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Ishihara Colour Vision test compiled using images of the retina.

The artist has used various images of retinal disease to compile the ishihara style image.

Ishihara Colour Vision test compiled using retina

Colour blindness is tested using these eight placards. They are known as Ishihara charts. They are named after their inventor, Japanese ophthalmologist Shinobu Ishihara (1897–1963). Each image consists of closely packed coloured dots and a number. The patient must identify the number or image he or she can see. The type of colour blindness a patient has is identified using the range of charts. There are several types of colour blindness. These range in severity. In dichromatism, there is difficulty seeing one of the three primary colours: red, blue or green. In anomalous trichomatsis, there is reduced sensitivity to certain colours. In the rarer monochromatism, there is no colour vision and the world is seen in white, black and grey shades. Ishihara devised his test in 1917. It is still used.

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Used to test for colour blindness, this test is named after its inventor, Shinobu Ishihara (1897–1963), a Japanese ophthalmologist. Each image is made up of a series of closely packed coloured dots and includes a number. The patient is asked to identify the number or image that they can see. By using the range of charts, the type of colour blindness a patient has can be identified. There are three types of colour blindness: daltonism – inability to distinguish reds from greens (the most common type); monochromatism –where all colours appear as shades of one colour; and total colour-blindness. Ishihara devised his test in 1917 and is still used today.

publisher: H. K. Lewis & Company Limited

Place made: London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Day	Times
Monday	Closed
Tuesday	10:00—18:00
Wednesday	10:00—18:00
Thursday	10:00—22:00
Friday	10:00—18:00
Saturday	10:00—18:00
Sunday	11:00—18:00

Day	Times
Monday	10:00—18:00
Tuesday	10:00—18:00
Wednesday	10:00—18:00
Thursday	10:00—20:00
Friday	10:00—18:00
Saturday	10:00—16:00
Sunday	Closed

Day	Galleries	Library
Mon	Closed	10:00—18:00
Tue	10:00—18:00	10:00—18:00
Wed	10:00—18:00	10:00—18:00
Thu	10:00—22:00	10:00—20:00
Fri	10:00—18:00	10:00—18:00
Sat	10:00—18:00	10:00—16:00
Sun	11:00—18:00	Closed

Day	Times
Monday	Closed
Tuesday	11:00—18:00
Wednesday	11:00—18:00
Thursday	11:00—22:00
Friday	11:00—18:00
Saturday	11:00—18:00
Sunday	11:00—18:00

Day	Times
Monday	08:30—18:00
Tuesday	08:30—18:00
Wednesday	08:30—18:00
Thursday	08:30—22:00
Friday	08:30—18:00
Saturday	09:30—18:00
Sunday	10:30—18:00

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Ishihara Colour Vision test compiled using retina

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Ishihara colour blindness test, London, England, 1948

Shinobu Ishihara. Photograph.

Portrait of Shinobu Ishihara.

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Search our images

Ishihara Colour Vision test compiled using retina

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Eight Ishihara charts for testing colour blindness, Europe, 1917-1959

Ishihara colour blindness test, London, England, 1948

Shinobu Ishihara. Photograph.

Portrait of Shinobu Ishihara.

Stay connected with email updates from Wellcome Collection

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