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Title:

COLOR AND BRIGHTNESS FACTORS IN SIMULATED AND FULL-SCALE TRAFFIC SIGN VISIBILITY

Accession Number:

00220136

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

A TRAFFIC SIGN REQUIREMENTS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON FACTORS AFFECTING ABILITY AND ATTENTION VALUE. OUTDOOR OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE BY SUBJECTS RIDING OVER A STANDARDIZED COURSE. MATHEMATICAL MODELS BASED ON KNOWN VISUAL AND LOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS WERE TESTED AGAINST EACH SET OF LABORATORY RESULTS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT AVERAGE VISIBILITY AND ATTENTION VALUE OF HIGHWAY SIGNS CAN BE ESTIMATED FROM CHARACTERISTICS OF LEGEND, SIGN AND ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND. RELATIVE BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST OF SIGN-TO- BACKGROUND AND OF LEGEND-TO-SIGN ARE OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE FOR VISIBILITY AND THE ATTENTION VALUE. IN VISIBILITY EFFECTS FROM COLORS, RELATIVE BRIGHTNESS IS OF MOST IMPORTANCE, BUT HUE CONTRAST ENHANCES THE BRIGHTNESS EFFECTS IN SOME CASES. FOR BEST VISIBILITY, A SIGN SHOULD BE DARKER AGAINST A BRIGHT DAY BACKGROUND BUT BRIGHTER AGAINST A DARK DAY OR NIGHT BACKGROUND. A FORMULA FOR ESTIMATING VISIBILITY EFFECTS IS SUGGESTED ON AN APPROXIMATE BASIS AND WITHIN LIMITS.

Supplemental Notes:

Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Monograph Accession #:

01410164

Authors:

Forbes, T W
Pain, R F
Joyce, R P
Fry Jr, J P

Pagination:

pp 55-65

Publication Date:

1968

Serial:

Highway Research Record

Issue Number: 216
Publisher: Highway Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures (6) ; References (9)

Old TRIS Terms:

Subject Areas:

Highways; Safety and Human Factors

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Jul 29 1994 12:00AM

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