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Test your color acuity


mike dixon

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<p>I've taken similar color perception tests before and noticed a huge difference in acuity when I took one while experiencing a migraine. It persuaded me to stick to b&w, unless I'm going for that funky retro faded/shifted color look, because some days I can't even see cyan/magenta shifts, while other days the same flaws are obvious.</p>
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<p>I have taken the exact same test about 5 years ago and back then got a 23 and on the repeat a 16 and on the second repeat an 8. On the first try now it was 35. If I stare at the color blocks for too long, I get confused and my eyes tire - and some blocks don't seem to fit no matter where I place them. Fairly certain that most of my mistakes are a simple position swap away from being correct. Might try this again when the room is dark.</p>
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I took it in 2008 on a cheap LCD monitor I had calibrated "by eye" and got a 7.

I passed it on to my family at the time, and looked on while they took it on their various computers. It seemed to me that the monitors made a big difference. My eyes are pretty sensitive to light temperature, the left is about 200K warmer than my right, that may also be an advantage. -jeffl.

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There is/was a physical version of this with little round pots of colors (like ones that eyeshadow comes in, if you're at

all familiar with those). It was common in some forensic labs to have anyone doing comparison involving color take

the tests. In some cases, getting a single one wrong meant you didn't do those cases. With the physical ones, I got

a perfect score on two of them and had two shades switched on the other two (I don't remember which).

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<p>It is sometimes easier to perceive when it is wrong than when it is correct. So, here is the strategy (trick) I used. After I had moved them all and it looked good to me, I went down the line and reversed each pair to see which was better un-reversed or reversed. Sort of like when the eye doctor asks you to choose between two variations of lenses. I found a few that weren't correct.</p>
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<p>I don't think anyone should worry too much about the results of this test, at least with respect to your color vision. It's as much about your specific monitor/setup as it is your vision.</p>

<p>I'm pretty familiar with the actual test on which this is based, the "FM100 Hue Test" per X-rite, and have seen test results of dozens and dozens of professional color correctors back in the heyday of pro labs. By comparison, the web version is more like a parlor game. Note that X-rite doesn't even call it a "test," they stay with the word "challenge."</p>

<p>If you DO get a very good score on the web version, then I agree, you probably have good color discrimination as well as a nicely set up monitor. But if, for example, you get a score of 50 or so (not very good), it might very well be that your color discrimination ability is as good as that of anyone else, but your monitor is somehow deficient.</p>

<p>So if you get a poor score, don't automatically assume that there is a deficiency with your vision. Now, if a couple other people outscore you substantially on your own system, then it's a different story.</p>

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<p>Got a 3 on my second attempt, a day later, after recalibrating my monitor and waiting until the room was darker. I also took a few breaks to let my eyes rest. But I'm still prone to error in the same green/blue-green cluster, which is probably why I have difficulty some days accurately estimating skin colors.</p>
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<p>Line, I think the test should not be described as "accurate"; rather more "valid" or not.</p>

<p>Turns out the test is indeed valid because it's looking for vision monotonicity, or put another way, the eye's ability to discern minute differences in colour gradation over some defined range.</p>

<p>Monitor and ambient light differences will only make the test (slightly) more or less challenging because it's more difficult to discern differences under low(er) light - resulting in a hue shift, but the gradation remains the same.</p>

<p>I would agree with you if the test was designed to reveal ones ability in absolute colour recognition.</p>

<p>The only objection I have about the test is that the colours are generated by a light source rather than reflected light as naturally occurring on Earth - we as photographers are rarely required to discern differences in colours of light sources.</p>

<p> </p>

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