Age, illuminance, visual performance and preference

Relationships between age, illuminance, visual performance and preference are derived from tests in which 150 subjects performed four tasks: self- and externally-paced Landolt-ring charts, conveyor inspection and a tracker task. Replies to questionnaires enabled preferences to be estimated. Performance results indicate a strong interaction between age and illuminance for the Landolt-ring tasks but not for the conveyor or tracker task. Differences in performance of the Landolt-ring task are largely eliminated by an increase in illuminance. The preference results indicate a decrease in task difficulty and an increase in satisfaction as the illuminance is increased.