Colorblind Simulator Free

The Colorblind Simulator application simulates colorblindness for Protanopia (red), Deuteranopia (green), Tritanopia (blue), and the four forms of Monochromatic colorblindness. While commonly used, the terms red, green, and blue are misleading. The three types of cones actually respond to a range of colors, with red, green, and blue being the approximate peak response wavelengths. Colorblind simulation is not about the generated colors, it is about simulating the same color confusion as experienced by humans with Color Vision Deficiency (CVD).

Rather than using one undefined model, Colorblind Simulator Pro is the only application that allows you to select one of four different models for simulation of CVD. Colorblind Simulator Free uses the default model. All models used are based on open source code. For older versions Android, sRGB was the only color space. Starting with Android Oreo, the app supports all color spaces supported by Android. For some models simulation is done in the sRGB color space.

All models used in the Colorblind Simulator Pro app were tested using an automated version of the Farnsworth-Munsell D-15 Dichromatic Panel test. The objective was to determine if a simulation model generated responses that mimicked the same confusion as humans responses to the test.

The models provided in Pro are:

1) Meyer-Greenberg-Wolfmaier-Wickline (MGWW)
Meyer and Greenberg published their study in 1988. Wolfmaier wrote a Java applet in 1999. The code used in the app is based on WickLine's revisions in 2001. The responses generated by the MGWW model closely matched human responses under all test conditions.

2) Brettel-Vienot-Mollon (BVM)
The authors performed their study in 1997. The code used in the app is based on the code used in the Gimp photo editor. This model tends to not adequately distinguish between protanopia and deuteranopia. Of all the models, BVM responses were the farthest from human responses. (sRGB only)

3) Machado-Oliveira-Fernandes (MOF)
MOF is the only model that us based on the stages theory of color vision. While based on the BVM model, the test results closely mimic human response. MOF is the only model that provides separate tables for different percentages of CVD. All other models use a generic algorithm. (sRGB only)

4) ImageJ CVD Plug-in (ImageJ)
This plug-in is used in both ImageJ and Vischeck. The plug-in is based on MGWW, but uses precalculated tables. Since it is table driven, it is the fastest model and is the default. (sRGB only)

5) Monochromatic
Based on the sparse information available, this model provides a rough simulation of the gray world experienced by those who suffer from one of the four forms of monochromatic vision: rod, red, green, or blue.

In addition to providing different simulation models, Colorblind Simulator Pro allows you to vary the percentage of CVD. The range is from 0% loss to 100% loss, in steps if 10%. The default is 100%.

The Colorblind Simulator Free version does contain advertisements. The Pro version does not contain advertising.

Simulation is a memory intensive task. While the applications check available memory before starting a simulation, the dynamic nature of memory usage can result in out of memory errors during simulation. This only occurs when simulating images, as every pixel requires transformation.