Impact of Color and Polarity on Visual Resolution with Varying Contrast Ratios and Different Text Backgrounds

Area of Science:

• Visual perception and display technology.
• Human-computer interaction and visual ergonomics.

Background:

• Assessing visual resolution is crucial for optimizing text legibility on digital displays.
• Understanding how contrast, color, and polarity affect visual acuity informs display design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the influence of background color and text polarity on visual resolution across varying contrast ratios.
• To determine the predictive power of color and polarity in visual resolution changes.

Main Methods:

• Investigated text-background designs with eight contrast ratios and two polarities (positive/negative).
• Compared designs with and without colored backgrounds (blue, green, orange, red).
• Measured visual resolution using logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (logMAR) with Landolt C, analyzed via linear regression.

Main Results:

• Visual resolution significantly differed with and without background color for both polarities (P < 0.05).
• Contrast ratio explained 77.4% of visual resolution variation with color backgrounds (F = 20.76, P < 0.01).
• Contrast ratio explained 97.16% of visual resolution variation without color backgrounds (F = 205.63, P < 0.01).

Conclusions:

• Background color plays a more critical role in resolving fine details at lower contrast ratios.
• Color influences visual resolution outcomes, impacting logMAR measurements, particularly when contrast is reduced.