Generating high gray-level resolution monochrome displays with conventional computer graphics cards and color monitors

Display systems based on conventional computer graphics cards are capable of generating images with about 8-bit luminance resolution. However, most vision experiments require more than 12 bits of luminance resolution. Pelli and Zhang [Spatial Vis. 10 (1997) 443] described a video attenuator for generating high luminance resolution displays on a monochrome monitor, or for driving just the green gun of a color monitor. Here we show how to achieve a white display by adding video amplifiers to duplicate the monochrome signal to drive all three guns of any color monitor. Because of the lack of the availability of high quality monochrome monitors, our method provides an inexpensive way to achieve high-resolution monochromatic displays using conventional, easy-to-get equipment. We describe the design principles, test results, and a few additional functionalities. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.