ELI5 Why do crt tvs flicker when you are not directly looking at them but don’t when you focus on them?

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ELI5 Why do crt tvs flicker when you are not directly looking at them but don’t when you focus on them?

Comments

  1. Hakunamatator Avatar

    You see “more frames” with the edge of your vision.

    (The rods, that are largely responsible for the wide angle of sight, don’t see color, so they can be faster and more sensitive than the cones, which are clustered in the middle of the eye and see color and better resolution) 

  2. octocode Avatar

    the edges of your vision are more sensitive to movement whereas the center sees more detail

    this evolved so we could simultaneously focus on a subject while being alert to threats around

  3. futuneral Avatar

    To make you look!

    This can be observed in other settings too. The area in the center of our vision is high resolution, but lower sensitivity/speed. The periphery is the other way around – not much detail, but better dark vision and also better sensitivity to change (higher refresh rate If you will). Evolutionary this is believed to serve two purposes: 1) make it easier to detect the movement of the prey/predators/hazards across the field of view 2) save resources – visual processing is an expensive job, so emphasize detection and speed in the periphery, but accuracy in the main area of focus.