5 ms·
What are the limits of color discrimination, I wonder? Can we discriminate between close colors of light better than we can between close frequencies of sound?
by tzs 3y ago
What are the limits of color discrimination, I wonder? Can we discriminate between close colors of light better than we can between close frequencies of sound?
For pitch Googling suggests we can hear a difference of about 5 cents. A cent is 1/100th of a semitone, or 1/1200th of an octave, so N cents is a frequency ratio of 2^(N/1200).
At 440 Hz (A above middle C) 5 cents would be a difference of 1.27 Hz.
For light, a 5 cents difference would be about 2 nm wavelength at the red end of our visible range and about 1.1 nm at other end. (That's about 1 gHz frequency difference at the red and and 2 gHz at the other end). Can a human tell if two light sources differ in wavelength by 1-2 nm?
- pclmulqdq 3y agoA trained musician can hear a pitch difference much smaller than 5 cents. I think designers and artists can also likely see a difference in wavelength of 1-2 nm, and probably a lot smaller.
- mrob 3y agoAre they actually hearing the pitch difference, or are they hearing beat frequencies between simultaneous notes? You can hear beat frequencies even in monophonic music if the reverb is heavy enough.
- pclmulqdq 3y agoPitch difference is what I am referring to. Play one note after the other, and many musicians can hear 1 cent up or down. With simultaneous notes, counting the beats you can hear much smaller differences.
- itishappy 3y agoYup, think that's right about the limit of the eye. It's neat that spectral resolution is so similar for both eyes and ears, particularly considering how different their range is: Ears: about 10 octaves Eyes: about 1 octave
- LoganDark 3y ago> It's neat that spectral resolution is so similar for both eyes and ears, particularly considering how different their range is Probably because it's not necessarily just resolution of the eyes and ears, but resolution of the brain that perceives that information. How "perception" works is still somewhat of a mystery.