Your Farnsworth Lantern Test Results

This online FALANT-style task asks you to name brief red, green, and yellow signal pairs. Clinical FALANT uses white instead of yellow. Your saved run appears below when stored.

Farnsworth Lantern Test

You haven't taken this test yet

This page shows your detailed screening result after you complete the test in your browser. Results stay on this device only and are never uploaded.

What you will get on this page

Finish a lantern run and this page becomes your signal naming report. Here is what it will contain.

Your error count and accuracy

A summary card with how many lights you miscalled out of the full run, your overall accuracy, and the screening band that error count lands in.

Every light call, pair by pair

A strip replays your run showing each pair in the colors actually shown, marks the lights you miscalled, and breaks accuracy down by red, green, and yellow.

A personal reading you can act on

A written walkthrough of whether your misses look like noise or a pattern, what borderline runs usually mean, and when a rested retake settles it. Downloadable as a PDF report.

Results that never leave this device

Your run is saved in this browser only. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and one click clears the saved result whenever you want.

The sections below explain the lantern task and its scoring, so your error count will make sense the moment you finish.

How this test works

Lantern tests were invented for sailors and pilots. Here is why quick flashes tell a different story than a calm chart.

Small lights, short flashes, no context

Each round flashes two small lights, one above the other like the lantern here, and asks you to name both colors. There is no shape, no label, and no time to study them.

That is deliberate. Removing every backup cue forces the answer to come from color alone, which is the one thing this test wants to measure.

The dark background matters too. Real signal lights are judged against night skies and open water, where a small glowing point is all the information you get.

The real-world version happens every day

Ship lights, runway signals, and traffic lights at a distance are exactly this task: a small colored point that must be named fast, often at night.

A run works through pairs like the ones in this diagram, mixing red, green, and yellow in every combination, including tricky same-color pairs that tempt you to guess a difference.

That is why navies and aviation authorities built lantern tests in the first place, and why the official versions still guard those careers today.

How scoring works

This lantern-style task asks you to name brief red, green, and yellow signal lights. Scoring is mainly about how many names you get wrong under the selected timing.

  1. Step 1

    You name top and bottom lights in each pair

    Standard mode presents 9 pairs (18 lights). Extended mode runs two 9-pair segments. Each light is marked correct or incorrect after you name the colors.

  2. Step 2

    Error count sets the screening band

    Zero errors is the clean pass band on this tool. A few errors land near a boundary. Many errors suggest stronger signal-naming difficulty on your display.

  3. Step 3

    Practice and timed exposure feel different

    Practice keeps lights visible while you learn the buttons. Timed exposure is closer to lantern-style screening intent and is the fairer comparison run.

  4. Step 4

    Color breakdowns are hints, not types

    Per-color misses can show which names slipped most. They do not prove protan versus deutan type on their own.

Result bands

Normal screening

Every light named correctly on the run you completed.

Borderline

One or two incorrect lights on a single run. Clinical protocols are stricter and use specific averaging rules.

Likely or strong red-green difficulty

Several or many incorrect lights. Per-color breakdowns do not prove protan versus deutan type.

Practice vs timed

Practice mode keeps lights visible and is for learning the response UI. Timed exposure is closer to lantern-style screening intent.

What can change your score

Online color tests run on everyday phones and monitors. These limits apply to every result on this site. Not valid for aviation or maritime clearance. Official lantern tests use specified hardware, and yellow here is not the same as clinical white.

  • Your screen is not a clinic display

    Brightness, color temperature, Night Shift, True Tone, and browser color handling all change what you see. The same person can score differently on two devices.

  • Room light and glare matter

    A bright window, dim room, or reflections on a glossy screen can hide or exaggerate colors. Steady indoor light and full brightness give the fairest retake.

  • Glasses and filters can shift results

    Tinted lenses, blue-light filters, and accessibility color filters can move scores without reflecting a lasting vision change. Retake without them when you want a cleaner check.

  • This is screening, not a diagnosis

    These tools help you understand a pattern and plan next steps. They are not a medical diagnosis, treatment advice, or clearance for a job or license.

What to do next

  1. 1

    Retake under ideal conditions

    Use 100% brightness, turn off Night Shift or True Tone, remove tinted lenses, and sit in steady indoor light before repeating the test.

  2. 2

    Compare with another screening tool

    Different tests ask different questions. Plate tests, hue arrangement, matching, and lantern naming can disagree on mild cases.

  3. 3

    See an eye care professional when it matters

    Online results are for awareness and education. Occupational certification and clinical diagnosis need supervised in-person testing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Farnsworth Lantern Test scoring, saved results, and limits of online screening.

Ready to name the signal lights again?

Retake a Standard or Extended run, then return here for your saved summary.