A colour-blind man is that way because of missing cone cells in the eye right? Does this mean, he cannot view any colour of the spectrum. If so, how is he able to view white light, since white light is after all a mixture of all wavelenghts(colous)?
- Color blindness is not the condition where people can only see black and white or shades of grey. This is a big misconception and not true. It is extremely rare to be totally color blind. A color blind individual can see most colors perfectly fine.
- Normal people are able to see all the different colors and subtle mixtures of them. Their cones are sensitive to three wavelength of light - red, green, and blue.
- A mild color deficiency is present when one or more of the three cones light sensitive pigments are not quite right. Discriminating red, orange, yellow, green region of the spectrum would be difficult for the people. Colorblind people find difficulty to identify what color an object is. They don't see anything "wrong", their perception of color is just slightly different.
- In human eye, the retina is made up of Rods and Cones. Cones are located in the center of the retina and help us perceive color during daylight conditions. Cones with specific colours are in the retina. If some cones are absent, the distinction of colours is not possible. This occurs due to the absence of colour responding cones in the retina. Or it may occur as a genetic disorder. No cure is developed till now by the science.