Grey scale, the “crispening effect”, and perceptual linearization

Abstract

One way of optimizing a display is to maximize the number of distinguishable grey levels, which in turn is equivalent to perceptually linearizing the display. Perceptual linearization implies that equal steps in grey value evoke equal steps in brightness sensation. The key to perceptual linearization is hence to understand the relationship between screen luminance (differences) and perceived brightness (differences). We start with an overview of psychophysical laws on the brightness-luminance relationship. We present alternative models from the literature for describing this relationship. Existing models are compared with our human-performance data that were discussed in an earlier paper. We show that Whittle’s model provides a good fit to our experimental data, provided that some of the model parameters are allowed to depend on the surround luminance. An alternative model by Kingdom and Moulden, however, needs to be modified in order to accomplish agreement with experimental data.