Eyes / Ophthalmologists

Options for Color Vision Testing

Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue is the most sensitive that I know of. Occasionally some printing firms want their quality control people tested in this fashion. Patients place 100 color chips of similar brightness and very subtle differences in color hue in sequence. Patients with a color deficiency make characteristic errors in this sequence and results are plotted on paper.

They also make a Farnsworth-Munsell D-15 test that is more practical for the clinical office, whereas only 15 chips of colors need to be sequenced by the patient.

The almost standard test is the Pseudoisochromatic Color Plates by Ishihara. They were also made available (but no longer) by AO as the Hardy-Rand-Ritter (H-R-R) plates.

The age-old tests of using balls of different colored yarn or the red-green Lantern test are available for less definitive results.

I have used all of the above with good sucsess, but in asking around, have also learned of two other tests: 1) the Colormaster which is computerized and programmable for presenting color sequences to the patient (much like the Munsell tests) and 2) the Nagel Anomaloscope, of which I have never even seen a photograph of, but assume by the sounds of it may not be useful in routine clinical exams. Both of these pieces of equipment may be of help with testing for scientific research.