What spatial frequency do we use to detect the orientation of a Landolt C?

ABSTRACT

We calculated the two-dimensional Fourier spectrum of a Landolt C. For Landolt Cs of orthogonal orientation, the main differences in the amplitude spectrum were found at a low frequency such that 1.3 periods were equal to the size fo the Landolt C, rather than at the high frequency corresponding to the size of the gap, i.e., such that 2.5 periods were equal to the size of the Landolt C. We compared visual acuity assessments obtained with Landolt C optotypes and the cut-off of the contrast sensitivity function measured with sinusoidal gratings. We found that the frequency corresponding to the size of the gap is twice the latter frequency. We suggest that, in fact, this lower frequency can be used to determine the position of the gap.