Color pattern-reversal visual evoked potential testing was performed in 99 normal eyes, 27 eyes with ocular hypertension and 30 eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma with the use of black-white, black-red and black-blue color checkerboard stimuli. The P1 wave peak time and amplitude of the eyes with ocular hypertension and glaucoma were significantly different from those of age-similar normal eyes, especially on the black-red and black-blue checkerboards (p < 0.001). The differences between the ocular hypertensive and glaucomatous eyes were of less significance. The P1 peak time difference between black-white and black-red checkerboards may serve as an important parameter in the early diagnosis of glaucoma.