Factors Affecting How We See Color

Factors Affecting How We See Color

In addition to innate or learned color perception, there are many other factors that affect color vision:

  • Lighting: Light plays a HUGE role in color perception. It's actually the color of the light that determines the color your brain will perceive. Examine samples side-by-side when comparing colors, preferably under controlled lighting conditions.
  • Age: As we get older, our perception of color starts to fade. Luckily, color perception is not just inborn, it's also a learned skill.
  • Poor Color Memory: Human color memory is horrible! Even looking at two colors across the room from each other to see if they match is futile.
  • Retinal Fatigue: Our eyes get tired very easily. When we stare at an object for longer than a few seconds, chemicals in our eyes start to deplete, and begin sending incorrect information to our brains.
  • Backgrounds Effects: There is a phenomenon called simultaneous contrast in which the background on which we are evaluating color strongly affects our eye's ability to correctly perceive the color.

Take the Challenge

How accurate is your color vision? Take the Online Color Challenge Test and Find out.

If you have any questions about color or how to make improvements in your color workflow, feel free to contact one of our Color Experts using the form on this page.

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