| Abstract: | Abstract— This experiment determined the maximum useful resolution for a desktop PC display. We assumed that in the absence of limitations attributable to the display, the eye's spatial resolution determined the minimum‐size letters that could be recognized. We then introduced a spatial‐resolution limit representing the display and increased the size applied to 16 upper‐case letters until observers again had difficulty recognizing the letters. The eye and display affected text recognition equally when the size of the just‐recognizable letters had to be 1.5× larger than when the display's effect was absent. An analysis of our results indicated that eye's visual acuity and display resolution are of approximate equivalence when a 186‐dpi display is viewed at a distance of 46 cm (18 in). Comparable results were observed for three additional stimulus types: text‐like nonsense symbols, gray‐scale PC computer icons, and the same computer icons with colored features. |
