The Role of Background Blur and Contrast in Perceived Translucency of See-through Filters

Abstract

Translucency is an appearance attribute, which primarily results from subsurface scattering of light. The visual perception of translucency has gained attention in the past two decades. However, the studies mostly address thick and complex 3D objects that completely occlude the background. On the other hand, the perception of transparency of flat and thin see-through filters has been studied more extensively. Despite this, perception of translucency in see-through filters that do not completely occlude the background remains understudied. In this work, we manipulated the sharpness and contrast of black-and-white checkerboard patterns to simulate the impression of see-through filters. Afterward, we conducted paired-comparison psychophysical experiments to measure how the amount of background blur and contrast relates to perceived translucency. We found that while both blur and contrast affect translucency, the relationship is neither monotonic, nor straightforward.