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O Estévez

Publications and source records attributed to O Estévez.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Counterphase dichoptic flicker is seen as its own second harmonic.

If a patternless field is modulated sinusoidally in time so that the luminance change in one eye is in counterphase to that in the other, the resulting flicker appears faster than if the modulation to both eyes has the same phase. If observers set the frequency and the amplitude of a comparison in-phase field so that it matches a neighbouring counterphase field, modulated at, say, 2.5 x its threshold, they set the frequency to twice the counterphase frequency, and the amplitude to a value that is, for a given frequency, a constant ratio of the modulation of the counterphase field. Counterphase stimulation thus appears to cause an internal second-harmonic signal. However, it is not possible to cancel this by adding a second harmonic component to the stimulus.

Flicker Fusion

Improved color fundamentals offer a new view on photometric additivity.

New action spectra are derived for the foveal cones on the basis of three assumptions: (1) the Stiles-Burch (1959) colorimetric data are better than CIE 1931; (2) the long wavelength flanks of the dichromatic luminosity functions offer better anchorage than the confusion loci; and (3) the relative mutual heights per receptor can be derived from the Bezold-Brücke effect. Since these assumptions do not include photometric data, we could at the end ask how L lambda, M lambda and S lambda combine to V lambda. The best answer appeared to be V lambda = 0.68 L lambda + 0.34 M lambda -0.02 S lambda, reflecting both relative receptor population densities and a negative input of the S-system to luminance.

Color Perception

Tyndall's paradox of hue discrimination.

We confirm a remarkable but forgotten property of human color vision that was described over 50 years ago by Tyndall [J. Opt. Soc. Am 23, 12 (1933)]: if wavelength discrimination is measured in the region of 455 nm, the sensitivity of the eye improves when a large fraction of the monochromatic light in each half of the matching field is replaced by white light that is common to the two halves. We demonstrate that a similar facilitation also occurs when the shortwave monochromatic components are held constant in luminance and a long-wave desaturant of increasing luminance is added to the shortwave discrimanda. We relate these phenomena to the properties of postreceptoral visual channels.

Color Perception

Interindividual receptor variability of normal colour observers: analysis of the 2-deg Stiles and Burch data.

Examination of the interobserver variability among the ten observers of the 2-deg Stiles and Burch colorimetric study reveals an interesting pattern: the chromaticities of the matches made by different normal subjects fall approximately on straight lines and these lines appear to converge. Because of a geometric relationship that holds between the normal, anomalous, and dichromatic colour spaces, it can be argued that part of the variability must be due to actual differences in the shape or spectral position of the receptor sensitivities of different normal observers.

Adult

Evoked potential latencies as a function of contrast: a system analytical approach.

That the latency of the pattern evoked potential (EP) increases as the stimulus contrast decreases can be understood as the result of, first, a low-pass filtering process of the (contrast) signal followed by, second, and nonlinear 'threshold' stage. We show here that by using this simple concept it is possible to estimate the shape of the 'unit step' response of the low-pass filter with the latency vs. contrast data. We show also that the step responses calculated from several subjects are in reasonable agreement if they are normalized with using the subjects' own contrast thresholds. Within experimental error, the response of a filter consisting of four low-pass first-order stages with a 10.5 Hz cut-off frequency gives a reasonable fit to our own data and to that of one other study (Musselwhite and Jeffreys, 1982).

Differential Threshold

The "silent substitution" method in visual research.

The "silent substitution" method, which has become well-known mostly through the work of Rushton and his collaborators, can be traced back to experiments performed by M. Ishihara under Exner's supervision at the beginning of the century. Rushton provided a theoretical framework for the method with the enunciation of his "principle of univariance". In this paper we show how the "silent substitution" concept can be further generalized to any arbitrary number of photoreceptor classes by making use of well-established concepts of colorimetry. With this approach, which we have called "spectral compensation", one also gains a better insight into the possibilities and shortcomings of the technique. To illustrate this, we apply our approach to examine a number of published studies where use has been made of "silent substitution", with particular emphasis on the work of W. A. H. Rushton.

Color Perception

Contrast sensitivity of individual colour mechanisms of human vision.

1. Contrast sensitivity functions of isolated colour mechanisms were measured at spatial frequencies from 0-2 to 32 c/deg. The contrast sensitivity vs. spatial-frequency functions of the red (pi5) and green (pi4) mechanisms are similar, while the blue (pi3) mechanism has lower absolute sensitivity and lower resolving power. Isolation of a single mechanism never increases its maximum sensitivity. 2. The shape of the contrast sensitivity function of a colour mechanism is established within the mechanism. Little if any inhibitory interaction takes place among colour mechanisms. 3. Differences that have been reported between the sensitivities of the red and green mechanisms, as well as the apparent "supersensitivity" of the isolated green mechanism, may be artifacts that result from the extrapolation procedures that were used to estimate the absolute sensitivities of the colour mechanisms.

Adaptation, Ocular