Subjective contrast sensitivity function assessment in stereoscopic viewing of Gabor patches

While 3D displays are entering hospitals, no study to-date has explored the impact of binocular disparity and 3D inclination on contrast sensitivity function (CSF) of humans. However, knowledge of the CSF is crucial to properly calibrate medical, especially diagnostic, displays. This study examined the impact of two parameters on the CSF: (1) the depth plane position (0 mm or 171 mm behind the display plane, respectively DP: 0 or DP: 171), and (2) the 3D inclination (0 degrees or 45 degrees around the horizontal axis of the considered DP), each of these for seven spatial frequencies ranging from 0.4 to 10 cycles per degree (cpd). The stimuli were computer-generated stereoscopic images of a vertically oriented 2D Gabor patch with a given frequency. They were displayed on a 24 '' full HD stereoscopic display using a patterned retarder. Nine human observers assessed the CSF in a 3-down 1-up staircase experiment. Medians of the measured contrast sensitivities and results of Friedman tests suggest that the 2D CSF as modeled by Barten1 still holds when a 3D display is used as a 2D visualization system (DP: 0). However, the 3D CSF measured at DP: 171 was found different from the 2D CSF at frequencies below 1 cpd and above 10 cpd.