Last Updated on 06/17/2019 by Mark Beckenbach
Here’s a quick color perception test that will let you know if you can really get your colors right.
Being able to render colors accurately is definitely a big deal for photographers, which is why we make it a point to do routine monitor calibrations as part of our workflow. But, have you ever thought about whether you have accurate color perception? This quick test will let you know if you can notice subtle color differences and actually get those colors right.
UK-based vision care specialist Lenstore, stressing that color is in the eye of the beholder, made a quick color perception test with 10 color-related questions to find out how well people differentiate between shades of color. They also noted that only 1% of the 2,000 people who initially took the test were able to get a perfect score.
Now, if you’re ready go ahead and take the test below.
Colour is in the Eye of the Beholder by Lenstore UK
So, how did you score? If you got six out of 10 items correct, it might comfort you to know that’s the average score snagged by 24.1% of respondents. Lenstore gave us the rest of the scores they found:
- 0 right answers: 0.2% of respondents got this result
- 1 right answer, 0.3%
- 2 right answers, 2.2%
- 3 right answers, 7.4%
- 4 right answers, 13.7%
- 5 right answers, 23.4%
- 6 right answers, 24.1%
- 7 right answers, 17.4%
- 8 right answers, 9.1%
- 9 right answers, 2.0%
- 10 right answers, 0.2%
Lenstore also shared the rest of their interesting findings from the test, such as women scoring higher at 57.7% on average, compared to 53.8% for men. Those who speak three languages aside from their mother tongue also turned out to be the top scorers with a result of 60%.
Unfortunately, perfect vision and color perception doesn’t last forever. The table below tells us that color perception peaks at the ages between 31 – 35 for both males and females, then gradually declines with age.
| Age | Female | Male |
| 18 – 24 | 58.8% | 54.1% |
| 25 – 30 | 58.3% | 52.2% |
| 31 – 35 | 59.4% | 60.5% |
| 36 – 40 | 57.3% | 53.1% |
| 41 – 45 | 58.6% | 56.3% |
| 46 – 50 | 58.1% | 56.6% |
| 51 – 55 | 56.1% | 55.1% |
| 56 – 60 | 56.6% | 53.5% |
| 61 – 65 | 55.6% | 52.5% |
| 66 – 70 | 51.4% | 54.3% |
| 71 – 75 | 52.5% | 53.5% |
| 76 – 80 | 30.0% | 46.8% |
| 81 – 89 | 35.0% | 41.1% |
What does this tell us? First, there could be a tendency for most people to not notice subtle color differences, with women in general having only slightly better color perception than men. Maybe it’s also best for us to shoot more color photos while we’re at our peak of color perception!