Area Coding Techniques for Monochromatic Visual Displays

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the best coding scheme for differentiating among six different area types on a monochromatic visual display. Three independent variables, coding technique, display background, and foreground line thickness were studied in a 3x2x2 factorial, within-subjects design. Coding technique was studied at 3 levels. Coding technique 1 employed six patterns in one shade of gray, coding technique 2 employed three patterns in each of two shades of gray, and coding technique 3 employed two patterns in each of three shades of gray. Display background was tested at two levels, black and white. Foreground line thickness was also tested at two levels, single pixel thickness and double pixel thickness. Three dependent measures were studied target memorization time, search time, and percentage selection error. There proved to be no significant difference between coding techniques 1 and 2 at any combination of display background and foreground line thickness for either search time or percentage selection error. Coding technique 3 produced significantly poorer results both for search time and percentage selection error. Target memorization time was lower with coding techniques 1 and 2, and also with double pixel foreground thickness. Subjects preferred coding technique 1 with any combination of display background and line thickness and coding technique 2 with black display background and double pixel foreground line thickness. Keywords: Monochromatic visual display, Coding scheme, Target memorization, Human computer interaction.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1988
Accession Number
ADA198632

Entities

People

  • J. Greenstein
  • S. Mukherjee

Organizations

  • Virginia Tech

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Analysis Of Variance
  • Color Coding
  • Color Displays
  • Computer Graphics
  • Computer Programming
  • Computers
  • Data Reduction
  • Display Systems
  • Engineering
  • Experimental Design
  • Identification
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Information Systems
  • Instructions
  • Literature Surveys
  • Recognition
  • Target Recognition

Readers

  • Radio communications and signal processing.
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.