Spatial Resolution

Spatial resolution refers to the smallest spatial detail, typically expressed as a spatial frequency, that the visual system can resolve as distinct rather than blurred together. Campbell and Robson (1968) applied Fourier analysis to vision, showing that spatial resolution is best understood not as a single acuity number but as a contrast sensitivity function across many spatial frequencies, with sensitivity peaking at intermediate frequencies and falling off at both very coarse and very fine detail. This framework explains why two people with identical eye-chart acuity can differ meaningfully in how well they detect subtle, low-contrast detail, exactly the kind of detail that separates a visible target from its background in a cluttered game scene.

Reference: Campbell & Robson, 1968. The NeuroRank implementation holds the canonical form and scales interference via task-irrelevant stimulus density.

1. Distinguishing an enemy silhouette from a textured background at long range, where the target and the background differ in fine spatial detail more than in raw brightness.
2. Reading a distant minimap icon or a small UI element at a glance without needing to consciously zoom in.
3. Picking out a camouflaged player model against foliage, a low-contrast, high-spatial-frequency discrimination problem.

NeuroRank does not run a formal acuity or contrast-sensitivity test, since browser-based combines cannot control physical viewing distance or display calibration. The Aim module's distFromCenter metric partially reflects spatial resolution demands, since precisely localizing a target's exact position requires resolving fine spatial detail near the target's edge.