Stochastic independence of color-vision mechanisms confirmed by a subthreshold summation paradigm

We have used a subthreshold summation protocol to analyze spatial color-color interaction. By means of a CRT color monitor, we measured the threshold contours for a spatial frequency of 0.5 cycles/degree. Heterochromatic flicker photometry was used to obtain isoluminance. The results suggest that the blue-yellow (b-y) and red-green (r-g) contrast thresholds remained unchanged by the addition of fixed r-g and b-y subthreshold pedestals. Our subthreshold summation data then support the stochastic independence of colorvision mechanisms derived from Mullen and Sankeralli's work [Vision Res. 39, 733 (1999)] despite the differences that exist between the two experimental methods.