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Part of
Progress in Colour Studies: Cognition, language and beyond
Edited by Lindsay W. MacDonald, Carole P. Biggam and Galina V. Paramei
[Not in series 217] 2018
► pp. 319–339

Chapter 17
A theory of visual stress and its application to the use of coloured filters for reading

| University of Essex, UK
Coloured filters have been used, controversially, to reduce the perceptual distortions and discomfort sometimes associated with difficulty reading. It has been claimed that the filters can improve reading fluency. A neurological theory of visual stress is offered that attempts to examine perceptual distortions of text and the discomfort it evokes in relation to the way in the visual system evolved to process natural images. There are many possible interactions between colour and spatial processing, some involving the temporal modulation of electric lighting, and others the close relationship between colour contrast and the cortical haemodynamic response. It is argued that coloured filters can sometimes reduce the effects of strong visual stimulation when the visual cortex is hyperexcitable.
Keywords: coloured filters, reading difficulty, visual stress, flicker, stripes
Article outline
  • 1.Natural images
  • 2.Flicker
  • 3.Luminance structure
  • 4.Computation and metabolism
  • 5.Colour contrast
  • 6.Interim summary
  • 7.Reading difficulty and visual stress
  • 8.Precision, individual choice and the efficacy of tints
  • 9.Controversy
  • 10.A basis in neurology?
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 26 November 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.217.17wil
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