The Economist
In a curious article about how other animals perceive time, the Economist had an interesting passage regarding some of the deeper science of our vision in comparison to our canine friends.
It
is called the critical flicker-fusion frequency, or CFF, and it is
the lowest frequency at which a flickering light appears to be a
constant source of illumination. It measures, in other words, how
fast an animal’s eyes can refresh an image and thus process
information. For people, the average CFF is 60 hertz (ie, 60 times a
second). This is why the refresh-rate on a television screen is
usually set at that value. Dogs have a CFF of 80Hz, which is probably
why they do not seem to like watching television. To a dog a TV
programme looks like a series of rapidly changing stills.
I have recently been told there is an entire channel dedicated to dogs (can someone confirm or deny this?) and I personally know a pet owner that leaves the TV on for his dog. Unless the CFF rate is adjusted, their dog is unfortunately likely sitting their with a goldfish brain look, mesmerized by the moving stills.
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