Exploring a chromatic oblique effect
Contributors: Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.) 
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 90
Description: For centuries, military forces have used camouflage to obscure potential targets from the enemy. Because the eye is fairly adept at picking out edges, colors, and bright areas, camouflage is often used to degrade these qualities from human detection.  The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the role of certain spatial, temporal, and chromatic features on the human visual system and how these features may aid the quest for better camouflage. Methods: Test patterns were spatio-temporal raised cosines of varying orientation (horizontal or vertical and oblique), spatial frequency (1, 3, and 7 cpd), and modulated at 2.0 Hz. Color contrast thresholds were determined from 16 different red-green color mixture ratios. This methodology eliminates the problems with luminance artifacts and the need to determine exact equiluminance. Results: The data formed an ellipse with the half-length measuring color ldiscrimination and the half-width  measuring brightness discrimination. A maximum likelihood method was used to fit the data. Three of the four subjects showed a 3 cpd chromatic oblique effect, while the 1 and 7 cpd achromatic and chromatic oblique effect was inconsistent across subjects.  Conclusions: While real-world objects are more complex than laboratory stimuli, knowledge of spatial and chromatic qualities that inhibit detection will aid the quest for better camouflage.
Notes: Thesis advisor, William K. Krebs.

Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research) Naval Postgraduate School, Sept. 1997.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 90)

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dk/dk cc:9116 01/20/98.