Space-variant models of visual acuity using self-adjoint integral operators.

The purpose of this paper is to outline a more general approach to visual acuity experiments than the classical methods borrowed from the optical sciences. A theory based on integral operators with symmetric kernels replaces the standard use of filters constructed from windowed sines and cosines. This more general approach allows greater latitude in the range of phenomena to be modelled. It also permits all the standard techniques used in Fourier expansion of a stimulus and response to be generalized to a space-variant system such as the human visual field.