This happens all the time and I don’t know exactly how my eyes do this. When I turn off all of the lights in my room to go to bed, all I see is pure darkness (which is self explanatory). I close my eyes and go to sleep. However let’s say 15 minutes later, I have to get out of the room. Now when I open my eyes, I can see everything (like all objects such as the door, tv, and drawers). I just think my eyes adjust to the darkness, but I would like a scientific answer as I am curious to know. I find it bizarre and fascinating that this can happen.
In: Biology
Your eyes have two kinds of light receptors to detect light: rods and cones. Cones are responsible for detecting color and are most effective in bright light. Rods, conversely, are not that sensitive to color, but are much better in low-light conditions. However, since the rods are so sensitive to brightness, they get “washed out” in bright light. It takes some time after the bright light has gone away before the rod cells come back to their full effectiveness. This is what you’re experiencing; the delay between turning off the lights and your rod cells recovering from the light.
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