Participants performed a word-non-word discrimination task within a car control display emulated on a thin film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD). The task simulated an information read-out from a TFT-LCD-based instrument panel. Subsequently, participants performed a low-contrast object detection task that simulated the detection of objects during night-time driving. In experiment 1, words/non-words were presented black-on-white (positive polarity) or white-on-black (negative polarity). In experiments 2 and 3, display colour was additionally manipulated. A positive polarity advantage in the discrimination task was consistently observed. In contrast, positive displays interfered more than negative displays with subsequent detection. The detrimental after-effect of positive polarity displays was strong with white and blue, reduced with amber and absent with red displays. Subjective measures showed a preference for blue over red, but a slight advantage for amber over blue. Implications for TFT-LCD design are derived from the results. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting