Contrast sensitivity and viewing distance*

Abstract
The size of human visual receptive fields may change with accommodation or convergence distance of the eyes. Neural changes in receptive field size may be responsible for changes of visual acuity with viewing distance. A laser technique for creating sinusoidal interference fringes on the retina was used; it bypassed the influence of accommodation on the retinal image. Accommodation and convergence do not affect sinusoidal contrast sensitivity.