Abstract

The thresholds of detecting red tint in white, green, blue, and yellow adaptation fields were measured as a function of stimulus size at eccentricities of 0° to 70° in the temporal visual field. Three subjects participated in the experiments (aged 26 to 52). The CIE 1931 (x,y) chromacity coordinates corresponding to the red tint perception were subtracted from the chromacity coordinates of the white, green, blue, and yellow adaptation fields, respectively, in order to obtain the threshold differences (dx, dy) in chromacity coordinates. The size of the stimulus at each eccentricity was varied without prior knowledge of magnification factor. Threshold functions for detecting red in white, blue, and yellow adaptation fields could be successfully scaled by a spatial scaling. However, the E₂ values of the magnification factors differed substantially from each other. Thresholds for detecting red in the green adaptation field could not be scaled. These findings suggest that red perception is mediated by several mechanisms with different distributions across the retina.

© 1992 Optical Society of America