Psychophysics reports log luminance rather than absolute luminance values
Psychophysical investigations consistently show that human perception of luminance and brightness is non-linear and scales logarithmically or as a power function with physical luminance values.
The retrieved literature consistently confirms that psychophysics models human luminance and brightness perception using logarithmic or power laws (e.g., Weber-Fechner law, Stevens' power law) rather than linear absolute luminance values. No retrieved papers refute this foundational psychophysical principle.
van den Berg CP, Hollenkamp M, Mitchell LJ, Watson EJ, Green NF, Marshall NJ, Cheney KL. More than noise: context-dependent luminance contrast discrimination in a coral reef fish (<i>Rhinecanthus aculeatus</i>).. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.232090
Paper 0 discusses how psychophysical luminance contrast thresholds are modeled using logarithmic scaling relationships such as the Weber-Fechner law.
See more details
Huang D, Zheng X, Li J, Zhan R, Dong J, Wen Y, Mao X, Chen Y, Chen Y. Tone Mapping of HDR Images via Meta-Guided Bayesian Optimization and Virtual Diffraction Modeling.. 2025. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25216577
Paper 4 notes that psychophysical frameworks like Stevens' power law and logarithmic transformations are used to simulate nonlinear human luminance and brightness perception.
Pulcini GG, Bogucka M, Ortolan D, Battaglini L, Ruffato G. Considering the Effect of Neural Adaptation in the Estimation of Haidinger's Brush Perceptual Threshold.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.67.3.9
Paper 8 demonstrates that perceptual thresholds in human vision scale linearly with the logarithm of physical stimulus intensity.
The paper trail · every fact has a biography
Challenge the receipt
Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work · Dispute this receipt