Persistence of vision

This article is about the theory on human vision. For on a medium, since the brain has to make sense of the viother uses, see Persistence of vision (disambiguation).
sual data the eye provides and construct a coherent picture
Persistence of vision is the theory where an afterimage of reality. Joseph Anderson and Barbara Fisher argue
that the phi phenomena privileges a more constructionist approach to the cinema (David Bordwell, Nol Carroll, Kirsten Thompson), whereas the persistence of vision privileges a realist approach (Andr Bazin, Christian
Metz, Jean-Louis Baudry).[6]
The discovery of persistence of vision is attributed to the
Roman poet Lucretius, although he only mentions it in
connection with images seen in a dream.[7] In the modern
era, some stroboscopic experiments performed by Peter
Mark Roget in 1824 were also cited as the basis for the
theory.[8]

1 Film systems
Persistence of Vision as a visual art form, using an array of
lights, waved back and forth in space, with the lights controlled
by wearable computer

Persistence of vision is still the accepted term for this

phenomenon in the realm of cinema history and theory.
In the early days of lm innovation, it was scientically
determined that a frame rate of less than 16 frames per
second (frame/s) caused the mind to see ashing images.
Audiences still interpret motion at rates as low as ten
frames per second or slower (as in a ipbook), but the
icker caused by the shutter of a lm projector is distracting below the 16-frame threshold.

is thought to persist for approximately one sixteenth of a

second on the retina, and believed to be the explanation
for motion perception, however it only explains why the
black spaces that come between each real movie frame
are not perceived. The true reason for motion perception
is the phi phenomenon while the true reason for perception of continuous light is Flicker fusion.
Modern theatrical lm runs at 24 frames a second. This is
The theory of persistence of vision is the belief that the case for both physical lm and digital cinema systems.
human perception of motion (brain centered) is the reIt is important to distinguish between the frame rate and
sult of persistence of vision (eye centered). The theory the icker rate, which are not necessarily the same. In
was disproved in 1912 by Wertheimer[1] but persists in
physical lm systems, it is necessary to pull down the
many citations in many classic and modern lm-theory lm frame, and this pulling-down needs to be obscured
texts.[2][3][4] A more plausible theory to explain motion
by a shutter to avoid the appearance of blurring; thereperception (at least on a descriptive level) are two distinct fore, there needs to be at least one icker per frame in
perceptual illusions: phi phenomenon and beta move- lm. To reduce the appearance of icker, virtually all
ment.
modern projector shutters are designed to add additional
A visual form of memory known as iconic memory has
been described as the cause of this phenomenon.[5] Although psychologists and physiologists have rejected the
relevance of this theory to lm viewership, lm academics and theorists generally have not. Some scientists
nowadays consider the entire theory a myth.[6]

icker periods, typically doubling the icker rate to 48

Hz (single-bladed shutters make two rotations per frame
double-bladed shutters make one rotation per frame),
which is less visible. (Some three-bladed projector shutters even triple it to 72 Hz.)
In digital lm systems, the scan rate may be decoupled
from the image update rate. In some systems, such as the
Digital Light Processing (DLP) system, there is no ying
spot or raster scan at all, so there is no icker other than
that generated by the temporal aliasing of the lm image
capture.

In contrasting persistence of vision theory with phi phenomena, a critical part of understanding that emerges
with these visual perception phenomena is that the eye
is not a camera and does not see in frames per second.
In other words vision is not as simple as light registering
1

6 PERSISTENCE OF VISION DISPLAYS

The new lm system MaxiVision 48 lms at 48 frames

per second, which, according to lm critic Roger Ebert,
oers even a strobeless tracking shot past picket fences.
The lack of strobe (as opposed to icker) is due to the
higher sampling rate of the camera relative to the speed
of movement of the image across the lm plane. This
ultra-smooth imaging is called High motion.

Computer monitors

Aside from some congurations used until the early

1990s, computer monitors do not use interlacing. They
may sometimes be seen to icker, often in a brightly lit
room, and at close viewing distances. The greater ickering in close-up viewing is due to more of the screen being
in the viewers peripheral vision, which has more sensitivity to ickering. Generally, a refresh rate of 85 Hz or
above (as found in most modern CRT monitors) is sucient to minimize icker in close viewing, and all recent
computer monitors are capable of at least that rate.

on twos, that is to say, one drawing is shown for every

two frames of lm (which usually runs at 24 frames per
second), meaning there are only 12 drawings per second.
Even though the image update rate is low, the uidity is
satisfactory for most subjects. However, when a character is required to perform a quick movement, it is usually
necessary to revert to animating on ones, as twos are
too slow to convey the motion adequately. A blend of the
two techniques keeps the eye fooled without unnecessary
production cost.
Animation for most "Saturday morning cartoons" is produced as cheaply as possible, and is most often shot on
threes, or even fours, i.e. three or four frames per
drawing. This translates to only 8 or 6 drawings per second, respectively.

4 Printed media

Flip books use this principle. If the book is ipped at a

Flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors do not fast enough speed, the illusion of smooth motion is cresuer from icker even if their refresh rate is 60 Hz or ated.
lower. This is because an LCD pixel generates a continuous stream of light as long as that part of the image is
supposed to be lit (see also ghosting). With each scan,
5 Sparklers trail eect
the monitor determines whether a pixel should be light or
dark and changes the state of the pixel accordingly. In a
CRT, by comparison, each pixel generates a temporary The sparklers trail eect occurs when one waves around
burst of light, then darkening, in each periodic scan. The a lit sparkler, creating a trail of light. Although it apmonitor activates a phosphor on the screen during each pears that this trail is created by the light left from the
scan if the pixel is supposed to be light, but the phosphor sparkler as it is waved through the air, there is, in fact, no
light along this trail. The lighted trail is a creation of the
fades before the next scan.[9]
mind, which retains a perception of the sparklers light
for a fraction of a second in sensory memory.[10]

Cartoon animation

See also: Key frame

In drawn animation, moving characters are often shot

6 Persistence of vision displays

See also: Thaumatrope, Phenakistoscope and Zoetrope

This animated cartoon of a galloping horse is displayed at 12

drawings per second, and the fast motion is on the edge of being
objectionably jerky.

A class of display device described as POV is one that

composes an image by displaying one spatial portion at
a time in rapid succession (for example, one column of
pixels every few milliseconds). A two-dimensional POV
display is often accomplished by means of rapidly moving a single row of LEDs along a linear or circular path.
The eect is that the image is perceived as a whole by
the viewer as long as the entire path is completed during
the visual persistence time of the human eye. A further
eect is often to give the illusion of the image oating in
mid-air. A three-dimensional POV display is often constructed using a 2D grid of LEDs which is swept or rotated through a volume. POV display devices can be used
in combination with long camera exposures to produce
light writing.

See also
Flicker fusion threshold
Motion perception
Light writing, a physical animation technique that
has the appearance of persistence of vision.
Beta movement
Phi phenomenon
Afterimage

Notes and references

[1] Wertheimer, 1912. Experimentelle Studien ber das Sehen von Bewegung. Zeitschrift fr Psychologie 61, pp.
161265
[2] Bazin, Andr (1967) What is Cinema?, Vol. I, Trans.
Hugh Gray, Berkeley: University of California Press

Winkler, Robert (2005-11-13).

Speed. The New York Times.

The Need for

Winkler, Robert. The Flicker Fusion Factor: Why we can't drive safely at high speed.
Archived from the original on 2010-12-05, repost on authors personal website.
I get it, I know I'm inferior, November 9, 2006,
Pharyngula comments
Burns, Paul The History of the Discovery of Cinematography An Illustrated Chronology
Video of a 2D POV display integrated into a bicycle
wheel
Build a SpokePOV: LED Bike Wheel Images
MiniPOV: build your own instructions a project
designed for beginners to learn soldering, electronics
assembly, and programming microcontrollers
Visual Perception 8 Visual Perception Lecture 8,
The Moving Image.

[3] Cook, David A. (2004) A History of Narrative Film. New

York, W. W. Norton & Company.

Newsreel lm of persistence of vision 1936 Newsreel lm explaining how persistence of vision was
thought to work.

[4] Metz, Christian (1991) Film Language: A Semiotics of

The Cinema, trans. Michael Taylor. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.

Physics Stack Exchange on Persistence of Vision

Physics discussion of persistence of vision.

[5] Coltheart M. The persistences of vision. Philos Trans R

Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1980 Jul 8;290(1038):5769. PMID
6106242.
[6] Anderson, Joseph; Anderson, Barbara (1993). The Myth
of Persistence of Vision Revisited. Journal of Film and
Video 45 (1): 312. Archived from the original on 200805-26.
[7] Herbert, S. (2000). A history of pre-cinema. London.
Routledge. p 121
[8] Maltby, R. (2004). Hollywood cinema. [Oxford]: Blackwell Publishing. p 420
[9] Contemporary LCD Monitor Parameters: Objective and
Subjective Analysis (page 3)
[10] Goldstein, B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting
Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience--with coglab
manual. (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth: 120.

External links
A Study of the Persistence of Vision Analysis by
Arthur C. Hardy at MIT
Persistence of Vision
The Myth of Persistence of Vision Revisited commentary on whether the concept is really a myth.

TestUFO Eye Tracking Animation Animation

demonstrating persistence of vision

10

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