Difference between rods and cones is a significant part of the knowledge of biology. Furthermore, rods facilitate vision at low light levels and have a low spatial acuity. In contrast, cones show activation at higher light levels and are responsible for high spatial acuity.
Definition of Rods
A rod refers to a photoreceptor cell that is of a specialized light-sensitive nature. Furthermore, its location is in the retina of the eye. Moreover, rods provide side vision as well as night vision to facilitate seeing objects in dim light.
Definition of Cones
A cone refers to a photoreceptor cell that has the characteristic of being specialized light-sensitive. Furthermore, its location is in the retina of the eye and it provides sharp central vision as well as colour vision. This brings out the difference between rods and cones.
Difference between Rods and cones
Difference between Rods and Cones
Important difference between rods and cones
| Parameter |
Rods |
Cones |
| Rods cells vs cone cells meaning | They are one of the photoreceptors that exist in the eye, which provide twilight vision. Furthermore, they have structures in the shape of rods | They are photoreceptors that are in a cone shape. Furthermore, they exist in the eye and are also fewer in number |
| Rods and cones location | Their location is usually around the retina’s boundary | Their location is usually in the retina’s centre |
| The shape of outer pigment or segment | The outer segment is cylindrical that has rhodopsin pigment. Moreover, its formation is from Vitamin A | The outer segment is conical that has iodopsin pigment |
| Amount | There are about 120 million out of 125 million photoreceptors present in the human eye | Cones number around 5 million |
| Colour vision | These cells lack colour vision. Moreover, they also lack any differentiation | These cells give colour vision. Furthermore, they are of three types: blue, red, and green |
| Disease or deficiency | Lack of rhodopsin may result in night blindness | Lack of iodopsin may result in colour blindness |
FAQs About Rods and Cones
Question 1: Give any one difference between rods and cones?
Answer 1: One difference between rods and cones can be on the basis of location. Furthermore, the location of rods is usually around the retina’s boundary. In contrast, the location of cones is usually in the retina’s centre.
Question 2: What is the amount of rods present in the human eye?
Answer 2: There are about 120 million rods out of 125 million photoreceptors existing in the human eye.
