Why do I see red and blue dots in the dark?

Question

My nightvision reminds me of an old colour tv, where the picture was broken up by the red,green and blue dots.

I am certain that this is not because of me having watched too much tv or anything like that, what is the reason behind it? I know that nightvision and colourvision have different receptors, and is this perhaps because of how the signals overlap in my brain?

I would've thought this was common to everyone? Geeze, another thing wrong with me, then! ;)

Answer 1

The color photoreceptors are cones, and they are part of day vision (or high light vision) only. If you're seeing strange dots of color in low light, it could be an issue with your cones receiving false input or something like that, because normally they are not excited at all in low light. You should probably visit an opthamalogist. Incidentally, the cones are not sensitive to red, blue, and green, but blue-violet, blue-green, and yellow-green.

Answer 2

I see a rainbow of colored dots that swirl around the room when I'm laying in bed in the dark. It used to terrify me when I was young because no one else knew what I was talking about. Apparently I got used to it because I haven't thought of it until deciding to do a search for it today, but it's hard to find information on it. This was one of the closest results I could find online.