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Afterimage

Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology

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Synonyms

Aftereffect; Ghost image; Image burn-in

Definition

An afterimage is an image that continues to be perceived after the physical stimulus that it originated from disappears from the observer’s visual field. The afterimage can be a result of an exposition to a grayscale pattern, a colored pattern, or even to a motion stimulus. There are different kinds of afterimages, for example, the positive one will be the same with the physical stimulus, while the negative one will result in the opposite in terms of luminance, colors, or direction of the physical stimulus that generates it.

Introduction

In everyday experience it is not so uncommon to experience several types of aftereffects. The observation done by Addams [1] while watching a waterfall near to the Loch Ness in Scotland is probably the most famous description of the motion aftereffect outside a scientific laboratory. The motion aftereffect was already observed by Aristotle and Lucretius in the ancient times, but the...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy

    Simone Gori

  2. Developmental Neuropsychology Unit, Scientific Institute “E. Medea”, Lecco, Italy

    Simone Gori

Authors
  1. Simone Gori
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Correspondence to Simone Gori .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Color Science & Imaging Lab, North Carolina State Univ, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Renzo Shamey

Section Editor information

  1. Color Science, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Rolf G. Kuehni

  2. Color Research & Application, Pennsville, NJ, USA

    Rolf G. Kuehni

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Gori, S. (2020). Afterimage. In: Shamey, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_271-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_271-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Afterimage
    Published:
    04 May 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_271-2

  2. Original

    Afterimage
    Published:
    21 September 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_271-1

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