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research article

An LCD tachistoscope with submillisecond precision

Sperdin, Holger F.
•
Repnow, Marc
•
Herzog, Michael H.  
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2013
Behavior Research Methods

Tachistoscopes allow brief visual stimulation delivery, which is crucial for experiments in which subliminal presentation is required. Up to now, tachistoscopes have had shortcomings with respect to timing accuracy, reliability, and flexibility of use. Here, we present a new and inexpensive two-channel tachistoscope that allows for exposure durations in the submillisecond range with an extremely high timing accuracy. The tachistoscope consists of two standard liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors of the light-emitting diode (LED) backlight type, a semipermeable mirror, a mounting rack, and an experimental personal computer (PC). The monitors have been modified to provide external access to the LED backlights, which are controlled by the PC via the standard parallel port. Photodiode measurements confirmed reliable operation of the tachistoscope and revealed switching times of 3 mu s. Our method may also be of great advantage in single-monitor setups, in which it allows for manipulating the stimulus timing with submillisecond precision in many experimental situations. Where this is not applicable, the monitor can be operated in standard mode by disabling the external backlight control instantaneously.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.3758/s13428-012-0311-0
Web of Science ID

WOS:000328272100034

Author(s)
Sperdin, Holger F.
Repnow, Marc
Herzog, Michael H.  
Landis, Theodor
Date Issued

2013

Published in
Behavior Research Methods
Volume

45

Issue

4

Start page

1347

End page

1357

Subjects

Visual perception

•

Tachistoscope

•

Subliminal stimulation

•

LCD

•

LED backlight

•

Visual stimulation device

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LPSY  
Available on Infoscience
February 12, 2013
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/88794
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