Difference between revisions of User:Divenal/sandbox

Divenal (talk | contribs)
No edit summary
Divenal (talk | contribs)
No edit summary
 
(4 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 50: Line 50:


A reminder about some trigonometry / geometry
A reminder about some trigonometry / geometry
# <math>tan(A) = \frac{a}{b}</math>
# <math>\tan(A) = \frac{a}{b}</math>
# for very small angles (expressed in radians), <math>tan(A) \approx A</math>
#* so for fixed angle, 'a' is proportional to 'b'
# 1 radian = <math>\frac{180}{\pi}</math> degrees = <math>\frac{60 \times 180}{\pi}</math> arc-minutes
# for very small angles (expressed in radians), <math>\tan(A) \approx A</math>
#* so at small angles, 'a' is proportional to 'A'
# <math>1 \text{ radian} = \frac{180}{\pi} \text{ degrees} = \frac{60 \times 180}{\pi} \text{ arc-minutes} </math>


Acuity is a measure of the ability to resolve small details, defined by the "minimum angle of resolution". "20/20", or 1.0, is the ability to resolve features subtending 1 minute of arc.
Acuity is a measure of the ability to resolve small details, defined by the "minimum angle of resolution". Normal vision ("20/20", or 1.0) is the ability to resolve features subtending 1 minute of arc. In order to have a bigger-is-better score, the reciprocal of the angle is usually used:
* On a [[Snellen chart]] the letters are defined on a 5x5 grid: the detail to be resolved to distinguish between characters is one pixel of that grid
* On a Landolt C chart, the gaps in the circles, like the 'C's on the Snellen chart, are 1 minute of arc.


In order to have a bigger-is-better score, the reciprocal of the angle is usually used.
<math> \text{Acuity} = 1/A = \frac{pi}{60 \times 180} \times \frac{b}{a} = 0.00029 \times \frac{b}{a}</math>
Acuity <math> = 1/A = \frac{pi}{60 \times 180} \times \frac{b}{a} = 0.00029 \times \frac{b}{a}</math>


An alternative representation of acuity is "logMAR" ("log<sub>10</sub> Minimum Angle of Resolution"). This has a bigger-is-worse direction.
* 0.0 corresponds to "20/20" (1.0 or 1 arc-minute)
* 1.0 is "20/200" (0.1 or 10 arc-minutes)
* -0.3 is "20/10" (2.0 or 0.5 arc-minutes)


On a [[Snellen chart]] the letters are defined on a 5x5 grid: the detail to be resolved to distinguish between characters is one pixel of that grid.
Here 'b' is the distance to the chart (eg 6m) and 'a' is the height of the letters. It's not critical that the eye is at the bottom or top of a row of letters - as long as the angles remain small, the numerical error is insignificant.


An alternative representation of acuity is "logMAR" ("log<sub>10</sub> Minimum Angle of Resolution"). This has a bigger-is-worse direction.
Acuity is reported in the form "distance/letter-row", such as "20/40", etc.
* 0.0 corresponds to "20/20"
 
* 1.0 is "20/200"
<math> \text{Acuity} = 5 \times 0.00029 \times \frac{ \text{distance to chart}}{\text{letter height}}
* -0.3 is "20/10"
= \frac{ \text{distance to chart}}{690 \times \text{letter height}}</math>
 
Then, for example
* for the "6/12" line, we need <math>690 \times \text{height} = 12m \implies \text{height} = 12m / 690 = 1.73cm</math>
* for the "20/15" line, we need <math>690 \times \text{height} = 15ft \implies \text{height} = 15 * 12 / 690 = 0.26 \text{inch}</math>
 
The denominator can be interpreted as the distance at which the letters subtend 5 minutes of arc.