Colour Vision

By Najwa Mansuri
2nd Year BMCO
What is COLOUR VISION ??
• The ability of an eye to discriminate between different colours excited
by light of different wavelength.
• Colour vision is a function of cones and thus better appreciated in
photopic vision
• Colour vision is one among the 5 visual functions.
• Colour vision is subjective sensation.
• A normal individual sees all the wavelength between violet to red. If
the wavelength is shorter than that of violet ,the light becomes UV and
is beyond visibility.If the wavelength is greater than 750nm , the light
is infrared and is again beyond visibility.
• In dim light , all the colours are seen as grey ; this is called
PURKINJE SHIFT PHENOMENON.
Theories of colour vision…
1. Trichromatic Theory:
given by THOMAS YOUNG and HELMHOLTZ.

2.Opponent Colour Theory:

given by GERMAN PHYSIOLOGIST; EWALD HERING.

3.Zone Theory:
given by Donder.
 COLOUR ATTRIBUTES…
1.HUE:dominant spectral colour is
determined by the wavelength of
particular colour.
2.SATURATION: it refers to the
degree of freedom from dilution
with white.
3.BRIGHTNESS: the lightness or
brightness of a colour depends upon the
luminosity of the component wavelength.
NORMAL COLOUR VISION:

• Two types of photoreceptors :

• Rods
• Cones

• Most people are Trichromats.

• Color vision well developed by 3 months of age
 There are three types of cones:
• Red cones, blue cones and green cones.
• Each type of cone has a different range of light sensitivity and their
stimulation in various combinations accounts for the perception of
colours.
• In an individual with no colour defects, the cone population consists of
74% red cones, 10% green cones and 16% blue cones.
Colour blindness…
• An individual with normal colour vision is known as
TRICHROMATE.
• In colour blindness , the faculty to appreciate one or more primary
colours is either defective (anomalous) or absent (anopia).
• It may be congenital or acquired.
 PROTANOMALY

ANOMALOUS
DEUTRANOMALY
TRICHROMATISM

TRITANOMALY

DYSCHROMATOPSIA

PROTANOPE
COLOUR VISION DEFECTS

DICHROMATISM DEUTRANOPE
CONGENITAL

TRITANOPE
ACQUIRED
CONES

ACHROMATOPSIA COMPLETE

RODS
INCOMPLETE
 ACQUIRED COLOUR VISION
DEFECT:
1.NOTICABLE TO OBSERVER. CONGENITAL COLOUR VISION
2.MONOCULAR/ASSYMETRICAL. DEFECT:
3.DECREASE IN VA & CHANGE IN 1.DETECTED ON TESTING OF
DARK ADAPTATION. COLOUR VISION.
4.PATHOLOGICAL DEFECT TO 2.BINOCULAR / SYMMETRICAL
RETINA , OPTIC NERVE OR VISUAL 3.NORMAL VA & NORMAL DARK
CORTEX. ADAPTATION.
4.NO PATHOLOGICAL DAMAGE
 RODS CONES
MONOCHROMATISM: MONOCHROMATISM:
1.VA IS POOR ABOUT 1.VA IS BETTER ABOUT
6/60. 6/12
2.PHOTOPHOBIA 2.NO PHOTOPHOBIA OR
&NYSTAGMUS NYSTAGMUS
3.TOTAL INABILITY TO 3.COLOR VISION
DIFERRENTIATE COLOURS COMPLETELY ABSENT
4.TYPICAL TYPE;2 FORMS 4.DISORDERIS RARE;AN
COMPLETE AND IN ATYPICAL FORM OF
COMPLETE MONOCHROMATISM
COLOUR VISION
TESTS:
OCCUPATIONAL ASPECTS OF COLOUR
VISION:
1.Occupations that require normal colour vision.
• Colour matchers in textile, garment, paint and other industries which require
exact colour matching.
• Occupations involving restoring and retouching of paintings and woks of art. Etc.
2.Occupations that have a colour standard but may admit those with mild
colour vision defects.
• Armed forces.
• Aviation (pilots and air traffic controllers).
• Electrical and telecommunications trades.
• Commercial driving (truck, taxi, bus ,etc. )
THE COLOUR VISION TESTS ARE DESIGNED FOR :

1.Screening defective colour vision from normal.

2.Qualitative classification of colour vision.
3.Quantitative classification of degree of deficiency.
• BASED ON THE FOLLOWING:
i.Colour confusion [ Ishihara test, AO-HRR test]
ii.Hue discrimination [ Farnsworth-Munsell 100-HueTest, Farnsworth-
Munsell D-15 Panel Test ]
iii.Colour matching [Anomaloscopes, Holmgren Wool Test]
iv.Colour naming [ Lantern Test ]
v.Colour saturation [Sahlgrens Saturation Test]
1.ISHIHARA TEST:
• This test is based on colour confusion.
• It is a screen test for protan and deutan defects.
• It comes in three different forms : 16 plates,24 plates,38 plates
• A figure or symbol in one colour is placed on a background of dots of
another colour.
How to perform the test??

•The test plates should be held under adequate daylight or room

illumination.
•The plates are held at 75 cms from the subject and tilted so that the
plane of the paper is at right angle to the line of vision.
•The time given to read each plate should not be more than 3 secs.
Types of plates used??

1.Demonstration Plate

• It is read by both normal

• trichromats as well as colour
• deficient persons.
2.Transformation
plates:

• A normal trichromat reads it as 8.

• Red-Green deficient person reads
• it as 3.
• Monochromats see no number at all.
 3.Vanishing Plates:
• A normal trichromat reads it as 7 .
• A Red-Green deficient person does not
• see any number.
 4.Hidden Digits Plate:
• A normal trichromat sees no number
at all.
• Majority of Red-Green deficient
people see the no 73.
5.Diagnostic Plates:
• A normal trichromat reads it as 35.
• Strong protanomalous or protanopic person sees only 5.
• Strong deuteranomalous or deuteranopic person sees only 3.
• Mild protanomalous or mild deuteranomalous
observers see both the digits i.e. 3 and 5 , but
protanomalous observers see 5 brighter and
clearer than 3 while deuteranomalous observers
see 3 brighter and clearer than 5.
6.Tracing Plates:
• These plates are used to detect Red-Green defects in children and
illiterate patients.
• These plates use tracing rather than naming the number or letter.
2.FRANSWORTH MUNSELL D15 TEST:
It is a colour arrangement test based on hue discrimination.
• The test is designed to distinguish between :
- Severe colour deficient people and
-Normal trichromats and slight colour deficient people.
• The results are recorded as Pass or Fail.
• The D-15 Panel includes one fixed or reference colour cap and 15
moveable coloured caps within a single tray.
3.FRANSWORTH MUNSELL 100 HUE
TEST:

• The sequence of numbers on the back surface of the caps is recorded and
plotted on a polar coordinate graph.
• Results are interpreted by looking at the plotting pattern of error scores.
• Since the colour difference between adjacent discs is very small , people
with normal colour vision usually make some mistakes when carrying out
the test.
• Due to this, the test has added value in being able to identify people with
superior colour discrimination.
4.AO-HRR TEST:

• American Optical Hardy-Rand-Rittler test is based on colour

confusion.
• It overcomes the limitations of Ishihara’s Test as it can also be used for
the screening of Blue-Yellow defect apart from Red-Green defect.
• However, these test plates are out of print and not commercially
available.
5.THE NAGELS ANOMALOSCOPE:

Anomaloscopes are instruments that assess the observer’s ability to make

metameric matches.
• The first anomaloscope was designed by Nagel in 1907 and is based on
colour match known as Rayleigh equation, that is,
• R+G=Y
• The Nagel anomaloscope is used in the diagnosis of Red-Green
deficiencies : protanomaly, deuteranomaly, protanopia and deuteranopia.
6.HOLMGREN WOOLTEST:

• It is based on colour matching.

• The patient is given a sample of a definite colour of wool and asked to
select from a heap of wool, all those colours of wool which seem to
correspond with the given woolen string.
• It is not a very accurate test but is a good screening test, especially for
children.
7.SAHLGRENS SATURATION TEST:

• It is based on colour saturation.

• The test is intended for the assessment of acquired colour deficiencies.
• There are 12 colour samples and each colour is held in a cap which
subtends 3.5° at a test distance of 30 cms.
• The large size is intended to compensate for poor visual acuity in
patients with acquired colour deficiency.
• There are 5 greenish-blue hues and 5 purplish-blue hues in two series
of ranked saturation steps and 2 grey samples
• Subjects sort the colours into groups, which are either greenish,
purplish or grey.
• Some subjects assume that each group should have an equal number of
caps and select three groups of four samples.
• Normal are therefore allowed to make two errors.
• The results are given as a numerical score.
• The test is reliable and takes less than 2 minutes.
8.CITY UNIVERSITY COLOUR TEST:

• Includes 10 pages.
• Was developed by City University in London.
• Similar to the Farnsworth D15 test.
• The test presents the sample and four additional figures, which the
patient chooses.
• Each tests for normal, deutan, protan, or tritan depending upon the
specific plate.
• Hold the booklet at 35 cm from the patient.
• Allow about 3 seconds for each page.
• Subject task is to choose the one that most closely resembles the color
of the central spot.
9.NEITZ SCHOOL TEST:

• The Neitz test of color vision provides a practical method to screen

large groups of children or adults for color vision deficiency.
• Uses shapes similar to the HRR Pseudoisochromatic Plates permitting
administration to illiterate and pre-literate.
10. The Edridge Green Lantern Test:

• It is an occupational test based on colour naming.

• It is specially designed for examination of truck drivers , railway
personals and other candidates of transport services.
• The lantern had 5 rotating discs each with 8 apertures.
• Disc 1 has different aperture size and disc 2,3 and 4 contain coloured
filters.
• There are 8 colours:
• RED (2)
• GREEN (2)
• WHITE
• YELLOW
• BLUE
• PURPLE
• The test is performed in a dimly lit room
• The subjects is asked to name the colours shown to him and is judged
by the mistakes he makes.
• However, the test is not reliable as the subject may see the colour
differently but name it differently.
Titmus V4 Vision Screener:

© Honeywell International
PEDIATRIC COLOUR VISION TESTS:

• Preferential looking for screening

• Mollon reffin minimalist test
• Verriest color vision test
• Fletcher-Hamblin
• The Pease and Allen test
• Ohkums
• City university color test
 Colour Vision Facts…
• About 8% of all men are suffering from color blindness.
• The terms protan, deutan, and tritan are Greek and translate to first,
second, and third.
• Dogs do see in color, but have two-color, or dichromatic vision, that
is, they cannot distinguish between red, orange, yellow or green. They
can see various shades of blue and can differentiate between closely
related shades of grey that are not distinguishable to people. Cats have
the ability to distinguish between blues and greens, but lack the ability
to pick out shades of red.
This image (when viewed in full size, 1000 pixels wide) contains 1 million pixels, each of a
different
color.

The human eye

can distinguish
about 10 million
different colors.
• Color blindness is also called Daltonism, after the scientist John
Dalton.
• John Dalton was also colorblind himself.
Facebook
is blue because its
founder,
Mark Zuckerberg,
suffers
from red-green
color
blindness.
• It is illegal for color blind people who live in Romania and Turkey to
have a driver’s license. The laws in those countries were implemented
based on fear that color blind drivers could not read traffic signals.
•  A father can’t pass his red-green color blindness on to his sons.
• If a woman is red-green colorblind, all her sons will also be
colorblind.
Special Thanks To...
• Professor Ankit Varshney
• Goooogle Baba
• A K Khurrana - Anatomy and Physiology of eye
• Jennifer Birch - Colour Vision book
• Mr. Nooruz Zaman - Colour Vision PDF
• Optom Amruta Prajapati
• Book - Borish’s clinical refraction
• Book - Primary eye care in optometry