Better television for visually-impaired

 

Researchers give digital TV contrast-enhancing benefits.

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Digital TV can be adapted to aid those with visual impairment. Schepens Eye Research Institute scientists have found that by enhancing the contrast of images on digital televisions, those with low vision capability caused by a degenerative eye disease like glaucoma, can have their TV viewing experience significantly improved.
 
According to the International Glaucoma Association (IGA), glaucoma of some type is found in about two per cent of the population over the age of 40. It is estimated that more than 500,000 people suffer from glaucoma in England and Wales alone, with more than 70 million people affected across the world.
 
Led by Dr Eli Peli, the Institute’s low vision expert, a Moakley Scholar in Aging Eye Research, and a professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, the team have created the first method of improving the digital television experience for those suffering low vision. Peli said: “We knew it was time to address the changing technology.”

Decoder modification

The team worked with a decoder that enabled them to make a simple change on a digital television to enhance its potential for the visually impaired. “The same modification could easily be made to new HDTVs, and digital cable set top boxes,” said Matthew Fullerton, the paper’s first author published in the Journal of the Optical Society, and a student of electronic engineering from the University of York.
 
To test this new method, 24 patients with vision impairment were given the chance to increase or decrease the contrast of the eight digital videos they were shown for the greatest clarity. The team learnt that the amount of enhancement selected by those with vision impairment varied depending on the level of contrast sensitivity loss they have experienced due to the disease.
 
Peli added that he believes that as the population ages, this technology will be used by more and more of those whose eyes are going through a normal change as they get older as well as those more severely impaired.

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