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Contrast sensitivity first to the ability of the visual system to distinguish between an object and its background. For example, imagine a black cat on white snow versus a white cat on a snowy background. There is high contrast between the black cat and the snow and low contrast between the white cat and the snow. In all conditions where visual acuity is reduced, contrast sensitivity is reduced as well. However, sometimes contrast sensitivity is reduced more than expected based on the visual acuity alone. This means that if only visual acuity is tested, the visual disability of the person with relatively reduced contrast sensitivity will be underestimated.