Research suggests that our moment-to-moment visual impressions of the world do not preserve precise details. One reason for this less-than-perfect representation may be that

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Boundary extension, where people remember seeing more of a scene than was actually shown, contributes to the phenomenon that our visual memories do not preserve precise details. This is because our mind fills in parts of the scene that were not actually viewed, leading to less accurate representations.  When we look out a window, we don't believe that the world stops at the window's edge. Our knowledge about the world extends our view beyond what we immediately see. If we look at a photograph, we are likely to create the same kind of boundary extension by remembering that the photo included a broader view than it actually did. This visual "error" makes sense in terms of understanding that it is beneficial for us to be able to complete a larger scene from a single glance.

Research Suggests That Our Moment-To-Moment Visual Impressions of the World