Laboratory measurements were carried out to determine the detection potential of 25 normal observers engaged in an automobile headlight research programme. An exposure duration was selected to represent search and detection functions of night driving tasks. Target sizes and luminance ranges were chosen to encompass visibility conditions prevailing in automobile night driving. An analytical expression was then derived to yield threshold luminance increments required by normal observers as a function of target size and background luminance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Gallagher, V.P. and Meguire, P.G., Contrast requirements of urban driving. In Driver visual needs in night driving. TRB Special Report 156, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. (1975).
2.
Hall, A.H. and Pinkney, H.F.L., Investigation of automobile headlighting. Laboratory Technical Report LTR-ST-612, National Research Council of Canada ( 1973).
3.
Pinkney, H.F.L. et al., A systems engineering study of night visibility with automobile headlighting. Mechanical Engineering Report MS-140, National Research Council of Canada (1977).
Huculak, P., A visibility analysis of obstacle detection experimentation in unopposed automotive headlighting. Mechanical Engineering Report MS-141, National Research Council of Canada (1978).
6.
Huculak, P., The influence of glare on the detection of hazardous objects in automobile night driving. Mechanical Engineering Report MS-142, National Research Council of Canada (1978).
Rackoff, N.J. and Rockwell, T.H., Driver search and scan patterns in night driving. In Driver visual needs in night driving. TRB Special Report 156, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. (1975).
9.
Blackwell, H.R. , Pritchard, B.S. and Schwab, R.N., Highway Research Board Bulletin255 (1960).
10.
Huculak, P., Contrast sensitivity of participants in automobile headlight experiments, Laboratory Technical Report LTR-ST-600, National Research Council of Canada (1973).
Blackwell, H.R., J. Opt. Soc. Am., 36 (11), 624 (1946).
13.
Blackwell, H.R., Illum. Eng.47, 603 (1952).
14.
Huculak, P., Visual detection capability of normal observers: a comparison of the result of various investigators. Laboratory Technical Report LTR.ST-678, National Research Council caf Canada (1974).
A unified framework of methods for evaluating visual performance aspects of lighting, CIE Publication 19/2, Preliminary Draft ( 1977).
17.
Bernstein, A., J. Illum. Engng. Soc., 10 (2), 168 (1978).
18.
Adrian, W., Lichttechnik, 21, 2A (1969).
19.
Schmidt-Clausen, J. and Bindels, Th.H. , Ltg. Res. & Technol., 6 (2), 79 (1974).
20.
Blackwell, H.R. and Taylor, J.H., Survey of laboratory studies of visual detection. Preprint of paper presented at the Nato Seminar on detection, recognition and identification of line-of-sight targets (1969).
21.
Nolan, G.F. , J. Opt. Soc. Am., 47, 394 (1957).
22.
Blackwell, O.M. and Blackwell , H.R., J. Illum. Engng. Soc., 1 (1), 3 (1971).
23.
Dunipace, D.W. , Strong, J. and Huizinga, M., Applied Optics, 13 (11), 2723 (1974).
