When the sun shines intensely onto greenery and buildings, they look especially crisp & hi-def. Is there a phenomenon going on here?

Question

I have always noticed this, but looking through what I’m convinced is an orange-tinted bus window, the scenery looks even more unreal, as if a 4k ad you’d see on a TV.

In: Physics

Answer 1

What we perceive as sharpness is largely influenced by local contrast – large differences between light and dark tones in the same small areas of the scene. When direct sunlight falls on a scene, the lights are lighter, making a greater contrast with the local darks. We perceive this increase in local contrast as increased crispness/sharpness.

Edit: clarity.