This thesis assessed the readability of CRT displays viewed under ambient lighting conditions and then evaluated the findings with respect to the ISO 9241-7 standard. More specifically, two phases of work were conducted in this thesis. In Phase 1, seven monitors were evaluated photometrically according to the ISO 9241-7 standard to determine whether they were Class I, II, or III in positive and negative polarity. Additionally, six filters were attached to each of the monitors and their ISO Class also was assessed. All monitor/filter combinations yielded either Class I or II in positive polarity and Class II, III or failed in negative polarity.

In Phase 2, fourteen participants were asked to read Tinker passages from seven display/filter combinations (tested in Phase 1) under five lighting conditions and two screen polarities. The purpose of the Phase 2 was to determine if people perform differently for Class I, II, or III monitor/filter combinations. The dependent measures were the time to read the Tinker passage (reading time) and the ability to identify the out of context word in each passage (accuracy). An Analysis of Variance was used to determine the significant effects of reading time and accuracy. The ANOVA results indicate that specular glare interferes significantly more with reading time than does diffuse glare.

Diffuse (200 lux) and Specular reading times also were correlated against two ISO metrics: screen image luminance ratio (Diffuse, 200 lux) and specular reflection luminance ratio. Reading times did not correlate with the screen image luminance ratio, but they did correlate with one of the ISO specular reflection luminance ratios.

The results of this thesis indicate that the ISO standard should not equally weight the screen image and the specular reflection luminance ratios. Additionally, the results indicate that it is not necessary to have separate ISO Classes for positive and negative polarity. Furthermore, people did not read differently for Class I, II, or III monitor/filter combinations. Finally, the data of this investigation provide an initial human factors database for use in assessing the validity of ISO 9241-7.