Monochromacy (from Greek mono, meaning "one" and chromo, meaning "color") is the ability of organisms or machines to perceive only light intensity, without respect to spectral composition (color). Organisms with monochromacy are called monochromats.

For example, about 1 in 30,000 people have monochromatic vision because the color-sensitive cone cells in their eyes do not function. Affected people can distinguish light, dark, and shades of gray but not color.

Many species, such as marine mammals, the owl monkey and the Australian sea lion (pictured at right) are monochromats under normal conditions. In humans, absence of color discrimination or poor color discrimination is one among several other symptoms of severe inherited or acquired diseases, as for example inherited achromatopsia, acquired achromatopsia or inherited blue cone monochromacy.

Monochromacy is one of the symptoms of diseases that occur when only one kind of light receptor in the human retina is functional at a particular level of illumination. It is one of the symptoms of either acquired or inherited disease as for example acquired achromatopsia, inherited autosomal recessive achromatopsia and recessive X-linked blue cone monochromacy.

There are two basic types of monochromacy. "Animals with monochromatic vision may be either rod monochromats or cone monochromats. These monochromats contain photoreceptors which have a single spectral sensitivity curve."

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