Are the color blind tests online fake... or am I actually blind?

[Mareykan]

So neither my father, nor my brother are colorblind so theoretically it should be impossible for me to be so.


However, when looking at those colorblind tests, I can never see the number.



http://i.imgur.com/jS2tAn0.jpg


For example, I can only read the "16" on the bottom right. In the rest of the images all I see are a mass of green with orange fleks, or a mass of Orange with green fleks.


Not sure if those are fake tests made to mess with people, or if I am actually color blind... help?

[Noclevername]

Get a professional test done. Don't ever go by online self-diagnosis.

So neither my father, nor my brother are colorblind so theoretically it should be impossible for me to be so.

Not technically true, recessive genes can be carried for a great many generations without your family's knowledge.

There's also more than one variety of color blindness. My brother in law is blue/violet color blind.

[Solfe]

One thing that pops into my head, real tests are pretty large. 4-6 inches across. On the web you could be dealing with a different size, or the file is untrue to the real colors or they actually manipulate the colors. I would think simply saving as jpeg could screw up the clarity. Someone could do a pretty good rendering of the actual images, but then goof it up with css.

In all of those images, I can detect the number or lack there of. 15, 16, 6, null, 8, 57, 29, 29, null, 2, 5, 16. When I do my own search, some of those images are coming off of pages that are for products to assist color blind people. One of those images (the fourth image in blue/purple) seems to be from a website that implies that you should see something and if you can't see a number, they have a product to sell you. Other images are feeding off redit and some of the posters there are calling "trolling" because they know they have good vision, but the colors seem to be altered in a way to make it harder to see. They seem faded to me.

My guess is that there is an odd collision of details that prevent you from seeing the numbers. It could be a computer/monitor setting as much as your eyes, and since you see fine, I would guess computer or deliberate obstruction on the part of the file creator. Eye tests are non-invasive, so a checkup would never hurt, but I don't think that is the issue.

[swampyankee]

So neither my father, nor my brother are colorblind so theoretically it should be impossible for me to be so.


However, when looking at those colorblind tests, I can never see the number.



http://i.imgur.com/jS2tAn0.jpg


For example, I can only read the "16" on the bottom right. In the rest of the images all I see are a mass of green with orange fleks, or a mass of Orange with green fleks.


Not sure if those are fake tests made to mess with people, or if I am actually color blind... help?

As said by Noclevername, color blindness is a recessive. Red-green color blindness is a sex-linked recessive, so it's frequently passed from one's mother, who need not be, and probably won't be, color blind.

[DaveC426913]

For example, I can only read the "16" on the bottom right. In the rest of the images all I see are a mass of green with orange fleks, or a mass of Orange with green fleks.

Well, you can see green and orange, apparently.

The lower right one is much more obvious than the rest. It may a test of total colour blindness (those who only see shades of grey).

All the others are very subtle.

Let's just look at one at a time. Can you not see any number in the top left?

[citpeks]

So neither my father, nor my brother are colorblind so theoretically it should be impossible for me to be so.


However, when looking at those colorblind tests, I can never see the number.



http://i.imgur.com/jS2tAn0.jpg


For example, I can only read the "16" on the bottom right. In the rest of the images all I see are a mass of green with orange fleks, or a mass of Orange with green fleks.


Not sure if those are fake tests made to mess with people, or if I am actually color blind... help?

The numbers are there. I cannot see the 4th one on the 1st row or the 3rd one on the second row. Approximately 6%-8% of people of European descent, 4%-6% of people of Asian descent, and 2%-4% of people of African descent have some type of defective color vision.

[Jens]

The numbers are there. I cannot see the 4th one on the 1st row or the 3rd one on the second row.

Ditto here. Well, I think I can see the 3rd one in the second row, but I'm not sure if it's correct.

[01101001]

The Ishihara Test (Wikipedia) has different kinds of plates, some in which the normally sighted see no number. I suggest not self-diagnosing using random images from a Google search.

Go to a pro who has the facilities and skills to diagnose.

Or at least use a site that tries to present the tests, and different kinds of tests, with care.

[Jens]

The numbers are there. I cannot see the 4th one on the 1st row or the 3rd one on the second row. Approximately 6%-8% of people of European descent, 4%-6% of people of Asian descent, and 2%-4% of people of African descent have some type of defective color vision.

Actually, there was just the link to the Wikipedia page, and actually in the 3rd one on the second row, you're not supposed to be able to see anything. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishiha...shihara_19.PNG.

[grapes]

In all of those images, I can detect the number or lack there of. 15, 16, 6, null, 8, 57, 29, 29, null, 2, 5, 16.

I agree with all your answers (whew! I was worried about those nulls) except the first "16", surely that's an error!

[Solfe]

I agree with all your answers (whew! I was worried about those nulls) except the first "16", surely that's an error!

Yeah... That was a typo. I still think its the rendering that is causing trouble. Too small, jpeg.

However, a good eye checkup is never a bad thing if you can do it. This year I graduated to progressive lenses and I can see a lot better now.

[Jim]

... the file is untrue to the real colors ... It could be a computer/monitor setting ... I would guess computer ...

Assuming no deliberate manipulation, these are good explanations.

I use two monitors at work. They show the same color in different hues.

... Red-green color blindness is a sex-linked recessive ...

Well, technically, all human genetic characteristics are sex-linked. Some, such as color blindness, are also gender-linked.

(Sorry. I'm bad, I know. )

[DonM435]

I have a two-monitor arrangement in my office, and that test is far easier on one than the other, probably just because of subtle adjustments in color and tint. Also, one display is slightly smaller.

[grant hutchison]

Checking your colour vision online isn't a good idea. You need to see the Ishihara plates at the correct size, printed in the correct colours, in the correct lighting, after a check that you have the necessary visual resolution.
Also, there are some plates in which the colour-blind sometimes see a different number from those with trichromatic vision, so it's not just a yes/no phenomenon.

If the only time you have difficulty with colour vision is when you look at Ishihara plates online, then presumably this isn't having a significant impact on your life, unless it's making you worried. If you're worried, see a specialist and get properly tested.

Grant Hutchison

[The Backroad Astronomer]

There was a prof who didn't know he was color blind until he got to university and while waiting for a bus he looked at some evergreen trees and realized they're called that because they are green all the time and not the grey he saw then as.

[swampyankee]

The two places in school where color blindness may matter are art class ("why is that tree grey?") and science lab, with something like the color changes in titrations or redox reactions. I've never seen any kind of accommodations for color blindness, and I've never heard of any.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

The prof was a physics prof and you have to take several electricity and magnetism courses. One of the has to do with electrical circuits and the way you figure out what resistance a resistor is, is by a several color coded bands on the resistor. His work is more in quantum physics.

[swampyankee]

The prof was a physics prof and you have to take several electricity and magnetism courses. One of the has to do with electrical circuits and the way you figure out what resistance a resistor is, is by a several color coded bands on the resistor. His work is more in quantum physics.

He was either very good at compensating or he had supportive partners in his lab classes.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

probably both.

[grant hutchison]

There was a prof who didn't know he was color blind until he got to university and while waiting for a bus he looked at some evergreen trees and realized they're called that because they are green all the time and not the grey he saw then as.

Actually, colour blind people don't see green as grey, unless they have a very rare, extreme form of colour blindness with monchromatic vision, in which everything is a shade of grey.
For the common variants of red-green blindness, the red-brown-green range of colours forms a single colour distinct from blue, and easily distinguishable from grey. Within the red-green range, they can partially distinguish some colours based on luminance - for instance yellow is very often brighter than red or green. I used to play snooker with a colour-blind person, who could easily pick out the yellow and green balls from the others, but had trouble separating the brown from the reds because the standard snooker colours are very similar in brightness.

Grant Hutchison

[The Backroad Astronomer]

I pretty sure he said he just things as grey but that wa twenty years ago,

[Noclevername]

The two places in school where color blindness may matter are art class ("why is that tree grey?") and science lab, with something like the color changes in titrations or redox reactions. I've never seen any kind of accommodations for color blindness, and I've never heard of any.

Also on a nuclear submarine, the wires and switches being color coded. Bad place for a mix-up.

[LookingSkyward]

Also on a nuclear submarine, the wires and switches being color coded. Bad place for a mix-up.

Yep - color vision is pretty important in electronics, as a lot of stuff (like resistors) are color coded.

[Nicolas]

I'm not colourblind in that sense that I pass most if not all tests. But I do tend to have lots of errors in identifying colours of lines displayed on monitors. A large part of my job is giving courses in which I explain graphs. Yeah. So whenever I'm in doubt, I just ask one of the students to tell the colour and then it's my turn to tell them lots of stuff they don't know. This does make for some awkward looks from the students who don't understand why I'd ask anyone what colour a line is.

[publiusr]

I saw a 3, a 16, and maybe a 29.

I live in a duller world.

[swampyankee]

Also on a nuclear submarine, the wires and switches being color coded. Bad place for a mix-up.

I think -- I'm not sure -- that color blindness is a bar to a commercial pilot's license or above.

[DaveC426913]

The Ishihara Test (Wikipedia) has different kinds of plates, some in which the normally sighted see no number. I suggest not self-diagnosing using random images from a Google search.

Indeed.

For some tests, you might only see a number if you are color-blind.
This may be a way of ruling out false positives.

So, yeah. If you're worried, go to a doctor, not the internet.

[NorthernDevo]

Interesting topic. I'm one that absolutely relies on my colour vision for my career - I'm a printer. I've taken far more colour-blindness tests than I care to remember; of several different types. I was interested to see how the familiar old Ishihara test fares online - it doesn't come close to the real thing. I agree with the others - if you're worried about colour-blindness (and no real reason you should be unless you have my job ) go to a specialist.

Out of curiosity I took the online version - about a year ago - of the CAT variant; a test in which you have to arrange coloured discs in order; the same one I had to take to get this job. IIRC I scored 96% in 6 minutes total for 4 trays (which is exceptional) for the real thing. The online version scored me at half that at almost 10 minutes - a failing grade. I'd say the online tests are a novelty; but little more.

Cheers!

[CJSF]

I'm a geospatial analyst specializing in the creation of large area, multi-resolution, color-balanced, seamless mosaics of satellite or digital aerial imagery. I've also taken some of the online color perception tests, and scored reasonably high. We used to employ a "super-seer" who could see extremely fine hue differences. Our program manager is red-green color blind, which makes for interesting project reviews at times.

CJSF

[Cougar]

My guess is that there is an odd collision of details that prevent you from seeing the numbers. It could be a computer/monitor setting as much as your eyes, and since you see fine, I would guess computer or deliberate obstruction on the part of the file creator....

Or Mareykan could actually have some color blindness. I certainly had no problem seeing the numbers in the screenshot he linked to, and I'm surprised Mareykan is saying he doesn't see any except for that last one....