23/11/2016 Camerasvs.

TheHumanEye

CAMERASVS.THEHUMANEYE
Whycan'tIjustpointmycameraatwhatI'mseeingandrecordthat?It'saseeminglysimplequestion.It'salsoone
ofthemostcomplicatedtoanswer,andrequiresdelvingintonotonlyhowacamerarecordslight,butalsohowand
whyoureyesworkthewaytheydo.Tacklingsuchquestionscanrevealsurprisinginsightsaboutoureveryday
perceptionoftheworldinadditiontomakingoneabetterphotographer.

VS.

INTRODUCTION

Oureyesareabletolookaroundasceneanddynamicallyadjustbasedonsubjectmatter,whereascamerascapturea
singlestillimage.Thistraitaccountsformanyofourcommonlyunderstoodadvantagesovercameras.Forexample,
oureyescancompensateaswefocusonregionsofvaryingbrightness,canlookaroundtoencompassabroaderangle
ofview,orcanalternatelyfocusonobjectsatavarietyofdistances.

However,theendresultisakintoavideocameranotastillscamerathatcompilesrelevantsnapshotstoforma
mentalimage.Aquickglancebyoureyesmightbeafairercomparison,butultimatelytheuniquenessofourvisual
systemisunavoidablebecause:

Whatwereallyseeisourmind'sreconstructionofobjectsbasedoninputprovidedbytheeyesnotthe
actuallightreceivedbyoureyes.

Skeptical?Mostareatleastinitially.Theexamplesbelowshowsituationswhereone'smindcanbetrickedinto
seeingsomethingdifferentthanone'seyes:

FalseColor

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MachBands

FalseColor:Moveyourmouseontothecorneroftheimageandstareatthecentralcross.Themissingdotwill
rotatearoundthecircle,butafterawhilethisdotwillappeartobegreeneventhoughnogreenisactuallypresent
intheimage.

MachBands:Moveyourmouseonandoffoftheimage.Eachofthebandswillappearslightlydarkerorlighternear
itsupperandloweredgeseventhougheachisuniformlygray.

However,thisshouldn'tdiscourageusfromcomparingoureyesandcameras!Undermanyconditionsafair
comparisonisstillpossible,butonlyifwetakeintoconsiderationbothwhatwe'reseeingandhowourmindprocesses
thisinformation.Subsequentsectionswilltrytodistinguishthetwowheneverpossible.

OVERVIEWOFDIFFERENCES

Thistutorialgroupscomparisonsintothefollowingvisualcategories:

AngleofView

Resolution&Detail

Sensitivity&DynamicRange

Theaboveareoftenunderstoodtobewhereoureyesandcamerasdifferthemost,andareusuallyalsowherethereis
themostdisagreement.Othertopicsmightincludedepthoffield,stereovision,whitebalancingandcolorgamut,but
thesewon'tbethefocusofthistutorial.

1.ANGLEOFVIEW

Withcameras,thisisdeterminedbythefocallengthofthelens(alongwiththesensorsizeofthecamera).For
example,atelephotolenshasalongerfocallengththanastandardportraitlens,andthusencompassesanarrower
angleofview:

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Unfortunatelyoureyesaren'tasstraightforward.Althoughthehumaneyehasafocallengthofapproximately22
mm,thisismisleadingbecause(i)thebackofoureyesarecurved,(ii)theperipheryofourvisualfieldcontains
progressivelylessdetailthanthecenter,and(iii)thesceneweperceiveisthecombinedresultofbotheyes.

Eacheyeindividuallyhasanywherefroma120200angleofview,dependingonhowstrictlyonedefinesobjectsas
being"seen."Similarly,thedualeyeoverlapregionisaround130ornearlyaswideasafisheyelens.However,for
evolutionaryreasonsourextremeperipheralvisionisonlyusefulforsensingmotionandlargescaleobjects(suchasa
lionpouncingfromyourside).Furthermore,suchawideanglewouldappearhighlydistortedandunnaturalifitwere
capturedbyacamera.

LeftEye DualEyeOverlap RightEye

Ourcentralangleofviewaround4060iswhatmostimpactsourperception.Subjectively,thiswould
correspondwiththeangleoverwhichyoucouldrecallobjectswithoutmovingyoureyes.Incidentally,thisisclosetoa
50mm"normal"focallengthlensonafullframecamera(43mmtobeprecise),ora27mmfocallengthona
camerawitha1.6Xcropfactor.Althoughthisdoesn'treproducethefullangleofviewatwhichwesee,
itdoescorrespondwellwithwhatweperceiveashavingthebesttradeoffbetweendifferenttypesofdistortion:

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WideAngleLens
(objectsareverydifferentsizes)

TelephotoLens
(objectsaresimilarinsize)

Toowideanangleofviewandtherelativesizesofobjectsareexaggerated,whereastoonarrowanangleofview
meansthatobjectsareallnearlythesamerelativesizeandyoulosethesenseofdepth.Extremelywideanglesalso
tendtomakeobjectsneartheedgesoftheframeappearstretched.

DepthDistortion

(ifcapturedbyastandard/rectilinearcameralens)

Bycomparison,eventhoughoureyescaptureadistortedwideangleimage,wereconstructthistoforma3Dmental
imagethatisseeminglydistortionfree.

2.RESOLUTION&DETAIL

Mostcurrentdigitalcamerashave520megapixels,whichisoftencitedasfallingfarshortofourownvisualsystem.
Thisisbasedonthefactthatat20/20vision,thehumaneyeisabletoresolvetheequivalentofa52megapixel
camera(assuminga60angleofview).

However,suchcalculationsaremisleading.Onlyourcentralvisionis20/20,soweneveractuallyresolvethatmuch
detailinasingleglance.Awayfromthecenter,ourvisualabilitydecreasesdramatically,suchthatbyjust20off

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centeroureyesresolveonlyonetenthasmuchdetail.Attheperiphery,weonlydetectlargescalecontrastand
minimalcolor:

Qualitativerepresentationofvisualdetailusingasingleglanceoftheeyes.

Takingtheaboveintoaccount,asingleglancebyoureyesisthereforeonlycapableofperceivingdetailcomparableto
a515megapixelcamera(dependingonone'seyesight).However,ourminddoesn'tactuallyrememberimagespixel
bypixelitinsteadrecordsmemorabletextures,colorandcontrastonanimagebyimagebasis.

Inordertoassembleadetailedmentalimage,oureyesthereforefocusonseveralregionsofinterestinrapid
succession.Thiseffectivelypaintsourperception:

OriginalScene

OnePerson'sRegionsofInterest

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Theendresultisamentalimagewhosedetailhaseffectivelybeenprioritizedbasedoninterest.Thishasanimportant
butoftenoverlookedimplicationforphotographers:evenifaphotographapproachesthetechnicallimitsofcamera
detail,suchdetailultimatelywon'tcountformuchiftheimageryitselfisn'tmemorable.

Otherimportantdifferenceswithhowoureyesresolvedetailinclude:

Asymmetry.Eacheyeismorecapableofperceivingdetailbelowourlineofsightthanabove,andtheirperipheral
visionisalsomuchmoresensitiveindirectionsawayfromthenosethantowardsit.Camerasrecordimagesalmost
perfectlysymmetrically.

LowLightViewing.Inextremelylowlight,suchasundermoonlightorstarlight,oureyesactuallybegintoseein
monochrome.Undersuchsituations,ourcentralvisionalsobeginstodepictlessdetailthanjustoffcenter.Many
astrophotographersareawareofthis,anduseittotheiradvantagebystaringjusttothesideofadimstarifthey
wanttobeabletoseeitwiththeirunassistedeyes.

SubtleGradations.Toomuchattentionisoftengiventothefinestdetailresolvable,butsubtletonalgradationsare
alsoimportantandhappentobewhereoureyesandcamerasdifferthemost.Withacamera,enlargeddetailis
alwayseasiertoresolvebutcounterintuitively,enlargeddetailmightactuallybecomelessvisibletooureyes.In
theexamplebelow,bothimagescontaintexturewiththesameamountofcontrast,butthisisn'tvisibleintheimage
totherightbecausethetexturehasbeenenlarged.

FineTexture
(barelyvisible)

Enlarged16X

CoarseTexture
(nolongervisible)

3.SENSITIVITY&DYNAMICRANGE

Dynamicrange*isoneareawheretheeyeisoftenseenashavingahugeadvantage.Ifweweretoconsider
situationswhereourpupilopensandclosesfordifferentbrightnessregions,thenyes,oureyesfarsurpassthe
capabilitiesofasinglecameraimage(andcanhavearangeexceeding24fstops).However,insuchsituationsoureye
isdynamicallyadjustinglikeavideocamera,sothisarguablyisn'tafaircomparison.

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EyeFocuseson EyeFocuseson
OurMentalImage
Background Foreground

Ifweweretoinsteadconsideroureye'sinstantaneousdynamicrange(whereourpupilopeningisunchanged),then
camerasfaremuchbetter.Thiswouldbesimilartolookingatoneregionwithinascene,lettingoureyesadjust,and
notlookinganywhereelse.Inthatcase,mostestimatethatoureyescanseeanywherefrom1014fstopsof
dynamicrange,whichdefinitelysurpassesmostcompactcameras(57stops),butissurprisinglysimilartothatof
digitalSLRcameras(811stops).

Ontheotherhand,oureye'sdynamicrangealsodependsonbrightnessandsubjectcontrast,sotheaboveonly
appliestotypicaldaylightconditions.Withlowlightstarviewingoureyescanapproachanevenhigherinstantaneous
dynamicrange,forexample.

*QuantifyingDynamicRange.Themostcommonlyusedunitformeasuringdynamicrangeinphotographyisthef
stop,sowe'llstickwiththathere.Thisdescribestheratiobetweenthelightestanddarkestrecordableregionsofa
scene,inpowersoftwo.Ascenewithadynamicrangeof3fstopsthereforehasawhitethatis8Xasbrightasits

black(since23=2x2x2=8).

FreezingMotion

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LowLightSensitivity

Photosonleft(matches)andright(nightsky)bylazloanddcysurfer,respectively.

Sensitivity.Thisisanotherimportantvisualcharacteristic,anddescribestheabilitytoresolveveryfaintorfast
movingsubjects.Duringbrightlight,moderncamerasarebetteratresolvingfastmovingsubjects,asexemplifiedby
unusuallookinghighspeedphotography.ThisisoftenmadepossiblebycameraISOspeedsexceeding3200the
equivalentdaylightISOforthehumaneyeiseventhoughttobeaslowas1.

However,underlowlightconditions,oureyesbecomemuchmoresensitive(presumingthatweletthemadjustfor
30+minutes).AstrophotographersoftenestimatethisasbeingnearISO5001000stillnotashighasdigital
cameras,butclose.Ontheotherhand,camerashavetheadvantageofbeingabletotakelongerexposurestobring
outevenfainterobjects,whereasoureyesdon'tseeadditionaldetailafterstaringatsomethingformorethanabout
1015seconds.

CONCLUSIONS&FURTHERREADING

Onemightcontendthatwhetheracameraisabletobeatthehumaneyeisinconsequential,becausecamerasrequire
adifferentstandard:theyneedtomakerealisticlookingprints.Aprintedphotographdoesn'tknowwhichregionsthe
eyewillfocuson,soeveryportionofascenewouldneedtocontainmaximaldetailjustincasethat'swherewe'll
focus.Thisisespeciallytrueforlargeorcloselyviewedprints.However,onecouldalsocontendthatit'sstillusefulto
putacamera'scapabilitiesincontext.

Overall,mostoftheadvantagesofourvisualsystemstemfromthefactthatourmindisabletointelligentlyinterpret
theinformationfromoureyes,whereaswithacamera,allwehaveistherawimage.Evenso,currentdigitalcameras
faresurprisinglywell,andsurpassourowneyesforseveralvisualcapabilities.Therealwinneristhephotographerwho
isabletointelligentlyassemblemultiplecameraimagestherebysurpassingevenourownmentalimage.

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