CONSPICUITY OF SELECTED SIGNAL LIGHTS AGAINST CITY-LIGHT BACKGROUNDS
Abstract
Detections of a small signal light against citylight backgrounds were made by experienced pilots during 288 presentations to determine whether detection time was affected by variations in signal characteristics and background, and whether pilot differences occurred. The experiment yielded evidence that: (1) A red signal light was moderately more detectable than a green one, and the green moderately more so than a white light. (2) Some city backgrounds provided far more difficulty for detection of a flashing signal than others, the primary characteristics of difficult backgrounds apparently being high intensity, concentration of many lights, presence of one or more flashing lights, and wide variety of color. (3) Relative detectabilities among signal colors remained the same regardless of the predominant background color against which they were viewed. (4) A dot-dash flash pattern was significantly more detectable for some subjects and a series of dots more detectable for others. (5) Subjects did not differ significantly in detection time, in spite of using different search patterns.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0415924