Purpose To observe the color motion perception of patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in very early stage and find a good way to diagnose early DR in time． Methods The motion perceptions of patients with early DR and normal subjects were tested by using equiluminant moving chromatic grating and moving luminance grating generated on VGA monitor in a PC compatible computer and the results were compared with those of electroretinogram(ERG),oscillatory potentials(OPs) and color perception． Results When the two gratings were of equal spatial frequency and equal time frequency,the normal subjects judged that chromatic grating moved faster than luminance grating．Very signifincant differences were detected between blue/yellow grating and black/white grating while the luminance contrast of was 80% and the velocity was 20.2 mm/s or 14.3mm/s(Plt;0.01).The abnormal ratio of color motion perception(69.2%)was higher than that of color vision(43.6%) and ERG OPs(48.9%) when the luminance contrast of black/white grating was 80% and the velocity was 20.2mm/s. Conclusion The test of color motion perception provides new method for diagnosing early DR. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis,1998,14:135-138)