Journal of Multimedia and Information System VOL. 3, NO. 2, June 2016(pp.

43-46): ISSN 2383-7632(Online)

[Link]

Eyes and Lenses: A Comparison and Differences

Khojiakbar Egamberdiev 1,

Abstract
This article will compare the following visual categories: visual angle, distinguishable details, sensitivity, and dynamic range. These
categories are often considered within the subject of the maximum deviation from the camera eye, an issue which has generated much
controversy. Other characteristics such as depth of field, three-dimensional vision, white balance and color, are not considered in this
article.
Key Words: Eye, Lenses, Three-dimensional, Depth, Asymmetry, Vision in low light, Small gradation, Angle of view.

focal length of the lens and the size of the sensor. For
I. INTRODUCTION example, the focal length of a telephoto lens is greater
Our eyes are able to cast a glance on what is happening than that of a standard portrait lens, but because of that the
and act dynamically depending on the subject, while a angle of view is smaller:
camera records a single still image. Most people believe
this is the main advantage of the eye over the camera. For
example, our eyes are able to compensate for the
imbalance in the brightness of different subjects, can look
around to get a wider angle of view, and can focus on
objects at different distances.
However, the result is similar to most camcorders (not
cameras) because our consciousness collects several
opinions in a mental image. A quick glance of our eyes
would be a fairer comparison, but ultimately the
Fig. 1. Short and long focal length angle of view.
uniqueness of our visual system is irrefutable because of
the following: Unfortunately, it is not so simple to understand vision
What we are seeing is a mental reconstruction of objects through our eyes. Although the focal length of the human
based on images provided by the eyes - our eyes do not eye is approximately equal to 22 mm, this figure may be
actually see independently. misleading, since the fundus rounded, the periphery of our
field of vision, is less detailed than the center. Besides,
II. ANGLE OF VIEW what we see is the combined result of the two eyes.
Each eye has a separate view angle on the order of 120-
For cameras, the angle of view is determined by the 200°, depending on the closeness of the objects defined as
Manuscript received July 05, 2016; Revised July 20, 2016; Accepted August 20, 2016. (ID No. JMIS-2016-0011)
Corresponding Author (*): Khojiakbar Egamberdiev, Information technologies, Karshi branch of Tashkent University of
Information Technologies, Uzbekistan, Tel: +99890 609 42 00, E-mail: ehojiakbar1984@[Link]
1
Department of Information Education Technologies, Karshi branch of Tashkent University of Information Technologies,
Kashkadarya region, Uzbekistan, E-mail: ehojiakbar1984@[Link]

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 Eyes and Lenses: A Comparison and Differences

"observed". Accordingly, the overlapping area of the two depth. Extremely wide angles also lead to stretched
eyes is about 130° - almost as broad as that of a fisheye objects near the edges of the frame.
lens. However, for evolutionary reasons, our peripheral For comparison, despite the fact that our eyes produce
distorted wide-angle images, we reconstruct it in a
vision is only suitable for detecting movement and large
mental image in which there are no distortions.
objects (such as a lion pouncing from your side).
Moreover, such a wide angle would have looked very
III. DISCERNIBILITY and DETAIL
distorted and unnatural, if captured by a camera.

Most modern digital cameras have 5-20 megapixels,

which is often touted as a complete failure as compared
with our own vision. In fact, the ideal human eye is
resolution equivalent to a 52-megapixel camera (taking
the corners at 60°).
However, these calculations are misleading. Only our
central vision may be perfect, so that in fact we will
never reach such a resolution at a glance. As the
distance from the center of our vision increases, our
visual abilities fall dramatically - so much so that only
20° from the center of our eyes we already distinguish
only one-tenth of the original level of detail. At the
periphery, we find only large-scale detail and low
contrast colors:

Fig. 2. Angle of vision with two eyes of a human

Our central angle of view - on the order of 40-60° - has

the greatest effect on our perception. Subjectively, it is
related to the angle within which you will be able to
remember objects without moving the eyes. Incidentally,
this is close to the corner of a "normal" lens with a focal
length of 50 mm (if not accurately, then 43 mm) on a full
frame camera or 27 mm camera with a crop factor of 1.6.
Although this does not share the full angle of our vision, it
conveys well the way we see, achieving the best
compromise between the different types of distortion:

Fig. 4. Qualitative representation of visual detail at a glance

Considering this, it can be argued that one look of our

eye is able to differ details only comparable to the 5-15
megapixel camera (depending on the view). However, our
Fig. 3. (a) Wide Angle Lens (objects are very different sizes) and mind does not really remember images pixel by pixel; it
(b) Telephoto Lens (objects are similar in size) records notable detail, color and contrast for each image
differently.
If you will make the angle of view too big, the As a result, in order to recreate a detailed visual image,
difference in size of objects would be exaggerated, but our eyes are focused on a few items of interest, quickly
with too narrow an angle of view makes the relative alternating them. Here is a visual representation of our
sizes of the objects almost identical, and loses a sense of perception:

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Journal of Multimedia and Information System VOL. 3, NO. 2, June 2016(pp. 43-46): ISSN 2383-7632(Online)
[Link]

If, instead, we estimate the instantaneous dynamic range

of our eyes (at a constant width of the pupil), the camera
fares a lot better. An analogy can be obtained by looking at
one element of the scene, giving the eyes time to tune and
not looking anywhere else. In this case, as a rule, say that
our eyes can perceive dynamic range of the order of 10-14
f-steps—that absolutely covers most compact cameras (5-
7 steps), but is surprisingly close to the capabilities of SLR
cameras (8-11 degrees).
On the other hand, the dynamic range of our eyes
depends also on the brightness and contrast of the object,
Fig. 5. Original Scene and Articles of interest so that the above is true only in normal daylight. In dim
light of the star, our eyes can reach a much wider
For other important differences between the way our instantaneous dynamic range.
eyes differ to cameras in the details are as follows: Sensitivity—this is another important visual
Asymmetry. Each eye is able to perceive more detail characteristic that describes the ability to distinguish fuzzy
below the line of sight, the higher the peripheral vision or fast-moving subjects. In bright light, the modern
and with much more sensitivity in the direction of the nose. camera cannot keep up with a relatively fast-moving
Cameras capture images are absolutely symmetrical in object, as shown below in very unusual-looking results
detail. from fast shooting. It is, however, often possible for
cameras with ISO sensitivity over 3200; equivalent ISO
Vision in low light. In very low light, such as lunar or sensitivity to the human eye in daylight is assumed to be
stellar, our eyes actually begin to see in monochrome. In necessary.
such situations, our central vision also becomes less However, in low-light, the sensitivity of our eyes
vigilant than our vision slightly away from the center.
increases substantially (if you give them at least an hour
Many astrophotographers are aware of this and benefit
from the advantages of looking slightly away from dim for adaptation). Astrophotography evaluates its range at
stars if they want to see it with the naked eye. ISO 500-1000; not as high as in digital cameras, but close.
On the other hand, cameras have an advantage in that
Small gradation. Legibility of the smallest detail is often prolonged exposure means that they can detect still more
given too much attention, however small tonal gradations faint objects, whereas our eye does not see any new details
are also important - here our eyes and cameras differ the beyond anything longer than 10-15 seconds.
most. For a camera, greater detail always makes it easier
to convey a picture - but to our eyes, though it may be
contrary to intuition, increased detail can hinder vision. In V. CONCLUSION
the following example, both images contain the same
texture contrast, but in the image to the right it is not One could argue that arguments about whether the
visible because the level of detail was increased. camera surpass vision are inconsistent because the camera
requires a different standard: it needs to create a realistic-
IV. THE SENSITIVITY AND DYNAMIC looking photograph. The printed picture does not know on
what subjects the eyes will focus, so each part of the frame
RANGE must be extremely detailed - in case it will attract attention.
This is especially true for large or close range prints. It can
Dynamic range is one of the characteristics for which be argued, however, that a comparative evaluation of the
the eye is often seen as having a huge advantage. If we camera and the eye may be helpful.
consider the situation in which our pupil opens and closes In general, most of the benefits of our visual system
to account for differences in brightness, then yes, our eyes stem from the fact that our consciousness is able to
reasonably interpret the information transmitted by the
are far superior to the possibilities of a single image (and
eyes, whereas in the case of the camera all that we have is
can have a range in excess of 24 f-stops1). However, in the result of the sensor. However, even in this case,
these situations, our eyes adapt dynamically, as does the modern digital cameras handle surprisingly well, and for
video camera, so this is obviously an unfair comparison. some visual characteristics even surpass our eyes. A
photographer who is able to intelligently collect a few
pictures truly succeeds, surpassing even the image-
1
reconstruction of consciousness.
Dynamic Range. The most common unit of measure in the
photo is the f-stop, so we will continue to use it. Dynamic range
describes the ratio of the brightness of the brightest and most
dark objects in the frame in powers of two. That is, in a scene
with a dynamic range of 3 f-stops white 8 times brighter than
black (because 23 = 2x2x2 = 8)
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 Eyes and Lenses: A Comparison and Differences

References

[1] PASSING THE CULTURAL MESSAGE World

Heritage Communication and Media Training
Workshop. Session 4: Equipment, Image and Video
Composition and Script creation, December, 2013.
[2] Cicala, Roger, “The Camera Versus the Human Eye,”
November 17, 2012, PetaPixel,
[Link]
human-eye/.
[3] “Cameras vs. the Human Eye,” Cambridge in Color,
2015,[Link]
-[Link]
[4] “Camera vs. the Human Eye,” David C, VSP Blog,
June 28, 2013,[Link]
human-eye/.

Authors

Khojiakbar Egamberdiev
received the MS degree in Methods
of Professional Training from
Tashkent University of Information
Technologies, Uzbekistan, in 2009.
He is a teacher at Department of
Information Education Technologies,
Karshi branch of Tashkent University
of Information Technologies,
Uzbekistan. He has interests in the areas of virtual reality,
complex structure of geo-information in virtual tours. He has
published 4 papers in these areas. As well as he is in charge of to
organize education courses in area information technologies, as
chief of education center of E-Government.

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