EnChroma glasses are specialty eyewear with optical filters designed to help people with red-green color blindness see colors more vividly and distinctly. They work by filtering out specific wavelengths of light where red and green color signals overlap, making it easier for the brain to tell the two apart. About four out of five people with color blindness have the type these glasses target.
How the Filters Work
Normal color vision relies on three types of cone cells in the retina, each sensitive to different wavelengths: short (blue), medium (green), and long (red). In people with red-green color blindness, the medium and long cones respond to wavelengths that are too similar, creating overlap. The brain receives muddled signals and struggles to distinguish reds from greens, or sees certain shades as washed out and interchangeable.
EnChroma lenses use what’s called a spectral notch filter. Instead of tinting everything one color, these filters selectively block the narrow band of light where the red and green cone responses overlap most. By cutting out that overlap zone, the remaining light reaching each cone type is more distinct. The result is greater separation between color channels, which lets the brain process red and green as more clearly different signals. Colors don’t change into something new; they become more saturated and easier to tell apart.
Who They’re Designed For
The glasses target anomalous trichromacy, which means having all three types of cone cells but with one type shifted in sensitivity. The two most common forms are protanomaly (reduced red sensitivity) and deuteranomaly (reduced green sensitivity). Together, these account for the vast majority of color vision deficiency cases and are both forms of partial red-green color blindness.
EnChroma glasses are not designed for blue-yellow color blindness (tritanomaly or tritanopia) and are unlikely to help with those conditions. They also don’t work for people with complete color blindness, known as monochromacy, or for dichromats, who are completely missing one cone type rather than having a shifted version of it. Because dichromats lack the cone entirely, reducing overlap between two existing cones doesn’t solve the underlying problem. Similarly, people whose color vision deficiency stems from eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, or optic neuritis are not good candidates.
What the Clinical Evidence Shows
Research on EnChroma glasses presents a mixed but nuanced picture. A study from the UC Davis Eye Center, conducted in collaboration with France’s INSERM Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, found that the spectral notch filters do enhance chromatic responses in people with red-green anomalous trichromacy. Participants in that study wore the glasses over a two-week period, and the filters helped them see colors more vibrantly and distinctly.
However, a separate study published in the journal Optics Express reached a more cautious conclusion. Researchers found that while the glasses changed how colors were perceived, they did not improve performance on standard color vision diagnostic tests or allow wearers to achieve normal color vision. In other words, the glasses alter the color experience, sometimes dramatically, but they don’t “fix” color blindness in a clinical sense. You may see more vivid and differentiated colors while wearing them, but you likely won’t pass a color vision screening you previously failed.
This distinction matters: the glasses enhance perception rather than correct the underlying deficiency. Many users describe the experience as emotional and genuinely useful in daily life, even if their test scores don’t change.
How Your Brain Adapts Over Time
One of the more interesting findings is that the benefits may extend beyond the time you’re actually wearing the glasses. Research published through the National Institutes of Health found evidence of neural plasticity in anomalous trichromats who used EnChroma glasses over an extended period. Participants showed improved performance on a color discrimination task even when tested without the glasses, suggesting the brain had adapted to process color signals differently after sustained exposure to the filtered light.
In lab settings, researchers typically had participants adapt for at least 30 minutes before testing. But the plasticity effects emerged with longer-term use, not single sessions. EnChroma recommends wearing the glasses regularly to give your visual system time to adjust, and many users report that colors look richer after several days or weeks of consistent wear compared to the first time they put them on.
Indoor vs. Outdoor Lenses
EnChroma offers different lens options for different lighting conditions. Their outdoor lenses function like sunglasses, with darker tinting suited for bright daylight. This is actually where the filters tend to perform best, since strong natural light provides the full spectrum of wavelengths the filters are designed to sort. Indoor lenses allow more light through, making them usable in offices, classrooms, or other indoor settings, though the color enhancement effect is typically less dramatic under artificial lighting.
The lenses come in both glass and polycarbonate options. Glass offers sharper optical clarity and better scratch resistance, while polycarbonate is about 10 times more impact-resistant, lighter, and safer for active use. For kids or people who wear glasses during sports or outdoor activities, polycarbonate is the more practical choice. For daily desk use where optical precision matters most, glass may provide a slight edge in clarity.
How to Know if You’re a Good Candidate
EnChroma provides a free online color vision test on their website that screens for the type and severity of your deficiency. The test helps determine whether your specific pattern of color blindness falls within the range the glasses can address. Clinical studies evaluating the glasses have typically screened participants using standardized digital color vision assessments, requiring participants to have otherwise healthy eyes with good visual acuity.
Your likelihood of benefit depends largely on the type of deficiency you have. If you’re an anomalous trichromat with protanomaly or deuteranomaly, you fall into the group most likely to notice meaningful improvement. If your deficiency is mild to moderate, the effect tends to be more pronounced than in severe cases. People with dichromacy (a completely absent cone type) or tritanopia (blue-yellow deficiency) should not expect the glasses to help. EnChroma’s own estimates suggest their glasses are effective for roughly 80% of color blind users, which aligns with the proportion of color blindness cases that are anomalous trichromacy rather than dichromacy.
What They Cost
EnChroma glasses typically range from around $200 to $350 depending on the frame style and lens type. Prescription versions cost more. They are not covered by most insurance plans because color vision deficiency is not classified as a medical condition requiring treatment. EnChroma does offer a return policy that lets you try the glasses and return them if they don’t produce a noticeable effect, which is worth taking advantage of given that results vary significantly from person to person.