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Visual artifact

Visual artifact is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Visual artifact rather than just read about it. In short: Visual artifacts (also artefacts) are anomalies apparent during visual representation as in digital graphics and other forms of imagery, especially photography and microscopy. In digital graphics Image quality factors, different types of visual artifacts Compression artifacts Digital artifacts, visual artifacts resulting from digital image processing Noise Screen-door effect, also known as fixed-pattern noise (FPN)…

Visual artifact — main illustration
Visual artifact — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Visual artifact belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Visual artifact to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Visual artifact from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Visual artifacts (also artefacts) are anomalies apparent during visual representation as in digital graphics and other forms of imagery, especially photography and microscopy.

In digital graphics

Image quality factors, different types of visual artifacts Compression artifacts Digital artifacts, visual artifacts resulting from digital image processing Noise Screen-door effect, also known as fixed-pattern noise (FPN), a visual artifact of digital projection technology Ghosting (television) Screen burn-in Distortion Silk screen effect Rainbow effect Screen tearing Moiré pattern Color banding

In video entertainment Many people who use their computers as a hobby experience artifacting due to a hardware or software malfunction. The cases can differ but the usual causes are:

Temperature issues, such as failure of cooling fan. Unsuited video card (graphics card) drivers. Drivers that have values that the graphics card is not suited with. Overclocking beyond the capabilities of the particular video card. Software bugs in the application or operating system. The differing cases of visual artifacting can also differ between scheduled task(s).

In photography

These effects can occur in both analog and digital photography.

Chromatic aberration due to optical dispersion through a lens, leading to color fringes at high-contrast boundaries in a photograph Purple fringing Motion blur Near-camera reflection, visual artifacts caused by the backscatter of light by unfocused particles

In microscopy

In microscopy, an artifact is an apparent structural detail that is caused by the processing of the specimen and is thus not a legitimate feature of the specimen. In light microscopy, artifacts may be produced by air bubbles trapped under the slide's cover slip. In electron microscopy, distortions may be produced in the drying out of the specimen. Staining can cause the appearance of solid chemical deposits that may be seen as structures inside the cell. Different techniques including freeze-fracturing and cell fractionation may be used to overcome the problems of artifacts. A crush artifact is an artificial elongation and distortion seen in histopathology and cytopathology studies, presumably because of iatrogenic compression of tissues. Distortion can be caused by the slightest compression of tissue and can provide difficulties in diagnosis. It may cause chromatin to be squeezed out of nuclei. Inflammatory and tumor cells are most susceptible to crush artifacts.

In radiography In projectional radiography, visual artifacts that can constitute disease mimics include jewelry, clothes and skin folds.

In magnetic resonance imaging

In Magnetic resonance imaging, artifacts can be classified as patient-related, signal processing-dependent or hardware (machine)-related.

References

Illustrations

Visual artifact: A retinography. The gray spot in the center is a shadow artifact.
A retinography. The gray spot in the center is a shadow artifact.
Visual artifact: Circular artifacts caused by backscatter from raindrops
Circular artifacts caused by backscatter from raindrops
Visual artifact: Confocal laser scanning fluorescence micrograph of thale cress anther (part of stamen). The picture shows among other things a nice red flowing collar-like structure just below the anther. However, an intact thale cress stamen does not have such collar, this is a fixation artifact: the stamen has been cut below the picture frame, and epidermis (upper layer of cells) of stamen stalk has peeled off, forming a non-characteristic structure. Photo: Heiti Paves from Tallinn University of Technology.
Confocal laser scanning fluorescence micrograph of thale cress anther (part of stamen). The picture shows among other things a nice red flowing collar-like structure just below the anther. However, an intact thale cress stamen does not have such collar, this is a fixation artifact: the stamen has been cut below the picture frame, and epidermis (upper layer of cells) of stamen stalk has peeled off, forming a non-characteristic structure. Photo: Heiti Paves from Tallinn University of Technology.
Visual artifact illustration
Visual artifact illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Visual artifact

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Visual artifact claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Visual artifact before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Visual artifact ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Visual artifact

In research
Visual artifact appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Visual artifact in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Visual artifact is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computer graphic artifacts, Visual artifacts, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Visual artifact outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Visual artifact in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Visual artifact means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Visual artifact out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Visual artifact in simple terms?

Visual artifacts (also artefacts) are anomalies apparent during visual representation as in digital graphics and other forms of imagery, especially photography and microscopy. In digital graphics Image quality factors, different types of visual artifacts Compression artifacts Digital artifacts, vis…

Why does Visual artifact matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Visual artifact?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Visual artifact.

Tags

  • Computer graphic artifacts
  • Visual artifacts

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