This paper argues that a completed study pertaining to the various factors involved in the proper recognition and aesthetic application of moving images (primarily television pictures) should consider: (1) the individual viewer's general self-awareness, knowledge, expertise, confidence, values, beliefs, and motivation; (2) the viewer's understanding of society, institutions, and media in North America, and media fulfillment of viewer's needs, dreams, and desires; and (3) the viewer's knowledge and understanding of the idiosyncratic nature, the process and effects, of a visual communication medium such as television. On the basis of these factors the appropriate standards for the evolution of moving images must be drawn. The first section of this paper argues that the individual viewer's knowledge, awareness, and expertise are prerequisites for the establishment of the appropriate criteria that will assist in the recognition and evaluation of moving images. The second section explains how understanding society and institutions will help the individual viewer to create the necessary standards for the recognition and evaluation of moving images, particularly television images. The final section stresses the importance of the viewers' knowledge of the technical and artistic aspects of any given visual communication medium in the creation of the criteria for evaluating its messages. (Contains 44 references.) (Author/ALF)