We study how diseases of the retinal cells affect visual perception. The retina is not merely a light sensor. Rather, the image that is projected onto the retina is already processed by the complex neural network formed by the retinal cells, some of which are already specialized for detecting different modalities of visual perception like color, luminance, and motion. In our translational research, we use techniques from basic vision research and apply them to measure visual function in patients with chronic neurodegeneration diseases of the retina (inherited retinal disease like retinitis pigmentosa, but also glaucoma where the retinal ganglion cells are affected). These techniques include measurements of temporal contrast sensitivity, color discrimination, and differential light sensitivity, and we use the silent substitution technique for selective stimulation of different retinal cell types. Although our main goal is a better understanding of the mechanisms behind changes in visual perception in these patient groups, our research has strong implications for development and application of diagnostic tools in clinical ophthalmology, including sensitive monitoring of visual function in clinical trials of novel therapeutic approaches in inherited retinal diseases.