Lantern
Instead of the Ishihara test, the US Navy and US Army also allow testing with the a lantern, such as the Farnsworth Lantern Test. Lanterns project small colored lights to a subject, who is required to identify the color of the lights. The colors are those of typical signal lights, i.e. red, green and yellow, which also happen to be colors of confusion of red-green CVD. Lanterns do not diagnose colorblind, but they are occupational screening tests to ensure an applicant has sufficient color discrimination to be able to perform a job. This test allows 30% of color deficient individuals, generally with mild CVD, to pass. Arrangement tests
Arrangement tests can be used as screening or diagnostic tools. The Farnsworth–Munsell 100 hue test is sensitive enough that it not only can detect color blindness, but also evaluate the color vision of color normals, ranking them as low, average or superior. The Farnsworth D-15 is simpler and is used for screening for CVD. In either case, the subject is asked to arrange a set of colored caps or chips to form a gradual transition of color between two anchor caps. Anomaloscope
An instrument called an anomaloscope can also be used for diagnosis. These instruments are very expensive and require expertise to administer, so are generally only used in academic settings. However, they are very precise, being able to diagnose the type and severity of color blindness with high confidence.
The main requirement for trichromacy is three cone cell classes that are each sensitive to different wavelengths of light and therefore have different spectral sensitivities. Dichromats only express two cone classes and cone monochromats express one. For each cone missing, one of the opponent channels (red-green and blue-yellow) that are responsible for color discrimination are disabled. This is the mechanism for protanopia, deuteranopia, blue cone monochromacy and tritanopia. Even when there is trichromatic color vision and all three opponent channels are active, the size of an individuals color gamut is determined by the dynamic range of the opponent channels, which can be affected by several factors. One of these factors is the peak wavelengths of the spectral sensitivities of the three cones, namely the spectral distance between two cones contributing to an opponent channel. When this distance is smaller, the dynamic range is smaller and the color gamut is smaller, leading to a color vision deficiency. This is the mechanism for congenital protanomaly and deuteranomaly, though not of tritanomaly. The opponent channels can also be affected by the prevalence of certain cones in the retinal mosaic. The cones are not equally prevalent and not evenly distributed in the retina. When the number of one of these cone types is significantly reduced, this can also lead to or contribute to a color vision deficiency. This is one of the causes of tritanomaly. Simple colored filters can also create mild color vision deficiencies.