Fundamentals of human vision

It is hoped that this chapter has described to the reader that our perception of television images is not passive. Instead, our visual system is dynamically processing incoming light information to maximise the extraction of meaningful information that is of interest to us and actively using this information to plan our next actions. Context plays an important role in how we perceive and react to visual information. We select what is of most interest to us, and then a percept is constructed that is consistent with all the available and present information. In the special case of 3D television, the visual system's dynamic processing may result in the stimulation of responses that are not actually required (e.g. convergence may stimulate accommodation and the perception of visual motion may stimulate movement), resulting in conflict in the way this information is integrated, which may result in discomfort. For 2D and 3D television viewing, realism in visual appearance, as well as accommodation and postural cues is desirable for viewing pleasure.