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Chemists discover how blue light speeds blindness

phys.org

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Re: Chemists discover how blue light speeds blindness

#71

Post by adtac »

JohnBerea wrote: post #54

In addition to f.lux, I also use the Dark Reader Chrome extension[1], which dynamically generates dark themes for every page you visit. It seems to make a bigger difference than using f.lux. 1. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadp...

How does the amount of blue light we see from our computers and mobile devices compare to the blue light seen from the rest of the world quantitatively? While I agree that f.lux helps in the night, I'd guess that the impact caused by f.lux to prevent the effect mentioned in the article is pretty minimal. (Obviously, I have no citations or references; just a wild guess.)

Re: Chemists discover how blue light speeds blindness

#72

Post by graeme »

doh wrote: post #55
rory096 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least on my phone (LG G5), the lowest brightness setting is still incredibly bright in an otherwise dark room. I use Twilight[0] to dim it further, though unfortunately Google changed Android so it can't affect the soft buttons. (Which is fine for almost all apps because the soft button bar is black, but of course Chrome changes it to white with no way to fix it.) [0] https://twilight.urbandroid.org

iOS is the same. Even on the warmest setting and lowest brightness it's still very bright. Unfortunately, there is no app to do anything about it like there is on Android.

You can go further by reducing white point in accessibility settings. The colour filters there also go beyond night shift.

Re: Chemists discover how blue light speeds blindness

#73

Post by verta »

JohnBerea wrote: post #54

In addition to f.lux, I also use the Dark Reader Chrome extension[1], which dynamically generates dark themes for every page you visit. It seems to make a bigger difference than using f.lux. 1. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadp...

Def'ly a great relief for my eye strain - using it during the day too and keeping on by default. One annoyance is that Chrome needs to let the address bar be darkened as well as it stands out like a neon tube when Dark Reader is on.

Re: Chemists discover how blue light speeds blindness

#75

Post by graeme »

codemac wrote: post #69

Anyone have suggestions for kindles? A lot of the "screens" I've seen on amazon have pretty terrible reviews. It's the one major source of nighttime blue light that I consume. I've largely given up using my phone / laptop in the dark, as I decided I'm an adult and can just leave the lights on. Reading in bed is one of my favorite things, and it bothers my partner to leave the lights on.

What about a red light in a lamp? I use a red light to read at night. Doesn't bother my girlfriend (though she's not hugely bothered by light in general)

Combine that with an e ink non backlit kindle and you'll have no blue light.

Re: Chemists discover how blue light speeds blindness

#77

Post by athenot »

_nkoa wrote: post #32
rgrove wrote: post #19

> To protect your eyes from blue light, Karunarathne advises to [...] avoid looking at your cell phones or tablets in the dark. Can someone explain why it would be worse to look at a cell phone in the dark? It's emitting the same blue light (or less, if the display gets dimmer) as it is in a bright environment. Why is that light more harmful in a dark environment?

Because of the way your eyes work. If it is bright, your pupil will be shrunk, to not be blinded by the luminosity. When it is dark, your pupil will be opened wide up. It is this principle that camera apertures are based on. Now if you have your pupil wide open in a completely dark environment and put a 100% brightness screen at ~10cm of your eyes, what do you expect will happen ? Our eyes are made for nature, that m…

The same happens with computer screens. Most offices are under-lit (or over-lit but only if ALL your UI has a dark background).

To get a feel for this, point your cell phone at your desk area and take a picture (without HDR enabled). If you can't take a picture without over– or under–exposing the screen or the wall, then your setup is putting strain on the eyes.

Re: Chemists discover how blue light speeds blindness

#78

Post by Brakenshire »

Eochei5h wrote: post #59
gumby wrote: post #38

Many of the comments here are about displays, but what about the LEDs sold as replacement for incandescent and halogen bulbs?

Check the spec sheet of the bulbs, specifically the color temperature in kelvin. Ignore the "warm white" and similar marketing terms, they are too fuzzy. A LED with low color temperature and high CRI should have pretty much the same spectrum as incandescent. If you want really low temperatures look for some retro filament style LED lights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature#Categorizing...

CRI unfortunately is not a good test, it still can produce very high ratings even when the spectrum is spiky.

Re: Chemists discover how blue light speeds blindness

#79

Post by graeme »

Rotdhizon wrote: post #33

Can someone say if it is harmful to use a blue light filtering software 24/7? I get its use at night, but would using it from sun up to sun down cause any problems?

Only if you never went outside. Otherwise, it shouldn't. Blue light emitting screens are recent, if blue light is off, it's still more light than a book.

But never going outside would mess with circadian rhythm.

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