Visual perception is the human ability to see and make sense of our surroundings by virtue of the sensitivity of our eyes to wavelengths of light corresponding with all the colours we see between red and violet.
- The human eye and so human visual perception are tuned to the visible spectrum and so to colours between red and violet.
- Light, however, is rarely of a single wavelength, so an observer will usually be exposed to a range of contiguous wavelengths (together in sequence) of light or a mixture of wavelengths from different areas of the spectrum.
- There are no properties of electromagnetic radiation that distinguish visible light from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum other than frequency and wavelength.
- Visual perception is associated with eyesight but also usually refers to the brain’s ability to make sense of what our eyes see.
- The human eye and so human vision are tuned and respond to the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
- Colour is not a property of electromagnetic radiation, but a feature of the visual perception of an observer.
- Colour is what human beings see in the presence of light.
- Objects appear to be different colours to an observer depending on the wavelength, frequency and intensity of light at the moment it strikes the retina at the back of the eye.
Related diagrams
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Colour is not a property of electromagnetic radiation, but a feature of visual perception by an observer.
- The human eye and so human visual perception are tuned to the visible spectrum and so to spectral colours between red and violet.
- There are no properties of electromagnetic radiation that distinguish visible light from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
- Objects appear to be different colours to an observer depending on the wavelengths, frequencies and amplitude of visible light at the moment it strikes the retina at the back of the eye.