EX-ITTEN-003 — HDR interface adaptation and recovery

Question and falsifier

How do peak luminance, bright-field area, and ambient illumination change post-highlight search, legibility, discomfort, and recovery? A field-size/adaptation account fails if recovery is invariant across physically verified exposure conditions.

Work completed

A parameter sweep crossed peak luminance 200/600/1000/2000 cd/m², bright-field area 1/10/40%, and ambient 0/50/200/1000 lux (48 conditions). An exponential recovery proxy generated initial sensitivity loss and time to 90% recovery.

Pilot results

Predicted 90% recovery time had median 9.1656 s, 95th percentile 14.2672 s, and maximum 16.0654 s. Predicted initial sensitivity loss had median .1849 and maximum .3864. These numbers are model outputs and must not become design thresholds.

Instrumented experiment ready to run

• Hardware: HDR reference or characterized consumer display, spot photometer or spectroradiometer, lux meter, chinrest, and response box.
• Exposure: neutral field followed by controlled white highlight; verify emitted luminance, area, duration, and surround for every trial.
• Tasks: pre/post contrast threshold staircase, low-contrast target search, reading, discomfort rating, and pupil diameter if available.
• Timing: dense sampling at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 30 seconds.
• Safety: conservative luminance/duration review, breaks, withdrawal rule, and exclusion for photosensitivity or relevant ocular conditions under ethics guidance.
• Analysis: hierarchical recovery curves; peak × area × ambient interactions; report both threshold elevation and task error.

Current position / continuation

Stage: simulation and parameter grid complete; no light was shown to participants. Next action: name and characterize the physical display and measuring instrument; then replace proxy parameters with a five-participant apparatus pilot. Data: ../experiments/data/ex-itten-003.json.