Peter Popov wrote:
> 
> Hello, I am a newbie here and I don't know what this thing is, er..
> 
> Oops, wrong server.
> 
> Reallyy, what *is* persistence of vision? I know it's some phenomenon
> but I don't know what it is (or, more likely I know, but can't match
> the name with the thing). I know you guys, 80% of the replies will be
> of the nifty smartass type :) but still...

Not really the best question for this group but...

Let us use an example to describe the persistence of vision effect.
As you know it is possible to blink a light bulb or an LED and see
the individual flashes. As we speed up the flash rate it starts
to appear as though it is constantly lit even though we can verify
for ourselves that we are indeed still pulsing the light. This is
known as the persistence of vision effect. It is the same reason
why light bulbs that run on alternating current appear constantly
lit when we know that they are actually turned off and on 60 times
per second. The reason the light appears persistent is because
the light receptors in our eyes cannot react quickly enough to
resolve the individual on off cycles. There are other examples
of the persistence of vision effect but this is the best way
I know of to explain it.


-- 
Ken Tyler - 1400+ POV-Ray, Graphics, 3D Rendering, and Raytracing Links:
http://home.pacbell.net/tylereng/index.html http://www.povray.org/links/

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