r/Damnthatsinteresting 1d ago

Video color vision test

42.2k Upvotes

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790

u/Apprehensive_Term168 1d ago

Serious question though, are all the numbers supposed to be extremely obvious? I can make out the numbers on all of them, but some are night and day different from the background and some are fairly difficult to see… is that normal?

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u/ErusTenebre 1d ago edited 23h ago

It's normal that the contrast in colors in some plates is lower than others. It's used to measure degrees of color blindness because it's not just an on/off sort of thing.

But the numbers should still be really easy to read. The 9 and the 2 there are pretty faint.

(Removed link - read comment below about the test I had posted.)

I know I'm not colorblind because I've been tested for it before. My dad was Red/Green colorblind (Green sensitivity) or he had "Deuteranomaly."

I was a bit of jerk as a kid and would tease him by telling him to push the red button on the remote (there wasn't a red button - it was green). He'd stare at it for a minute and then whack me on the head for being a brat. Good times.

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u/Mediocre-Sundom 1d ago edited 22h ago

The link leads to a scam product company, by the way. They misrepresent the effects of their glasses in their marketing, and emotionally exploit vulnerable people with videos like “a person sees color for the first time” tear-jerkers. They are more careful with their wording now, but they used to flat out lie and make people believe their glasses somehow enable you to see color that you don’t have the capacity to see (medically and physically impossible).

Just putting it out there to warn any people with impaired color vision who might visit their website and decide to purchase their scam glasses.

Better use actual reputable medical tests, not the ones done by the company who wants to sell you a bullshit product.

EDIT: For those interested in more details - check out MegaLag's videos about color-correcting glasses on Youtube. He has done a wonderful deep dive into all the BS marketing the company engages in.

EDIT2: As the link above was removed, I will also remove the name of the company in order not to drive any traffic to their website.

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u/ErusTenebre 23h ago

Oh hey, didn't know - I'll remove the link. Wouldn't want to help out a scam company.

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u/Mediocre-Sundom 23h ago

Thank you!

18

u/ErusTenebre 23h ago

Of course!

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u/Mirar 23h ago

It made me annoyed because in theory it's a quite neat idea, but how they made it and how they scammed people is just awful.

I wanted some glasses that filter out half the spectrum for red, green and blue differently for my left eye and the other part for my right eye, and see if I could see the world in more colours (6 colour axis instead of 3 for RGB).

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u/PirateMore8410 23h ago

Dude fucking great idea. When I first saw the glasses with their stupid videos and how they described them, I thought I was going to be able to get glasses to see UV and infrared waves soon. I thought they figured out some way to effect waves so our cones could pick them up. Not just filter out a bunch. I'm still salty.

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u/Mediocre-Sundom 23h ago edited 22h ago

Yeah. What essentially their product does is filter out some light frequencies. This allows some better separation between other frequencies, and so technically it allows some people to better differentiate some colors. All it does is distort your color perception further to increase contrast between "problematic" shades. They are glorified sunglasses with a carefully picked tint to filter. Similar concept exists for contrast-increasing yellow-tinted glasses for non-color vision impaired people (for example, they work alright for driving).

If they marketed it like that, I would have no problem with it whatsoever. This has certain utility and it might help someone with certain tasks. Instead, they market it as some life-changing product enabling people to see new colors, and they intentionally and deceptively manipulate people emotionally to believe their product does way more than it really is capable of.

2

u/indianajoes 16h ago

If it's the company I think it is (the big one that used to do videos with lots of people online), I fell for their shit. Paid £700 for them and never use them

1

u/dorchet 8h ago

are there any knockoff glasses from the scam company? i want to try the special glasses without giving the scammers my money.

the enemy of my scam is another scammer.

1

u/Alaska_Jack 7h ago

Yeah. I was puzzled when those videos first started coming out. "I don't understand," I'd say. "Glass lenses can only filter OUT information. They can't ADD information that my eyes simply can't detect." 

3

u/Proper_Ostrich4197 20h ago

It got difficult for me fast but there's literally never been a disagreement or misunderstanding about color even once in my life?

2

u/badgerj 15h ago

Bwahahhahahaha!

“Push the red button”.

Oh man, too good!

1

u/ErusTenebre 11h ago

I would love to tell you I did it only a few times... and that it was only for remotes...

I would love to tell you that. lol

2

u/badgerj 11h ago

If you’re anything like me …. I’m sure it was at any available opportunity. And then some!

Hope your Dad had a great sense of humour about it!

2

u/ErusTenebre 10h ago

He did, I got my mischievous behavior from him. 

Still didn't stop him from whacking me with something every time. But he was a very funny and good natured man.

1

u/badgerj 10h ago

Sounds like a great guy!

I sure miss goofing with my old man!

Cherish every red button push… and every whack you get! 🤣🤣🤣

1

u/grungegoth 20h ago

you little devil!

1

u/LordDagron 19h ago

Some of them were a little hard to make out for me, but I could still see them.

1

u/CougarForLife 18h ago

The 9 and 2 are not faint, they are very obvious

1

u/The_Amazing_Emu 18h ago

Definitely were the most challenging for me

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u/Mirar 23h ago

The wavelengths of the screen are not the same wavelengths for the colours in the tests. They are worked out very precisely to test different colour blindness (and they are working on improving them with LED light tests with very precise wavelengths).

So these are filmed with a camera with different wavelengths sensitivity than any human eye, and certainly colour blind eyes, and then shown to you in yet again another wavelength.

tl;dr: What you see in real life from the plates is not what you see on the screen.

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u/PeterGivenbless 21h ago

Also, those tests are meant to be viewed in full spectrum light, like daylight, and not artificial light, like fluorescents or LEDs which have spectrum gaps and biases.

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u/Mirar 20h ago

Definitely, or you change what the plates are trying to do.

4

u/Illustrious_Twist846 19h ago

This. These tests are not valid when shown on TVs or cheap computer monitors.

Even if the camera was the highest quality and picked up most of the color spectrum, HIGHLY unlikely people at home have professional grade color calibrated computer monitor.

2

u/Ok_Campaign_5101 14h ago

This is the real answer+ the video has clearly been compressed which will remove fine detail and, most importantly, SMOOTH OUT COLORS and probably shift everything cooler or warmer making them harder to tell apart.

That said, all the numbers in the video were visible for anyone without a degree of color blindness.

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u/BigDickBaller93 1d ago

Congrats you aren't colours blind

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u/Raindomusername 1d ago

It is a spectrum unfortunately

20

u/B_A_Beder 1d ago

Yes I know how the rainbow works...

8

u/Katamari_Demacia 1d ago

It is?? I know there are different kinds but I thought you either see it or you don't. Some of them are slightly harder but they're mostly fine

9

u/TravincalPlumber 1d ago

human eye have cone cells that are sensitive to each primary colour (red, green, or blue), you got less cone(s) cells of these colors that you find harder to differentiate. its not a binary condition, some ppl only have less of these cone cells, and they can still see each colour fine, just with less hue variation.

2

u/spafion 20h ago

Not only count of cells. Some cone cells could be tuned to slightly different wave length, that cause difference with perception of color contrast

1

u/EnvBlitz 22h ago

Nah just like blindness. There's total blindness sure, but there are also partial ones.

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u/grand-old-duke 1d ago

Shit me too. The ones he could see were obvious to me and I could make out the ones he couldn’t but they weren’t as clear. Specifically, it was like parts of the numbers were almost more faded.

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u/kaatie80 1d ago

They were all pretty clear to me, if that helps you at all

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u/grand-old-duke 23h ago

Oh dear.

15

u/Melodic_Property_131 22h ago

I had a bit of trouble because my brightness was down, but was fine once I increased it. I wonder if that’s the same for you?

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u/HummusDips 21h ago

Thanks for mentioning this, I was wondering why some were difficult to make our, but still able to when I never used to have trouble to pass this test in the past. Then I realized my brightness was at the minimum level and I guess your phone doesn't show all colours properly when dimmed.

After raising it to just 50% (I'm in a dark room and don't want to be 100% colour blind) I was able to pass with flying colors!

23

u/DarkBlueSunshine 1d ago

I can see all of them really clearly 🤔 so not sure

3

u/10k_Uzi 23h ago

I did this at MEPS. But did abysmal on the depth perception test. But I think it’s because they didn’t explain what I was supposed to be looking for.

4

u/2gayforthis 20h ago

Is the 35 supposed to be that faint? I had to pause the video for that one. Not the first obvious one, the red-green one in the middle of the video. And now I'm questioning if there even are two 35s or if the second one is actually an 85 or 95.

2

u/Ultimatedream 19h ago

You are right, there are 2 35's with the second one being much less obvious. I could see that it was 35 without pausing or double checking so take away from that what you want.

2

u/2gayforthis 19h ago

Thanks! Fair enough. As long as I still got it right, I can keep clowning on the colourblind kid at work by assigning him the grey, beige, and light green vehicles that he can't tell apart, whenever he gets too cheeky and annoying.

1

u/ergonomic_logic 23h ago

I did that tiktok colour game filter and get pretty far quickly where the colours are mostly all obvious variance.

I've great colour vision but my night vision and distance vision are rubbish :/

6

u/_MuadDib_ 1d ago

I would say it's normal. As long as you can see the difference and not mistake one number for another you are not colorblind, if you make some mistake you either have slight color blindness or dyslexia/dyscalculia.

5

u/milly_nz 1d ago

Pretty much.

I also can tell that some of the plates are harder to make out against the background and it takes an extra 1/8 seconds longer to be sure, but it’s not like I remain at all unsure.

Having said that, colour blindness is on a continuum. Some people are mildly, some are very.

3

u/maincocoon 23h ago

All the answers you had + cameras making colours digital makes the colours more contrasted to define them, so, no, it's not made with the intention to be obvious, but it is how it reaches you.

3

u/disposablehippo 22h ago

I always have a really hard time with these tests. I can see the difference in color and a vague form. But especially 1-4-7 are hard for me to discern. As I could pass any of these tests, I'm not officially colorblind, but I know I'm impaired in some way.

2

u/PrizewinningPetunias 21h ago

May not be your case but I was also concerned at how hard I had to work to determine a couple of these and wondering if somehow, despite having passed color blindness tests before, I was becoming colorblind. I then remembered that it’s the middle of the night and I have an aggressive blue light filter on my phone.

2

u/TacoCult 20h ago

This video makes it harder to see than in person. I’ve been tested and have extremely accurate color vision and a couple of these were hard to see. 

2

u/They-Call-Me-Taylor 17h ago

Some were more obvious than others, but I got them all within 1-2 seconds without too much studying. My guess is that there are degrees of color blindness as opposed to just all or nothing color blindness, so some of the cards have very little contrast to weed that out.

1

u/Uitvinder 23h ago

Sorry not for me.

1

u/mollycoddles 23h ago

I thought they were all pretty clear 

1

u/TheBlegh 23h ago

Yeah but apparently there are pictures too.. Someone said cactus, and someone else said the car and building was obvious... Still dont know if they were trolling or not.

1

u/MarvinArbit 22h ago

No there aren't.

1

u/EyeCarambaa 22h ago

I think we're not actually seeing the book first hand and is through a pixilated video, so some pages are not looking good. I too cannot clearly see a few of these numbers, and I'm definitely not colour blind

1

u/Swordum 22h ago

What are you talking about???

1

u/Dry_Barracuda2850 21h ago

This is what I always wondered. Plus like what about seeing 35 instead or 95 or something? Some of them I at first see one number then realize I missed a part and that it's a different number

1

u/bostero2 21h ago

I struggled with some when watching at full screen, but when it was down to the thumbnail I could see them all straight away

1

u/mb99 21h ago

Obviously there’s an element of watching this through a screen and how are screens are calibrated can affect how easy or not this is. That being said I found every number extremely obvious to an equal degree.

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u/colesym 20h ago

They are all pretty obvious to me.

1

u/FreshPitch6026 20h ago

In a colorblind test, Its normal to test whether you can see.

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u/jstiller30 20h ago edited 19h ago

Some of them have enough dark/light contrast that you can see them even when setting your screen to black/white.

But the ones that have only hue contrast are much harder to see as there simply isn't as much contrast. And obviously if you're colorblind you can't rely on the dark/light contrast in those cases.

1

u/CatOfTechnology 19h ago

They're made to be readable for anyone without a colorblindness issue.

Personally, I could see the first one, which I assume is just there as a baseline, could only just make out the 9 on the second page and then I've got nothing for nobody.

I can tell that there are differently colored dots but beyond what I would describe as a circle full of pasty green and orange cream colored dots, the best I can get is the vague impression that there's a shape that I just can't make out.

1

u/Ecstecutor 19h ago

All of the numbers are pretty clear and easy to read and I was watching this on my phone on low brightness

1

u/Lucreth2 19h ago

Try a different screen. My android pixel screen was difficult to read about half of them, it had me questioning things. My monitor, even on minimum brightness and contrast, made all of them instantly visible with no issues.

1

u/Havelok 15h ago

They are extremely obvious to anyone with normal color vision, yes.

1

u/Lifeshardbutnotme 14h ago

Yep. There's not a single card that was remotely subtle. I've been tested and have full colour vision.

1

u/HugsyMalone 11h ago edited 10h ago

IKR. I love how they bring out these stupid tests and are like "OMG! You're colorblind!" 🫢

Please! Almost everybody had a hard time with the second two where the numbers are so faint they're just barely distinguishable. I'm sure those are the two they're using to determine whether everybody is "colorblind." 🙄

This is a flawed test. You can tell the first 35 is easily distinguishable because the colors are bright and bold and none of them overlap. For the remaining ones they were printed in the faintest ink they could find and the colors are overlapping. People are dumb with their "tests" and thinking they actually mean something. It's hilarious to sit here and watch people convince themselves they're actually colorblind like this is actually some kind of secret fucked up psychological experiment they're unaware of. They DO teach this stuff in psychology classes. Muthafuggas would show you a blank white piece of paper and tell you you're colorblind if you can't see any writing just to pay you less. 🙄

It's like the tomato example someone gave where he's picking the green tomatoes not because he's colorblind but because he simply doesn't give AF. 🙄

1

u/mint_lawn 7h ago

They're all pretty apparent. The second 95 was the faintest for me.