Was a bit of an eye opener when I realized that while working on some dimmable LED track lighting once.
LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
261–270 of 316 posts
Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#262Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've battled the opposite in the form of clinical, anxiety-driven insomnia my whole life. I've found it utterly debilitating at times and have quite literally struggled since birth, long before electronics and LEDs were common. I can confidently say you're so right about the number (and type) of variables. Sleep hygiene as we say in the biz is a very complex and personal issue. I've tried everything under the sun fro…
I've been a terrible sleeper for about a decade. Weeks on end where I am only sleeping a few hours a night. Can't fall asleep, can't stay asleep, just tired all the time. Tried all the sleep hygiene recommendations but made no difference. Started supplementing with creatine and about a month later had the best sleep of my adult life. Shortly after switching creatine brands, I noticed my restless legs were back and I…
Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#263Regarding the quoted e-book study: > Third, in the present study, the LE-eBook was set to maximum brightness throughout the 4-h reading session, whereas, by comparison, the print-book condition consisted of reflected exposure to very dim light. Yeah, max brightness is probably going to make an impact. I bet if you were in a room with a bright light reading a book, with an equivalent amount of lumens going into your e…
I am disappointed that many phones/tablets don't go very dim. From flagship to cheap, it seems that if you're in a pitch black room and check the time on your phone, the light will illuminate the whole room, even on the dimmest setting. I actually modded my phone by putting a resistor in the LED backlight circuit, which divided the brightness by 1000 - and it was still plenty bright at night (human eyes are logarithm…
What I find far more concerning is the brief mention in the article about the explosion in outdoor lighting, which is massively disrupting the little remaining wildlife we have left (and nevermind destroying any hope of a glimpse t a dark sky). And there is absolutely zero reason for it other than ignorant wrong ideas that it helps traffic accidents or reduces crime (it does the opposite). Calling it cargo-culting would be kind.
[0] https://health.clevelandclinic.org/do-blue-light-blocking-gl...
Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#264There is always a time lag between the introduction of a cool new technology, and the discovery of its negative effects on human health. DDT was invented in the 1940's, and it wasn't until twenty years later that people discovered its negative effects through bioaccumulation. Teflon was invented in the 1930's, and it again took decades to discover its negative effects on human health, apparently under high heat. Ciga…
> We don't know scientifically. Expect to find out in two decades, when its too late for you to do anything about it! The alternative is for humanity to introduce layers of bureaucracy and regulation for all new technology to prevent them from being used until it's been proven to be safe across decades of use. This is both impractical and inefficient (we might focus research on speculative tech nobody ends up caring…
Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#265The warm light makes reading a true pleasure and doesn't light up the whole room, just the book, which is much appreciated by my partner, who usually falls asleep before me.
I find I get sleepy faster than before with this thing. Of course, that means I read a bit less.
Best $10 I ever spent.
https://www.amazon.com/DEWENWILS-Rechargeable-Brightness-Blo...
Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#266Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am disappointed that many phones/tablets don't go very dim. From flagship to cheap, it seems that if you're in a pitch black room and check the time on your phone, the light will illuminate the whole room, even on the dimmest setting. I actually modded my phone by putting a resistor in the LED backlight circuit, which divided the brightness by 1000 - and it was still plenty bright at night (human eyes are logarithm…
Most Android devices have an "extra dim" option hidden somewhere in the buttons at the top (you might have to add it yourself from the extra buttons). Samsung: https://www.samsung.com/au/support/mobile-devices/activate-e... It's really dim, one time in the morning I thought the phone screen was off and it was just set to extra dim :-))
Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
iOS actually has a hard to find setting that lets you make the screen super dim. It's been a lifesaver when using my phone in the evening. To enable it go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Zoom and then tap the Zoom toggle switch. Once that's enabled iOS will now bring up a super secret popup menu whenever you double tap the screen with three fingers. From the little popup menu go to Choose Filter -> Low Light and your…
THANK YOU! I have wanted this since forever. I can't believe this is locked away so deeply and inconveniently.
Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#269Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wasn't that also the study where the ebook condition used an iPad, not an e-Ink reader?
Yes, the study [0] used iPads (on maximum brightness ). Some releveant quotes: "The randomized, crossover protocol design consisted of two conditions: (i) reading an LE-eBook (iPad; Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA) in otherwise very dim room light for ∼4 h before bedtime for five consecutive evenings, and (ii) reading printed books in the same very dim room light for ∼4 h before bedtime for five consecutive evenings." "Thi…
Re: LED lighting badly suppresses human melatonin production at night
#270IKEA sell a Tradfri bulb (304.413.80 in Europe) which has a 2200K colour temperature and 250 lumens output, which I've been using as a bedside lamp for the past year. At the brightest setting it is more than enough to read a book (usually we use it at around 50%), and it dims enough that we use it as a night light for kids. The new EU light labelling requires a spectrum to be posted online. This bulb still has a blue…
There are a number of factors involved in LED lighting quality, and annoyingly not all are tested for in reviews or shown on specs. Think of an LED as a capacitor designed to leak electricity that emits light whenever it leaks in one particular direction. It's a bit handwavy but it works here. Depending on the design it might require more or less charge or voltage before the electrons jump over the diode (the light-e…