GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Do you have trouble selecting a paint for your room so that it doesn’t look like a funhouse, or are you one of those people who can effortlessly match subtle shades like a artist?

To give you a sense your color I.Q., X-Rite  Inc. is offering a free online version of its professional Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test used by companies for more than 60 years to distinguish between individuals who have poor, normal, or exceptional color vision.

The test from X-Rite, the world’s largest manufacturer and designer of color measurement equipment and software solutions, can be accessed at: http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77.  Just click on any country name to access the test.

“It’s fun to see why spouses may differ on color choices or for friends to determine who has the best eyes for matching color,” said Art Schmehling, product manager for the Munsell division of X-Rite that makes the test. “The online version isn’t exact enough to be used for business purposes like our regular test, but it does give an indication on a person’s ability to match hues.”

Schmehling said the formal FM 100 Hue Test is used by Fortune 500 companies that need a quick, inexpensive and effective test to accurately determine whether an individual is well suited for an occupation that requires sharp color vision.

Studies show that nearly one in every 12 males and one in every 255 females has some form of color vision defect, and poor color discrimination can be particularly costly in industries such as textile dyeing and processing, plastic injection molding, printing, and architectural paint manufacturing.

For more information on the color vision assessments or the Munsell division, visit the company’s website at www.xrite.com and access the Munsell tab.  For more information on the FM 100-Hue Test, write Art Schmehling at [email protected].  For information about this news release, contact Matthew Gryczan at SciTech Communications at [email protected]