SeeColors: A Whole New World of Color for Those with Color Deficiency
Can you see the letter C? No? Well, you may have a form of color blindness. Color blindness – or color vision deficiency (CVD) – affects approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. The problem is, although nearly 300 million people suffer from CVD, many are not aware of their condition. And if they do know, they may not realize they are missing out on the fullest spectrum of color.
Samsung Electronics and scientists at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics have invented a way for people with the condition to see the world in full, true color for the first time. Unlike older tests, the unique Colorlite® Test or C-test diagnosis doesn’t just recognize the condition, it measures the exact degree of the deficiency to identify the most precise correction, opening up a new world of possibilities for those with CVD. The new test is at the heart of an innovative app called SeeColors, which is available on Samsung QLED TVs globally for the first time.
The Challenges of Living with Color Blindness
Mark Green, who has CVD, is positive about his condition, but explains some of the challenges of CVD in everyday life, “My friends ask me how do I know grass is green? How do I know it isn’t? I can distinguish colors when they are on their own. It’s when they are together I can get mixed up.” Mark is a sales manager and believes being color vision deficient is not too much of a problem at work, except for charts, “Someone might point to a green slice of a pie chart – but they all look brown to me.”
According to Professor Klara Wenzel, who heads up the Department of Mechatronics, Optics and Mechanical Engineering Informatics at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, some color vision deficient people suffer from an inferiority complex because of their condition and simply “being different.”
“These people are at a disadvantage when it comes to working in more than 100 professions. We typically think of people who want to be pilots – but car-glazers, painters, cosmeticians, drivers, kindergarten-teachers and cartographers also find it hard to do well in their professions,” she said.
“This is why we began this research nearly 30 years ago. We thought: it’s not possible to cure this condition (yet), but it is possible to help people who live with it.”
How QLED TV Makes Full Color Possible for All
The retina of the human eye contains approximately 6.8 million color-sensitive receptors, so it’s a herculean task to create a test to measure them all. Professor Wenzel and her team designed an accurate digital diagnosis test which uses the concept of color filters. Through mathematical modelling and years of experiments, they produced the Colorlite® Test or C-test.
Professor Wenzel and team then took it a step further. They adapted the C-test so it can be used as an app on any Samsung Galaxy 6 mobile phone and above, called the ‘SeeColors’ test. And now the SeeColors app makes it possible for color vision deficient people to see a full spectrum of colors on Samsung QLED TV screen.
Yui Yoon Lee, Principal Engineer at Samsung Electronics, who collaborated on the project further explains, “The SeeColors app works in simple step. After users download the app from the Smart TV app store and receive a diagnosis, the app will automatically change QLED’s color setting according to the test result. What’s so exciting is that the app and TV allow people with the condition to see colors with as much intensity as people with normal vision.”
With QLED TV in particular offering pure and realistic colors, it is the perfect time for those with CVD to have access to the SeeColor solution. QLED TV uses quantum dots to build brightness, improve contrast and open up a huge color palette that reaches 100 percent color volume. Now everyone in the world can feel and experience a full spectrum of colors on QLED TV, including those suffering from color blindness.
“It’s Color Heaven!” Life in Full Color with SeeColors App
Mark, a participant of a recent SeeColors app test in New York, was very impressed by the color of QLED TV utilizing the SeeColors app, “It’s actually really cool. The SeeColors display seemed a lot more rich diverse and like “color heaven” compared to the dull display.”
Another participant Dustin, was also surprised and pleased, “Colors were more vibrant with QLED. The reds stuck out a lot more in the updated TV. The greens and oranges were easy to differentiate, which is something that’s usually very difficult to identify.”
“We want to help people with color vision deficiency see and enjoy the billions of colors that the world has to offer,” said Yui Yoon Lee from Samsung. “Technology has an enormous impact on our lives – particularly with our health. Samsung is part of this evolution, but we want to go further. We want to improve the quality of everyone’s lives – day in, day out.”
Samsung Electronics created the SeeColors app as part of its commitment to enrich people’s lives via technology. The SeeColors app on QLED TV will help people with CVD enjoy a full range of color, providing more rich experiences for all.
* Users can also download the app from Google Play and the Galaxy App Store for Galaxy devices. The app on mobile devices only provides the diagnosis of CVD levels.
