Resolution of gratings oriented along and across meridians in peripheral vision

Grating resolution was measured at various locations of the visual field for four grating orientations. As an instance of the oblique effect, vertical and horizontal gratings produced the highest resolution values in the central area. At eccentricities larger than about 20 deg, the oblique effect was replaced by a meridional resolution effect, in which resolution was systematically best for meridionally oriented grating bars and worst for grating bars perpendicular to the visual-field meridians. The origin of the effect seems to be neural because it was not caused by peripheral refractive errors or optical distortion of the peripheral retinal image.