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Albert Rose studied this question in the 1940's and developed the Rose Criterion which states that the signal-to-noise ratio ($SNR$):

$$SNR=\dfrac{\mu}{\sigma}$$

For $100$% identification of an object by the human eye is $SNR \approx 5$. He based this off of quantum arguments where he looked at the average number of photons per unit area in an photo image and stated gave the equation $\Delta N = kN^{\frac{1}{2}}$ where $\Delta N$ is the smallest perceptible change and $N$ is the average number of quanta absorbed in a pixel and $k$ is the $SNR$ (see eq 1, 1a and figure 1).

If one uses this ratio, then in two independent pixels one can distinguish one from the other if there are an average of $100$ quanta absorbed in the pixels, then one would be able to distinguish between the two, if one had $50$ quanta more than the other. This relationship has an obvious limit when the average number of quanta are $\ge 7$ and all the photon ($14$ total for two pixels) are found in one pixel and not the other, as shown in the table below.

Albert Rose studied this question in the 1940's and developed the Rose Criterion which states that the signal-to-noise ratio ($SNR$):

$$SNR=\dfrac{\mu}{\sigma}$$

For $100$% identification of an object by the human eye is $SNR \approx 5$. He based this off of quantum arguments where he looked at the average number of photons per unit area in an photo image and stated gave the equation $\Delta N = kN^{\frac{1}{2}}$ where $\Delta N$ is the smallest perceptible change and $N$ is the average number of quanta absorbed in a pixel and $k$ is the $SNR$ (see eq 1, 1a and figure 1).

If one uses this ratio, then in two independent pixels one can distinguish one from the other if there are an average of $100$ quanta absorbed in the pixels, then one would be able to distinguish between the two, if one had $50$ quanta more than the other. This relationship has an obvious limit when the average number of quanta are $> 7$ and all the photon ($> 14$ total for two pixels) are found in one pixel and not the other, as shown in the table below.

Albert Rose studied this question in the 1940's and developed the Rose Criterion which states that the signal-to-noise ratio ($SNR$):

$$SNR=\dfrac{\mu}{\sigma}$$

For $100$% identification of an object by the human eye is $SNR \approx 5$. He based this off of quantum arguments where he looked at the average number of photons per unit area in an photo image and stated gave the equation $\Delta N = kN^{\frac{1}{2}}$ where $\Delta N$ is the smallest perceptible change and $N$ is the average number of quanta absorbed in a pixel and $k$ is the $SNR$ (see eq 1, 1a and figure 1).

If one uses this ratio, then in two independent pixels one can distinguish one from the other if there are an average of $100$ quanta absorbed in the pixels, then one would be able to distinguish between the two, if one had $50$ quanta more than the other. This relationship has an obvious limit when the average number of quanta are $\ge 7$ and all the photon are found in one pixel and not the other, as shown in the table below.

Albert Rose studied this question in the 1940's and developed the Rose Criterion which states that the signal-to-noise ratio ($SNR$):

$$SNR=\dfrac{\mu}{\sigma}$$

For $100$% identification of an object by the human eye is $SNR \approx 5$. He based this off of quantum arguments where he looked at the average number of photons per unit area in an photo image and stated gave the equation $\Delta N = kN^{\frac{1}{2}}$ where $\Delta N$ is the smallest perceptible change and $N$ is the average number of quanta absorbed in a pixel and $k$ is the $SNR$ (see eq 1, 1a and figure 1).

If one uses this ratio, then in two independent pixels one can distinguish one from the other if there are an average of $100$ quanta absorbed in the pixels, then one would be able to distinguish between the two, if one had $50$ quanta more than the other. This relationship has an obvious limit when the average number of quanta are $\ge 7$ and all the photon ($14$ total for two pixels) are found in one pixel and not the other, as shown in the table below.

Albert Rose studied this question in the 1940's and developed the Rose Criterion which states that the signal-to-noise ratio ($SNR$):

$$SNR=\dfrac{\mu}{\sigma}$$

For $100$% identification of an object by the human eye is $SNR \approx 5$. He based this off of quantum arguments where he looked at the average number of photons per unit area in an photo image and stated gave the equation $\Delta N = kN^{\frac{1}{2}}$ where $\Delta N$ is the smallest perceptible change and $N$ is the average number of quanta absorbed in a pixel and $k$ is the $SNR$ (see eq 1, 1a and figure 1).

If one uses this ratio, then in two independent pixels one can distinguish one from the other if there are an average of $100$ quanta absorbed in the pixels, then one would be able to distinguish between the two, if one had $50$ quanta more than the other. This relationship has an obvious limit when the average number of quanta are $\ge 7$ as shown in the table below.

Here one would have to assume all the photon are found in one pixel and not the other.

Albert Rose studied this question in the 1940's and developed the Rose Criterion which states that the signal-to-noise ratio ($SNR$):

$$SNR=\dfrac{\mu}{\sigma}$$

For $100$% identification of an object by the human eye is $SNR \approx 5$. He based this off of quantum arguments where he looked at the average number of photons per unit area in an photo image and stated gave the equation $\Delta N = kN^{\frac{1}{2}}$ where $\Delta N$ is the smallest perceptible change and $N$ is the average number of quanta absorbed in a pixel and $k$ is the $SNR$ (see eq 1, 1a and figure 1).

If one uses this ratio, then in two independent pixels one can distinguish one from the other if there are an average of $100$ quanta absorbed in the pixels, then one would be able to distinguish between the two, if one had $50$ quanta more than the other. This relationship has an obvious limit when the average number of quanta are $\ge 7$ and all the photon are found in one pixel and not the other, as shown in the table below.