{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T16:48:52Z","timestamp":1786121332202,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786060800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Ophthalmol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The global prevalence of myopia in children rose from 24% in 1990 to 36% in 2023, with projections exceeding 39% by 2050. While time spent outdoors is robustly protective against myopia, the specific spectral properties of light responsible for this protection remain insufficiently characterized. We propose that the spectral power distribution (SPD) of modern digital displays may represent a previously unrecognized environmental risk factor for myopia through the systematic elimination of two wavelength bands critical to emmetropization. All current display technologies emit no measurable light below approximately 420 nm, entirely excluding the violet band (360\u2013400 nm) that activates OPN5\/neuropsin (\u03bbmax \u2248 380 nm) in retinal ganglion cells. Additionally, the narrow-band RGB primary architecture of displays distorts the cyan-green region (490\u2013560 nm), potentially perturbing the SWS\/LWS opponent chromatic signal that the Gawne-Norton dual-detector model identifies as the primary longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA)-based drive for emmetropization. These two mechanisms are consistent with the dose-response relationship between screen time and myopia risk documented in large-scale epidemiological studies. The hypothesis is grounded in five converging lines of evidence: (1) the OPN5\/violet light pathway; (2) the LCA dual-detector emmetropization model; (3) genetic evidence from Blue Cone Monochromacy and Bornholm Eye Disease; (4) red-light therapy trials; and (5) subgroup analyses by display device type. We propose that display color gamut \u2014 and the spectral power distribution it determines \u2014 currently optimized exclusively for colorimetric fidelity, merits evaluation as a modifiable variable in the global myopia control agenda.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fopht.2026.1901460","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T04:22:34Z","timestamp":1786076554000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Display color gamut as a spectral risk factor for myopia: a unifying hypothesis linking chromatic emmetropization, cone circuitry dysfunction, and the spectral deficiency of digital screens"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Pierpaolo Emanuele","family":"Maimone","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology and Vision Science, Studio Maimone, S. Teresa di Riva","place":["Messina, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjo-2024-325427","article-title":"Global prevalence, trend and projection of myopia in children and adolescents from 1990 to 2050","volume":"109","author":"Liang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Br J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1167\/iovs.62.5.2","article-title":"IMI impact of myopia","volume":"62","author":"Sankaridurg","year":"2021","journal-title":"Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2024.60026","article-title":"Digital screen time and myopia: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis","volume":"8","author":"Ha","year":"2025","journal-title":"JAMA Netw Open"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2007.12.019","article-title":"Outdoor activity reduces the prevalence of myopia in children","volume":"115","author":"Rose","year":"2008","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1159\/000501937","article-title":"Significance of outdoor time for myopia prevention: meta-analysis of RCTs","volume":"63","author":"Cao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ophthalmic Res"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2015.10803","article-title":"Effect of time spent outdoors at school on myopia in children in China: an RCT","volume":"314","author":"He","year":"2015","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1167\/iovs.66.15.5","article-title":"IMI: The role of light in refractive development and myopia","volume":"66","author":"Ashby","year":"2025","journal-title":"Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci"},{"key":"B8","volume-title":"The Hygiene of the Eye in Schools","author":"Cohn","year":"1886"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/aos.70001","article-title":"Factors associated with the high prevalence of myopia and its decrease \u2014 a historical review","volume":"103","author":"P\u00e4rssinen","year":"2025","journal-title":"Acta Ophthalmol"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"470","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mehy.2008.02.002","article-title":"Green light in the development of myopia [letter","volume":"71","author":"Maimone","year":"2008","journal-title":"Med Hypotheses"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22030444","article-title":"Violet light is abundant outdoors but deficient indoors in modern lifestyle in Tokyo","volume":"22","author":"Kondo","year":"2025","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2018840118","article-title":"Violet light suppresses lens-induced myopia via neuropsin (OPN5) in mice","volume":"118","author":"Jiang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci USA"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ebiom.2016.12.007","article-title":"Violet light exposure can be a preventive strategy against myopia progression","volume":"15","author":"Torii","year":"2017","journal-title":"EBioMedicine"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13102777","article-title":"Myopia is an ischemic eye condition: a review","volume":"13","author":"Baksh","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Clin Med"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1167\/tvst.11.8.1","article-title":"Choroidal thickness as a biomarker of myopia","volume":"11","author":"Kolb","year":"2022","journal-title":"Transl Vis Sci Technol"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2310157121","article-title":"Retinal and choroidal OPN5 regulate choroidal blood flow through light-activated calcium signaling","volume":"121","author":"Csillik","year":"2024","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci USA"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/j.visres.2020.03.011","article-title":"An opponent dual-detector spectral drive model of emmetropization","volume":"173","author":"Gawne","year":"2020","journal-title":"Vision Res"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.exer.2021.108525","article-title":"Tree shrews do not maintain emmetropia in narrow-band cyan light","volume":"206","author":"Norton","year":"2021","journal-title":"Exp Eye Res"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/opx.0000000000001283","article-title":"Juvenile tree shrews do not maintain emmetropia in narrow-band blue light","volume":"95","author":"Gawne","year":"2018","journal-title":"Optom Vis Sci"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1101\/2023.06.20.545755","article-title":"Ocular accommodation and wavelength: the effect of LCA on the stimulus-response curve","volume":"24","author":"Fernandez-Alonso","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Vis"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2021.11.023","article-title":"Effect of repeated low-level red-light therapy for myopia control in children","volume":"129","author":"Jiang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"198","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2022.08.024","article-title":"Myopia control effect of repeated low-level red-light therapy in Chinese children","volume":"130","author":"Dong","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2022.10.002","article-title":"Choroidal thickness and myopia control after repeated low-level red-light therapy","volume":"130","author":"Xiong","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajo.2023.03.036","article-title":"Efficacy of repeated low-level red-light therapy for myopia: a meta-analysis","volume":"252","author":"Tang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Am J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1167\/iovs.63.6.15","article-title":"Axial length distributions in patients with genetically confirmed inherited retinal diseases","volume":"63","author":"Williams","year":"2022","journal-title":"Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/archopht.122.6.906","article-title":"X-linked high myopia associated with cone dysfunction (Bornholm Eye Disease)","volume":"122","author":"Aldred","year":"2004","journal-title":"Arch Ophthalmol"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjo.2003.027102","article-title":"The cone dysfunction syndromes","volume":"88","author":"Michaelides","year":"2004","journal-title":"Br J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1625","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-024-19113-5","article-title":"The association between screen time exposure and myopia in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis","volume":"24","author":"Zong","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/s2589-7500(21)00135-7","article-title":"Association between digital smart device use and myopia","volume":"3","author":"Foreman","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet Digit Health"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2021.03.023","article-title":"Significant axial elongation with minimal changes in refraction in 3- to 6-year-old children during COVID-19 lockdown","volume":"128","author":"Guo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"015008","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0238602","article-title":"A four-primary-color micro-LED display with wide color gamut and low blue light hazard","volume":"15","author":"Sun","year":"2025","journal-title":"AIP Adv"},{"key":"B32","article-title":"NCT06501131. Effect of partial spectral absence on the pupil. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US)","year":""},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/s0042-6989(00)00021-3","article-title":"The spectral sensitivities of the middle- and long-wavelength-sensitive cones derived from measurements in observers of known genotype","volume":"40","author":"Stockman","year":"2000","journal-title":"Vision Res"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/msid.1452","article-title":"Vision science calls for perception-friendly displays","volume":"40","author":"Kwak","year":"2024","journal-title":"Inf Display"},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10299","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-024-83771-z","article-title":"Analyzing display photometric features through time-dependent dynamics of accommodative responses","volume":"15","author":"Cai","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sci Rep"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Ophthalmology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fopht.2026.1901460\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T04:22:35Z","timestamp":1786076555000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fopht.2026.1901460\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"references-count":35,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fopht.2026.1901460"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fopht.2026.1901460","relation":{},"ISSN":["2674-0826"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2674-0826","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"article-number":"1901460"}}