Doesn't our perception of light also depend on the biology of our retinal mechanisms like rods and cones? The mantis has 16 pairs of rods and cones, so the visibility spectrum for them will be different.
yongchi1
Is there a sudden visual change between visible light and invisible light (like we can see all light with wavelength 700nm, but cannot see any light with 701nm)? If so, what is the reason behind this phenomenon?
anonymous_panda
I believe that cones have 3 different photopigments that responds to different region of the visible spectrum. Rods only has 1 so it can only detect light/no light.
keenan
@BellaJ The range we can see depends entirely on our biology. Other creatures (and digital sensors) will have a different range of visible frequencies. But we still use the term “visible spectrum” to refer to the range of frequencies (roughly) visible to humans.
keenan
@yongchi1 It’s a gradual drop off, not a sudden one: as we approach the end of the visible range, the response tapers off to zero.
ericchan
Among humans, how varied is the range for the visible spectrum? What factors cause differences between humans in their visible ranges - for example, does age affect the spectrum you can see?
Doesn't our perception of light also depend on the biology of our retinal mechanisms like rods and cones? The mantis has 16 pairs of rods and cones, so the visibility spectrum for them will be different.
Is there a sudden visual change between visible light and invisible light (like we can see all light with wavelength 700nm, but cannot see any light with 701nm)? If so, what is the reason behind this phenomenon?
I believe that cones have 3 different photopigments that responds to different region of the visible spectrum. Rods only has 1 so it can only detect light/no light.
@BellaJ The range we can see depends entirely on our biology. Other creatures (and digital sensors) will have a different range of visible frequencies. But we still use the term “visible spectrum” to refer to the range of frequencies (roughly) visible to humans.
@yongchi1 It’s a gradual drop off, not a sudden one: as we approach the end of the visible range, the response tapers off to zero.
Among humans, how varied is the range for the visible spectrum? What factors cause differences between humans in their visible ranges - for example, does age affect the spectrum you can see?