viewing conditions is also important in order to obtain both good picture quality and low power consumption. The actual viewing conditions of households and the preferred luminance levels was investigated. In a field test of 83 households, the display luminance, screen illuminance, and viewing locations were measured on site. In laboratory experiments, young and elderly subjects adjusted the luminance of an LCD‐TV screen to their preferred levels under different screen illuminance levels, angular screen sizes, and average luminance levels (ALL) of the images. As a result, two equations, which represent the preferred luminance level of LCD‐TV screens corresponding to different viewing conditions for young and elderly subjects were obtained. When the ALL of the images was 25% and the screen illuminance and angular screen size were set at 100 lx and 20°, respectively, the preferred luminance was 1 60 cd/m² for the young subjects and 248 cd/m² for the elderly subjects. By using the setting of the preferred luminance of an LCD TV under actual viewing conditions, it is possible to conserve energy consumption.     

Effects of ambient illuminance on users' visual performance using various electronic displays

Abstract— This study investigated the effect of ambient illuminance (50, 500, 1500, 3000, 6000, and 9000 lx) on participants' visual performance using four electronic displays (conventional LCD under transmissive mode, conventional LCD under reflective mode, Ch‐LC display, and E‐ink display). Analysis results indicate that participants' visual performance shows significant difference under various ambient illuminance and electronic displays. The interaction between ambient illuminance and electronic display also has significant effect on participants' visual performance. When participants use the conventional LCD under transmissive mode, ambient luminance has no significant effect on participants' visual performance. However, participants' visual performance is significantly different under various ambient illuminances using the conventional LCD under reflective mode, Ch‐LC display, and E‐ink display. The conventional LCD under transmissive mode is the only choice at a lower illuminance of 50 lx. Higher illuminance (500 lx) for E‐ink displays may result in as good a performance as the conventional LCD under transmissive mode; nevertheless, much higher illuminance (1500 lx) for the conventional LCD under reflectance mode and Ch‐LC display may achieve better performance.     

Psychophysical research on switching between light emitting and reflecting modes of light adaptable display considering equal visibility

Viewing high-luminance displays such as liquid crystal displays or organic light emitting diode displays under low-light conditions causes an unbearable glare, while viewing them with low luminance under bright-light conditions reduces visibility. Recently, several research groups have reported light adaptable displays (LADs) to extend display visibility over a wide range of light conditions. Here, we present a psychophysical study on how to effectively utilize the LAD using two different display types for the first time. LAD features two switchable display types: light emitting mode (LEM) and light reflecting mode (LRM). To maintain visibility and prevent visual artifacts, we investigate when to switch modes between LEM and LRM. We conduct psychophysical experiments involving seventy subjects. They are asked to select illuminance levels under which they perceive that the LEM and LRM look the same depending on luminance of the LEM. We propose a mode-switching condition by combining our previous results on the comfortable luminance of LEM display according to the ambient illuminance and the selected illuminance results providing equal visibility of both LEM and LRM displays.     

Luminance effects influencing perception of 3‐D TV imagery

Abstract— This study investigates whether screen luminance or ambient illumination has a significant effect on the perception of 3‐D TV imagery for static images and dynamic films. Two types of stimuli were shown on a multi‐view stereoscopic display: the static image, which included computer‐generated and photographic images, and dynamic film, which contained real‐life and animation images. In each treatment with a different level of screen luminance, subjects completed psychophysical and physiological measurements and subjective comfort evaluations. The results showed that when subjects viewed 3‐D static images, the ambient illumination affected psychophysical visual fatigue and screen luminance had a significant effect on subjective comfort evaluation and visual discrimination performance. However, when subjects viewed 3‐D dynamic films, screen luminance was the major factor causing psychophysical visual fatigue, and ambient illumination significantly affected subjective comfort evaluation. The outcomes contribute to knowledge concerning the suitable viewing conditions for the 3‐D viewing experience. Future work will explore the intolerance threshold of the lowest display luminance or the effect of decomposition of the screen on other physiological measurements.     

Effects of bending curvature and text/background color-combinations of e-paper on subjects’ visual performance and subjective preferences under various ambient illuminance conditions

The study used the simulated e-paper to investigate how the bending radius of curvature (−10 cm, plane, and 10 cm) and 12 text/background color-combinations of e-paper affect subjects’ visual performance and subjective preference under various ambient illuminance conditions (200 and 500 lx). Analysis results indicated that the bending curvature and ambient illuminance did not significantly affect subjects’ visual performance. However, subjects visual performance differed significantly for different text/background color combinations of the simulated e-paper. When the background color of the simulated e-paper was set to yellow-like condition and the luminance of the text was low (2.2 and 4.6 cd/m²), subjects’ visual performance was best. Regarding the subjective preferences of subjects, the results of this research also demonstrated that the bending curvature, text/background color combinations and ambient illuminance all significantly affected the subjective preferences of subjects. Subjects exhibited the best preference under the following settings: bending curvature of the simulated e-paper set to plane; background color of the simulated e-paper set to yellow-like condition and low text luminance (2.2 or 4.6 cd/m²); high ambient illuminance (500 lx).     

Effects of ambient illuminance and electronic displays on users' visual performance for young and elderly users

Abstract— This study investigated the effects of age (young participants aged 20–30 and elderly participants older than 60), ambient illuminance (50, 500, 1 500, 3000, 6000, and 9000 lx) on participants' visual performance when using various electronic displays (conventional transmissive LCD, Ch‐LC display, and E‐ink display). Overall, the results indicated that participants' visual performance showed sign if icant difference among various ambient il luminance cond itions, electronic displays, and between two groups of participants. Significantly different visual performance was observed between young and elderly participants. The interaction among ambient illuminance, type of electronic display, and age had a significant effect on participants' visual performance. When participants used the E‐ink display, both young and elderly participants had significantly worse visual performance under an ambient illuminance of 50 lx compared to other illuminance settings. When participants used the Ch‐LC display, young participants had significantly worse visual performance under an ambient illuminance of 50 lx compared to other illuminance settings, but elderly participants had significantly better visual performance under an ambient illuminance higher than 1500 lx. When young participants used a conventional transmissive LCD, the ambient illuminance had no significant effect on their visual performance. When elderly participants use a conventional transmissive LCD, an illuminance of 50 and 6000 lx seem to have a detrimental effect on their visual performance.     

Dependence of perceived display brightness on peripheral vision luminance and field of view: A comparison study

Considerable research effort has been devoted to enhancing perceived display brightness by improving the display luminance level. However, studies have shown that the human visual system (HVS) is influenced not only by physical luminance but also by other factors, such as adaptation to the surrounding luminance. Therefore, enhancing the maximum display luminance alone cannot be an optimal solution. In this study, we investigated the effects of the peripheral vision luminance (PVL) level and field of view (FOV) on the display brightness perceived by the observer, by using Stevens' brightness function, irrespective of the effect of adaptation to surround luminance. The analysis of the experimental results revealed that the perceived display brightness is inversely related to the level of peripheral vision luminance on the display. It was also found that, whereas increase in FOV results in an increase in the absolute brightness value, it reduces the effect of PVL on the perceived display brightness. The findings of this study will serve as useful basic data for optimizing display specifications with respect to image signals.     

Influence of ambient-tablet PC luminance ratio on legibility and visual fatigue during long-term reading in low lighting environment

We examine the effect of the (luminance) ratio of ambient luminance to tablet surface luminance on text legibility and fatigue over 1 h of long-term reading with a tablet PC in low-ambient-luminance environments limited to 45 cd/m² (illuminance ~230 lx). Four reading-pattern subject experiments are carried out at ambient-luminance-to-tablet-surface-luminance ratios of 1:1, 1:3, 1:6, and 1:9 at 15 and 45 cd/m². As per legibility tests based on the semantic differential (SD) method, we find that subjects experience glare at luminance ratios of 1:6 and 1:9, and it is difficult to read text at the luminance ratio of 1:9 under ambient luminances of 15 and 45 cd/m². Based on subject fatigue (determined by subjective symptom survey), we find that the feeling of fatigue, according to the change in the luminance ratio, most affects the Fuzziness group among the five subjective fatigue groups. Based on physical fatigue determined using the critical flicker fusion frequency (CFF) value, we observe significant CFF differences before and after reading for luminance ratios of 1:1 and 1:9 at the ambient luminance of 45 cd/m² and for the ratio of 1:9 when the ambient luminance is 15 cd/m². A larger difference between the ambient and surface luminances corresponds to higher CFF variation rates and more fatigue.     

Experiment to select a suitable visual display and evaluate its washout characteristics

Two separate experiments were carried out on a display for a portable microprocessor. Of three phosphorescent displays available for installation, readability times, error rates and subjective preferences were recorded and compared using fifteen subjects. On these measures recorded, the small dot-matrix display (3.5 mm × 5.0 mm) performed better than the large dot-matrix display (5 mm × 8 mm) and considerably better than the segmented display (5 mm × 8 mm). The second experiment set out to quantify the effects of a range of three ambient illuminance levels on the readability of the small dot-matrix display, using the same criteria. Results suggested that for ambient illuminance levels between 0 lux and 15000 lux, a single display intensity was feasible, this being about 40 cdm^?2.     

Evaluation of Tone‐Mapping Operators for HDR Video Under Different Ambient Luminance Levels

Since high dynamic range (HDR) displays are not yet widely available, there is still a need to perform a dynamic range reduction of HDR content to reproduce it properly on standard dynamic range (SDR) displays. The most common techniques for performing this reduction are termed tone‐mapping operators (TMOs). Although mobile devices are becoming widespread, methods for displaying HDR content on these SDR screens are still very much in their infancy. While several studies have been conducted to evaluate TMOs, few have been done with a goal of testing small screen displays (SSDs), common on mobile devices. This paper presents an evaluation of six state‐of‐the‐art HDR video TMOs. The experiments considered three different levels of ambient luminance under which 180 participants were asked to rank the TMOs for seven tone‐mapped HDR video sequences. A comparison was conducted between tone‐mapped HDR video footage shown on an SSD and on a large screen SDR display using an HDR display as reference. The results show that there are differences between the performance of the TMOs under different ambient lighting levels and the TMOs that perform well on traditional large screen displays also perform well on SSDs at the same given luminance level.     

Visual accommodation changes in VDU-operators related to environmental lighting and screen quality

Abstract

Visual problems involved in the operation of display units have been investigated in several studies (Höller et al. 1975, Läubli et al. 1980). The results of these studies indicate mainly that visual tasks using VDU terminals may induce temporary effects in the visual accommodation system. There are, however, suggestions that visual impairment of the task depends, among other factors, particularly on workstation lighting and screen quality (Östberg 1978, Läubli et al. 1980).

In the present pilot study an attempt was made to investigate possible relations between (i) operators' accommodation changes after six hours work at a display unit and (ii) work-station lighting and screen characteristics. The measurements were carried out in two separate field studies at a Telecom Directory Enquiry Center. Operator's visual accommodation before and after work, workplace lighting, luminance contrasts and screen qualities of 29 display screen operators were measured during day and night shifts. Field laser optometry was used for determining the state of visual accommodation. Photometric and radiometric characteristics of the display screens were measured using an EG & G spectrometer-photometer.

The study revealed a low significant relationship between lighting conditions on the one side and incidence of accommodation changes on the other. More operators showed over-accommodation when working at workplaces with higher luminance contrast. The influence of screen characteristics, such as screen illuminance, luminance and irradiance upon visual accommodation were evident during the night shift.     

Visual comfort in 2D/3D modes of glasses‐type stereoscopic displays

In this study, we compared visual comfort in 2D/3D modes of the pattern retarder (PR) and shutter glasses (SG) stereoscopic displays by changing viewing factors and image contents. The viewing factors include ambient illuminance/monitor luminance/background luminance and image contents mainly are determined with different disparity limits. The degrees of 2D/3D visual comfort were investigated by using various combinations of ambient illuminance, monitor luminance, background luminance, and disparity limit. A series of psychological experiments were also performed to compare 2D and 3D viewing experiences for the passive PR and active SG stereoscopic displays and to discover more comfortable conditions under various variable combinations. The experiment results show that the various variable combinations affecting visual comfort in the passive PR and active SG stereoscopic displays were significantly different. Finally, we suggest more comfortable conditions of viewing 2D and 3D images for the PR and SG stereoscopic displays.     

Spectral influence of the normal LCD,blue-shifted LCD,and OLED smartphone displays on visual fatigue: A comparative study

In this study, we investigated the influence of the light spectra of the normal LCD, blue-shifted LCD, and OLED smartphone displays on visual fatigue based on subjective and objective measurements. The illuminance of the retinal photoreceptors was calculated for the three displays to quantify the components of the light spectra. The results showed that the accumulated visual fatigue decreased for the display with lower retinal illuminances of the S-, M-, and L-cones, and ipRGCs when the luminance and CCT were the same. In addition, the display with larger retinal illuminances of the M- and L-cones induced more visual fatigue related to dry eye. Hence, a slight shift of the blue light peak toward a longer wavelength is recommended for reducing visual fatigue. Furthermore, an evaluation model of the overall visual fatigue level is proposed.     

Adaptive tone mapping for display enhancement under ambient light using constrained optimization

We propose adaptive tone mapping for display enhancement under ambient light using constrained optimization. To deal with the visibility reduction caused by ambient light in displays, we perform different operations for display enhancement according to the intensity of ambient light. Since weak ambient light has little effect on displayed images, we only perform contrast enhancement for them. However, strong ambient light makes displayed images dark for human eyes, causing severe visibility reduction in luminance and contrast. To enhance the visibility of displayed images under strong ambient light, we formulate a constraint optimization problem which consists of luminance enhancement, contrast enhancement, and distortion minimization terms, and find an optimal trade-off among them by solving it. Finally, we conduct color scaling to reproduce vivid colors in displayed images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly enhances the brightness, contrast, details, and colors of displayed images and outperforms other state-of-the-art methods under ambient light.     

Effects of electronic‐book display and inclination on users' comprehension under various ambient illuminance conditions

Abstract— This study used several electronic‐book (e‐book) displays (a conventional LCD under transmissive mode, a conventional LCD under reflective mode, a Ch‐LC display, and an e‐ink display) to investigate the effect of e‐book inclination (105° and 135°) and ambient illuminance (200, 800, 1500, and 2200 lux) on the comprehension of subjects. Results indicate that the ambient illuminance does not significantly affect the comprehension of subjects. However, their comprehension differed significantly when using different e‐book displays. In addition, the interaction between illuminance and e‐book display had a significant effect on their comprehension. When the ambient illuminance was set at 800, 1500, and 2200 lux, the subjects' comprehension for reading different e‐book displays did not show a significant difference. When the ambient illuminance was set at 200 lux, however, their comprehension for reading a Ch‐LC display, an e‐ink display, and a conventional LCD under transmissive mode were better than their comprehension of reading a conventional LCD under reflective mode. Regarding the inclination for using e‐books, the subjects' comprehension was better under 105° than that under 135°.     

Estimation of the Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect for natural images

The Helmholtz–Kohlrausch (H‐K) effect is the phenomenon in which two color stimuli have the same luminance but different chroma in a certain hue, so the perceived brightness induced by the two stimuli are different. In expanding gamut, it is necessary to consider the H‐K effect. A quantification of the H‐K effect is required in order to evaluate and develop display devices for which the change of perceived brightness of gamut expansion must be considered. For quantification of the H‐K effect, prediction equations that can derive the equivalent luminance in a single color image have been proposed in previous studies. However, these equations have not been applied to natural images that are important. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to quantify the H‐K effect by deriving calculated values for natural images. For this purpose, first, we conducted the quantification of the H‐K effect in natural images by deriving the equivalent luminance as calculated values expanding the three prediction equations proposed in previous studies. Next, we carried out a subjective evaluation experiment by varying image's chroma and luminance. We then verified the effectiveness of the calculated values by comparing them with the result from the experiment.     

The effects of ambient illumination and target luminance on colour coding in a CRT display

In this paper, the effects of absolute colour-identification on a CRT display are compared under different experimental conditions, i.e., ambient illuminant intensity, colour temperature and target luminance. The results indicate that performance of colour identification deteriorated as ambient illuminant intensity was increased. Colour identification under the 2800 K colour temperature was better than that under the 1800 K and 5800K. Performance at high luminance was superior to that at low luminance. Colours were chosen to make up the colour coding system on the CRT display under various ambient illuminant conditions. The number and range of the colours selected for the colour coding could be expanded by increasing the target luminance on the CRT display.     

室内照明智能控制技术研究与仿真

研究室内照明亮度调节优化问题,由于室内照明系统中,根据需要亮度各有不同。针对实际照度需求,为了能自动调整亮度,达到提高工作效率和节能的目的,提出建立遗传算法的室内灯具亮度调节精确模型。构建了以最小化照度误差和能量消耗的适应度函数,优化使亮度需求达到照度值。将灯具亮度调节分为场景切换和特定场景下灯具亮度微调两种模式,用不同场景灯具,对特定场景下需求亮度的调节进行了仿真,结果证明改进方法可以按不同照度需求时获得优化亮度。     

Postural and visual loads at VDT workplaces II. Lighting conditions and visual impairments

Four groups of office tasks were studied: data entry terminals, conversational terminals, traditional office work and typing. Eye impairments were observed in every group of office employees but the impairments were more frequent in VDT operators. The impairments persisted during leisure time. Vision screening tests showed the same incidence of functional eye impairments in office tasks with and without VDTs. High luminance contrasts between screen, source document and the surrounding space were associated with an increase in eye troubles. Increased oscillating luminance of screen characters was associated with lower visual acuity, and with a higher incidence of subjective and objective symptoms of eye irritation including more frequent use of eye drops. The degree of luminance oscillation of characters must be considered as an important factor in eye strain at VDT workplaces. Employees with eye defects (glasses, lowered visual acuity, uncorrected eye defects) had in general a somewhat higher incidence of eye complaints