Simulated Waves, Simulated Colour Channels & Simulated Subtractive Colour Space
Whilst it may be possible to see a finite set of colours with a perfect eye, it would be possible to perceive an infinite amount of colours by simulating waves and creating additional colour channels at their...
Perfect eye model and its perfect colour space:
Note: In this it'll only talk of a perfect eye in terms of being able to see colour perfectly, so the only wave property concerned is frequency*, excluding others like polarisation etc
*It is my understanding that it is the frequency rather than...
Some good points. I see the perfect eye, at its grandest scales, as something for a type 3 civilisation to do when it gets bored!
Have a read of my new post (after this one) in regards to hues, I go into more detail on the colour space model involved, see how that relates to the points you...
Apparently the rods in our eyes are sensitive to single photons, whilst the cones are not, so a single photon in our imperfect eyes can let us see something. In any case, a perfect eye should not be thought of as limited by our human faculties, and unless there is a reason why its hypothetical...
Thanks, that definitely helps, especially the correct definitions and terms.
Let me express the idea more clearly. When I speak of colours I'm referring to Photometric rather than Radiometric colours. What I'm suggesting in this thought experiment is that it may be possible to map the...
If you had an infinite amount of time would you be able to determine, with an ideal detector, the frequency (or wavelength) of a photon with infinite precision?
Aren't there uncertainty problems, even with unlimited time? Would you just be measuring a probability distribution?
In any...
That's one of the big questions posed by the thought experiment, is there a finite or infinite set of colours?
I thought of a few different approaches, the first asking is the EM spectrum continuous or discreet? Classically it is, do any Quantum theories suggest it is discrete?
The second...
That's true, there may or may not be a much of a biological advantage to a more complex eye, and the additional computation needs in image processing may be staggering and debilitating, biologically and/or economically. On the practical side it places limits on how complex an 'almost perfect...
I think that's the best way to put what a 'perfect eye' should be able to do; a complete characterisation of an electromagnetic wave.
Would it be correct to say that an upper limit spectrum that would be visible to a perfect eye would be the size of the eye itself? It's a fair assumption...
The idea behind this is not mainly concerned with extending the range of what is 'visible' within the EM spectrum, though it is an important part, but how many more 'colours' could be perceived and distinguished within what is visible. The larger question being posed is, could we reach a point...
A Forth approach:
Another approach to the 'perfect eye' is; rather than attempt to have a colour receptor for every colour, instead have simulated colour channels from a limited number of receptors that when processed as an image in a 'perfect brain' are able distinguish between all possible...
Thought experiment: The 'perfect eye' (and a finite set of colours)
Introduction:
Human beings have trichromatic colour vision, our ability to distinguish different colours at different spectral frequencies, and wavelengths, of electromagnetic radiation, or combinations thereof, is...
Thanks for the link.
The questions arose out of an idea / thought experiment I had, I think I might get further if I state the idea rather than try to understand bits and pieces of classical and quantum theories and how they relate to it.
I'll post it in a new thread titled: "Thought...
Thanks for your answers. I've got some more questions...
Do Planck Time and Planck Length (and other Quantum Theories) imply a discreet quality to time and space that leads to quantifiable energy and hence a quantifiable frequency of electromagnetic radiation and a discreet EM spectrum...