Color Deficiency Tests

Dr. Shinobu Ishihara developed the most widely used tests for color blindness while he was a military physician in the Japanese Army in the early 1900’s. He hand painted the first charts himself using watercolors and Japanese characters instead of numbers.  

Today the plates are printed to exacting standards and used all over the world as a first test for red-green color deficiency.

You have probably seen these plates for the standard color blind test somewhere, at the doctors’ office, in a book, or maybe on the web.

Remember the scene from Little Miss Sunshine when Dwayne’s dream of being a test pilot was shattered by the sudden realization that he was color blind? 

Did you know that one in 12 men have some form of a color vision defect compared to fewer than one in a hundred women? 

Here are some facts about color vision defects.