Human Visual System—Spatial Visual Processing

The human visual system is a remarkably versatile and powerful spatial image processor. The eye itself is only a small part of the visual mechanism. The task of analyzing and comprehending the visual world is so complex that the brain devotes between one-third and one-half of the entire cerebral cortex to solving it: all of the occipital lobe and large parts of the parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes as well. To appreciate the magnitude of the task of visual processing, it is useful to consider some of the problems that the visual system must address in the course of analyzing visual images. Solutions to initial problems are discussed. Details on the visual processing of the eye including visual analysis and coding strategies and cortical processing are given. Keywords: problems; solutions; visual processing; eyes; photoreceptors; retinal processing; coding strategies; cortical processing

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