UNIT IV

Fundamentals of light, vision and colour

Electromagnetic Radiation:

In physics, electromagnetic radiation refers to the waves (or

their quanta, photons) of the electromagnetic field, propagating (radiating) through
space, carrying electromagnetic radiant energy.
It includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visible) light, ultraviolet, X-rays,
and gamma rays.

In electromagnetic wave electric field and magnetic field are perpendicular to each
other.

The distance between two crests or troughs is the wavelength.

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time.
The time period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event.
In a vacuum electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light
Propagation of Light:
Light is a electromagnetic wave. In light propagation the electric field and
magnetic field are propagating perpendicular to each other.
.

Reflection, refraction, and scattering compared

Reflection
Light will be reflected symmetrically. In a perfectly smooth specular surface the
angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. If you have rough surface
light will be reflect in all directions causing diffuse reflection.
Refraction:
Refraction is the change in direction of a wave passing from one medium to
another or from a gradual change in the medium.
Absorption:
The transfer of the energy of a wave to matter as the wave passes through it.
 Spectral Sensitivity:

Spectral sensitivity is the relative efficiency of detection, of light or other signal, as a

function of the frequency or wavelength of the signal.

spectral sensitivity is used to describe the different characteristics of

the photopigments in the rod cells and cone cells in the retina of the eye. It is known
that the rod cells are more suited to scotopic vision and cone cells to photopic vision
and that they differ in their sensitivity to different wavelengths of light.
It has been established that the maximum spectral sensitivity of the human eye under
daylight conditions is at a wavelength of 555 nm, while at night the peak shifts to
507 nm.

Radiation Measurement:
Radiation can be measured in three main units.
Radioactivity
Exposure
Absorbed dose
Radioactivity refers to the amount of ionizing radiation released by a material.
Whether it emits alpha or beta particles, gamma rays, x-rays, or neutrons, a quantity of
radioactive material is expressed in terms of its radioactivity. Unit- Curie.
Exposure describes the amount of radiation travelling through the air. Many radiation
monitors measure exposure. The units for exposure are the roentgen.
Absorbed dose describes the amount of radiation absorbed by an object or person
(that is, the amount of energy that radioactive sources deposit in materials through
which they pass). The units for absorbed dose are the radiation absorbed dose (rad).
Illuminance Calculation:
Illuminance as the amount of light that falls on a surface in units of foot-
candles or lux.
Illuminance is the total luminous flux incident on a surface, per unit area. It is a
measure of how much the incident light illuminates the surface
Illuminance E related to luminous flux Φ
E=Φ/A
Where
A denotesArea
Φ denotes luminous flux

Derivation of Luminous Flux from luminous intensity:

Luminous flux or luminous power is the measure of the perceived power of light.
One lumen is defined as the luminous flux of light produced by a light source that
emits one candela of luminous intensity over a solid angle of one steradian.

luminous intensity is a measure of the wavelength-weighted power emitted by

a light source in a particular direction per unit solid angle

cd = lm/sr

Lumen: measure of the total quantity of visible light emitted by a source per unit of
time.

The lumen is defined in relation to the candela as

1 lm = 1 cd ⋅ sr.

Where,

sr-Stradian (solid angle)

Discomfort glare

Glare is a sensation caused by bright light in one’s field of view. Glare can reduce
one’s ability to see, create feelings of discomfort or both.

Glare reduces seeing distance because it causes light scatter in the eyes, which in
turn reduces the contrast of roadway objects. This effect is known as “discomfort
glare.” The greater the intensity of the glare light and the closer the glare light is to
where one is looking, the greater the disability glare will be. Discomfort glare can
lead to the following effects:
 Decreasing visibility distance. The distance at which an object can be seen is
known as the “visibility distance.” This distance is reduced when disability
glare is present.
• Increasing reaction times. As the intensity of oncoming headlamps increases,
drivers’ reaction times to objects in and along the roadway become longer.
• Increasing recovery time. After drivers pass an oncoming vehicle, the glare
has a lasting effect that increases the time it takes for the drivers’ eyes to
recover their ability to detect objects. During that time, the visibility distance
is reduced and reaction times are increased.
 These problems can be reduced by
• Adaptive headlight system
• Using anti glare visors
• Using anti glare stickers
• Using anti glare windshields
 Anti glare visors Day and night time vision

Eye as an optical system visual processing:

The eye is an adaptive optical system comprising of a cornea and a lens. Unlike most
optical systems, the crystalline lens of the eye changes its shape to focus light from
objects over a great range of distances on the retina.

Cornea:
It is the transparent front part of the eye. Cornea contributes most of the eye's
focusing power, its focus is fixed. The curvature of the lens, on the other hand, can
be adjusted to "tune" the focus depending upon the object's distance.
Pupil:
The pupil is the black central circular opening in the iris. It acts as an aperture that
controls the amount of light flux that forms images on the retina.
Lens:
The lenses of the eye are thicker at the center than at the edges, The lens is bi-
convex with a reflective index of approximately 1.38 in the center and 1.41 at the
edges. Changing the shape of the eye decreases the radius of curvature, which in turn
changes the focal length

Color rendering

Color rendering, expressed as a rating from 0 to 100 on the Color Rendering Index (CRI),
describes how a light source makes the color of an object appear to human eyes and how
well subtle variations in color shades are revealed. The higher the CRI rating is, the better
its color rendering ability.

Colour rendering index (CRI):

Color rendering describes how a light source makes the color of an object appear to
human eyes. CRI is a scale from 0 to 100 percent

Colour rendering index is the quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to
reveal the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light
source

.
The best possible faithfulness to a reference is specified by a CRI of one hundred,
while the very poorest is specified by a CRI below zero