Abstract: Objective To asses the early recovery of visual function of cataract patients after operation. Methods Forty-two patients（60 eyes） with age-related cataract were enrolled in this study.Their contrast visual acuity（CVA） was examined 1 week and 1 month before and after operation,respectively.Bright background（85cd/m2） and high-bright（260cd/m2） of different CVA（100%,25% and 10%） were detected with a multi-functional visual acuity tester（MFVA-100） and expressed as a log MAR value.Improvement in CVA was observed after operation.Correlation of CVA between two backgrounds was analyzed. Results The 100% CVA was higher in bright background than in high-bright background before operation than after operation（t=-2.901,P＜0.05）.The 100% CVA was higher in bright background 1 month after operation than 1 week after operation（t=-2.398,P＜0.05）.The CVA in bright background and high-bright background was higher 1 week and 1 month after operation（t=3.480,2.256,2.287,P＜0.05,and t=2.647,P＜0.01） than before operation. Conclusion Cataract surgery can significantly improve CVA in bright and high bright backgrounds,and visual impairment due to low contrast glare.