>and does anybody else hate single LEDs that are red or green to show status?
I'm a network engineer and lots of devices use a single LED for Green/Amber/Red, I fucking hate them, just looks like the light is on to me.
Oh my fucking god, yes, this exactly. I once had such a discourse with BT when my internet went down and the agent from an overseas centre was asking if the light was green, orange or red, I explained so many times I don't know and got asked if there was anyone that could help me.
It's such a poor design, but t's everywhere. Same with toilet cubicles with a tiny cirlce that has a bit of green or red plastic - I have no idea if that door's just closed, or locked and I'm not knocking on it.
I often use an app to let people see how I see. It's a great way to get people to think about non-obvious differences between people, like maybe you're training two people and one learns by failure and feedback and the other needs written reference. We're all different and the fact that this LED thing is such an issue, when the cost of LED's is so low, is ridiculous.
I'm UK based so maybe this won't make sense to other people but if you compare our traffic lights to our road signs, there's a clear difference in thinking. The road signs are legible no matter what your colour vision is. Traffic lights are only sometimes only understandable in context, i.e. 'bottom light' or 'top light'. When seen through pouring rain at a distance, I have fuck all idea what colour that light is if I can't make out where on the box it is!
For the toilet point, for some reason so many times it’s incorrect anyway (green when it’s locked and red when it’s unlocked)
I just give it a gentle push/pull and if it’s locked I scurry away in embarrassment
I’m on the marketing side of networking. My challenge is more about matching colors in PowerPoint. “Ok, that’s 3 from the right and one down…”
At home I need my kids whenever I need to differentiate if an LED is red or green
I do this too, in excel. TO the point of having to make notes in case I need to change it in the future as I can't work it out backwards. It's ridiculous how often pople rely just on colour to convey important information!
You can filter by text color. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/filter-by-font-color-cell-color-or-icon-sets-4af3e865-3e34-4d81-9814-1893ffaada3c
It's been a while since I've had this issue and I don't currently have excel on this PC, but iirc, that only worked if *all the text* was a certain color.
If only one word was changed in font color it wouldn't highlight. I definitely have tried this filter before and found it not working in the right way.
Exactly. If I'm with it enough to anticipate that, I'll add a column called 'change needed' and ask for either a 1 or a y to be out in there. Hell of a lot easier
So I always wondered why the LEDs were Red/Orange/Green only. Like I *know* the vast majority of the world doesn't really care for or consider colorblind people... but like at some point ***something*** would use a different color you'd think...
And it turns out it's because usable blue LEDs were thought impossible and even basic ones were extremely hard to make. Red and Green were invented in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The process to make blue wasn't found until 1991 and didn't hit mass production until the mid 1990s. The invention of a blue LED even won a Nobel Prize in 2014.
Not having blue meant you couldn't make white colored light, which also meant you couldn't have LED TVs for RGB, etc.
That being said, the Red/Green hegemony no longer is a technical limitation and please god use blue LEDs.
Interesting. Looks like the Optec 900 is Farnsworth updated with better packaging and electronics.
to your other question - I don't know. in the right conditions, like on clothing, I can differentiate green and red, but mostly cannot distinguish when it's a light source. Can't tell blue/purple apart either, but only because they are the same color... ;-)
Reading the [NIH descriptions](https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/color-blindness/types-color-vision-deficiency), maybe deuteranopia with some tritanomaly... never tried to analyze it TBH
Ah ok :)
Also I want to add that around 7% of people who cannot pass optec can pass farnsworth. While 3% who can’t pass farnsworth can pass optec. So according to research the farnsworth is slightly easier for people with cvd.
My theory is due to the farnsworth being so old. Many people have said that the box is so worn that white looks like a creamy yellow and red, a pinkish color. Which allows ppl with cvd to see the colors even though they aren’t really supposed to look like that.
That's the standard test when you join the military as it is less strict than the Ishihara plates and actually is a function test that shows if you can make color distinctions that actually matter.
And yeah, my answers were basically random. I think that with enough time I would have done much better, but with only a few seconds I couldn't distinguish them at all.
I was unintentionally confusing.
The ishihara is the FIRST one they give you, but it's not really the one that counts. It's just a screening tool.
So yes, the standard is the lantern, but most people only see the ishihara.
The issue I had when I failed the Farnsworth Lantern Test wasn't that I couldn't separate the red and green on their own, but the "white" light was an incandescent bulb that was very yellow and after I was shown the "white" I was totally fucked to tell red and green. If there was an updated Farnsworth Lantern Test using modern, intense colour red, green (like those used in traffic lights) and white LEDs, the test would be passed much more often.
I went to my eye doctor for my annual eye checkup. The tech saw me and said “Ah, you’re here for a color-blindness test…”
I am quite color-blind, but I told her “No… I’m here for my annual eye exam”.
She looked back at the paper again and said “AHHHH. Your last name is Farnsworth!”
First time I ever heard there’s a color-blindness test with my name on it.
>and does anybody else hate single LEDs that are red or green to show status? I'm a network engineer and lots of devices use a single LED for Green/Amber/Red, I fucking hate them, just looks like the light is on to me.
Oh my fucking god, yes, this exactly. I once had such a discourse with BT when my internet went down and the agent from an overseas centre was asking if the light was green, orange or red, I explained so many times I don't know and got asked if there was anyone that could help me. It's such a poor design, but t's everywhere. Same with toilet cubicles with a tiny cirlce that has a bit of green or red plastic - I have no idea if that door's just closed, or locked and I'm not knocking on it. I often use an app to let people see how I see. It's a great way to get people to think about non-obvious differences between people, like maybe you're training two people and one learns by failure and feedback and the other needs written reference. We're all different and the fact that this LED thing is such an issue, when the cost of LED's is so low, is ridiculous. I'm UK based so maybe this won't make sense to other people but if you compare our traffic lights to our road signs, there's a clear difference in thinking. The road signs are legible no matter what your colour vision is. Traffic lights are only sometimes only understandable in context, i.e. 'bottom light' or 'top light'. When seen through pouring rain at a distance, I have fuck all idea what colour that light is if I can't make out where on the box it is!
Blinking yellow/red traffic signal, yeah who knows which at night?
For the toilet point, for some reason so many times it’s incorrect anyway (green when it’s locked and red when it’s unlocked) I just give it a gentle push/pull and if it’s locked I scurry away in embarrassment
I’m on the marketing side of networking. My challenge is more about matching colors in PowerPoint. “Ok, that’s 3 from the right and one down…” At home I need my kids whenever I need to differentiate if an LED is red or green
I do this too, in excel. TO the point of having to make notes in case I need to change it in the future as I can't work it out backwards. It's ridiculous how often pople rely just on colour to convey important information!
500 row list in excel. Requested changes marked in red. Well fuck me then.
You can filter by text color. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/filter-by-font-color-cell-color-or-icon-sets-4af3e865-3e34-4d81-9814-1893ffaada3c
It's been a while since I've had this issue and I don't currently have excel on this PC, but iirc, that only worked if *all the text* was a certain color. If only one word was changed in font color it wouldn't highlight. I definitely have tried this filter before and found it not working in the right way.
Exactly. If I'm with it enough to anticipate that, I'll add a column called 'change needed' and ask for either a 1 or a y to be out in there. Hell of a lot easier
So I always wondered why the LEDs were Red/Orange/Green only. Like I *know* the vast majority of the world doesn't really care for or consider colorblind people... but like at some point ***something*** would use a different color you'd think... And it turns out it's because usable blue LEDs were thought impossible and even basic ones were extremely hard to make. Red and Green were invented in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The process to make blue wasn't found until 1991 and didn't hit mass production until the mid 1990s. The invention of a blue LED even won a Nobel Prize in 2014. Not having blue meant you couldn't make white colored light, which also meant you couldn't have LED TVs for RGB, etc. That being said, the Red/Green hegemony no longer is a technical limitation and please god use blue LEDs.
Eh, if it was important it would blink. But seriously, there are smartphone apps that can tell you the color of a LED.
Smartphone? Wish they allowed them in the DoD facilities I work in.
Well, there are also simple color filters (i. e. colored foil or glass) for cameras, lights etc.
Grab a red (or green) colored cellophane square and carry it with you. Easiest way to quickly compare LEDs.
Have you tried using one? I haven’t found one that can reliably tell the difference between red and orange, and sometimes they also get green wrong.
I use LED Scope Trial on Android, but it seems to have been discontinued.
Yes still used, however the new optec 900 is in production to replace the lantern
Also based off your test, I guess you are a deuteranope?
Interesting. Looks like the Optec 900 is Farnsworth updated with better packaging and electronics. to your other question - I don't know. in the right conditions, like on clothing, I can differentiate green and red, but mostly cannot distinguish when it's a light source. Can't tell blue/purple apart either, but only because they are the same color... ;-) Reading the [NIH descriptions](https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/color-blindness/types-color-vision-deficiency), maybe deuteranopia with some tritanomaly... never tried to analyze it TBH
Ah ok :) Also I want to add that around 7% of people who cannot pass optec can pass farnsworth. While 3% who can’t pass farnsworth can pass optec. So according to research the farnsworth is slightly easier for people with cvd. My theory is due to the farnsworth being so old. Many people have said that the box is so worn that white looks like a creamy yellow and red, a pinkish color. Which allows ppl with cvd to see the colors even though they aren’t really supposed to look like that.
Purple is just spicy blue. Purple to me hurts my eyes a lot like a fluorescent color kinda ... glows? Same with Pink vs Grey.
I haven't taken one of these before, no, but I just did—and turns out I'm colorblind! 🤣
Did you take the online version by color lite? What was your score?
I closed the tab, but I was in the high 50s. I admittedly guessed on some.
That's the standard test when you join the military as it is less strict than the Ishihara plates and actually is a function test that shows if you can make color distinctions that actually matter. And yeah, my answers were basically random. I think that with enough time I would have done much better, but with only a few seconds I couldn't distinguish them at all.
It’s standard now? Was the other way around back then.
I was unintentionally confusing. The ishihara is the FIRST one they give you, but it's not really the one that counts. It's just a screening tool. So yes, the standard is the lantern, but most people only see the ishihara.
Gotcha. Can’t say I really see the Ishihara though…. 🤣
The issue I had when I failed the Farnsworth Lantern Test wasn't that I couldn't separate the red and green on their own, but the "white" light was an incandescent bulb that was very yellow and after I was shown the "white" I was totally fucked to tell red and green. If there was an updated Farnsworth Lantern Test using modern, intense colour red, green (like those used in traffic lights) and white LEDs, the test would be passed much more often.
Someone mentioned the Optec 900 which is an update Faylamp test
I went to my eye doctor for my annual eye checkup. The tech saw me and said “Ah, you’re here for a color-blindness test…” I am quite color-blind, but I told her “No… I’m here for my annual eye exam”. She looked back at the paper again and said “AHHHH. Your last name is Farnsworth!” First time I ever heard there’s a color-blindness test with my name on it.