
Tinted eyewear acts as a wavelength-dependent spectral filter in the visual chain and can alter both perceived color appearance and color discrimination, yet its perceptual impact is typically assessed only through physical transmittance or task-specific criteria. This paper proposes a theoretical and computational framework for evaluating tinted eyewear by integrating spectral transmittance with illumination spectra and luminance level. Color appearance changes are predicted using CIECAM16 attributes and bin-based gamut visualizations derived from the TM-30 Color Evaluation Samples, while discrimination performance is assessed for both small and large color differences and validated against behavioral data from two psychophysical experiments. Comparisons among CAM16-UCS color differences, CIEDE2000, HyAB, and cone-contrast metrics show that appearance-based measures effectively describe global color appearance changes, whereas cone-contrast–based metrics exhibit the strongest correspondence with behavioral discrimination performance. The framework provides a perceptually grounded basis for evaluating and comparing tinted eyewear across applications where both color appearance and visual performance are critical.

Tinted eyewear alters the spectral information reaching the human eye, potentially influencing visual performance in real-world tasks. Our previous work quantified changes in color discrimination ability under tinted eyewear using a psychophysical experiment. The present study extends this investigation by employing a visual search method to evaluate perceptual sensitivity. Two psychophysical experiments were conducted to evaluate visual performance under tinted eyewear: one focused on small color difference, assessed by reaction time and accuracy of target detection, and the other on large color differences, evaluating discrimination ability with increasing viewing distance. Overall, the results suggest that color appearance–based evaluations may help account for variations in task performance under tinted eyewear, particularly for small color difference stimuli. For large color difference stimuli, performance difference caused by tinted eyewear were observed, but the relationship between prediction and performance was not clear, which needs future investigation. By comparing the experimental data with model predictions, this study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the perceptual behavior changes caused by tinted eyewear.

Tinted eyewear is increasingly utilized in outdoor environments to protect against ultraviolet radiation and manage luminance levels reaching the human visual system. While these protective functions are well-established, these modifications can also affect color perception. This research investigates how different tinted eyewear affects observers’ ability to distinguish small color differences in reflective samples, with implications for understanding how specific eyewear transmittance properties influence color discrimination ability in different environments. Two sets of stimuli are used: (1) six adjacent Munsell sample pairs varying only in hue, and (2) seven parameric pairs generated through Kubelka-Munk theory modeling of 16 pigments. Six eyewear with different transmittance properties were examined in this study under normalized lighting conditions. Color differences (ΔE2000) were predicted using spectral data and validated through psychophysical experiments with 27 observers using a scaling method. Results demonstrate that tinted eyewear can alter color discrimination ability compared to neutral eyewear, with effects varying based on the interaction between the eyewear’s spectral transmittance and the stimuli’s spectral reflectance. For example, one foliage pair showed a ΔE2000 of 2.37 under neutral eyewear that increased to 5.21 under a tinted eyewear, with corresponding mean observed visual differences of 2.79 and 5.51, respectively. Overall, the observed color difference evaluations aligned with predictions, with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.816. This research enhances the understanding of how tinted eyewear affects color perception and supports the development of eyewear optimized for specific outdoor environments.