Prediction of relative luminous efficiency from fundamental sensation curves

Abstract

In several recent articles ( Sperling and Hsia, 1957 ; Sperling, 1958 ; Sperling and Lewis, 1959 ; Sperling, 1959 ), I have reported data on the spectral sensitivity of the fovea obtained by different psychophysical methods, and stimulus sizes, and in various adaptive states. Those results, together with additional luminosity data obtained on dichromatic colorblind observers under some of the same conditions are summarized. The derivation of fundamental sensation curves from the color confusions of dichromatic observers ( Sperling, 1960 ) is presented and results of the attempted synthesis of the luminous efficiency functions from these theoretical functions are reported. These latter results are relevant to the source of the major humps and dips, the additivity law of luminances, and the general question of an additive trichromatic theory, of color reception.