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Fixing annoying blue standby lights

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Re: Fixing annoying blue standby lights

#41

Post by davidmurdoch »

crazygringo wrote: post #39
mrweasel wrote: post #12

Why is it that manufacturers go for blue or bright white LED indicators? I assume that they are cheap enough that it doesn't matter, but green would probably still be slightly cheaper. We have a USB charger that cannot be used in a bedroom, not that you should, but it can light up an entire room. Why not just have a tiny green LED? Apple is really good about not using bright LEDs in their product, or really any LED i…

I think blue just feels "modern". Red LEDs feel like they belong to the 80's, and green to around 2000. While white feels "clean". I agree 1,000% that they're ridiculous though. But the colors are definitely about achieving an up-to-date "look".

Blue just feels tacky and cheap to me. Maybe "modern" and "cheap" are just the same thing.

Re: Fixing annoying blue standby lights

#42

Post by _moof »

Liftyee wrote: post #16
mrweasel wrote: post #12

Why is it that manufacturers go for blue or bright white LED indicators? I assume that they are cheap enough that it doesn't matter, but green would probably still be slightly cheaper. We have a USB charger that cannot be used in a bedroom, not that you should, but it can light up an entire room. Why not just have a tiny green LED? Apple is really good about not using bright LEDs in their product, or really any LED i…

Speculation: Perhaps they are trying to distinguish themselves from the "cheaper" products by using the "new" blue LEDs? IIRC the technology for them was figured out much later than green or red, so maybe there is a bit of leftover "futuristic" feel to them. The last time I saw a blue room-illuminator was on an ancient Belkin Bluetooth dongle. IMO the practice has gone out of style with most name brands (including Ap…

It's basically this, yes. Blue LEDs were such a game-changer that the inventor won a Nobel prize for it. When they became cheap enough to use in consumer electronics, manufacturers went absolutely nuts and put them in everything as a sort of whiz-bang look-what-we-can-do thing. But since everyone did that, they stopped feeling distinctive almost immediately. The only designers still using them for indicators are the ones who can't tell when a fad is over. They're still very important technology for LED light bulbs; white LEDs are blue LEDs with a yellow phosphor.

ETA: I'll add that it takes real time, effort, and crucially taste to get an LED indicator to not be a retina-searing nuisance. You have to be willing to devote time to getting it right, and for someone just trying to pump out cheap units at volume, that's not an easy sell.

Re: Fixing annoying blue standby lights

#43

Post by cogwheel »

_moof wrote: post #42
Liftyee wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speculation: Perhaps they are trying to distinguish themselves from the "cheaper" products by using the "new" blue LEDs? IIRC the technology for them was figured out much later than green or red, so maybe there is a bit of leftover "futuristic" feel to them. The last time I saw a blue room-illuminator was on an ancient Belkin Bluetooth dongle. IMO the practice has gone out of style with most name brands (including Ap…

It's basically this, yes. Blue LEDs were such a game-changer that the inventor won a Nobel prize for it. When they became cheap enough to use in consumer electronics, manufacturers went absolutely nuts and put them in everything as a sort of whiz-bang look-what-we-can-do thing. But since everyone did that, they stopped feeling distinctive almost immediately. The only designers still using them for indicators are the…

I remember thinking the blue led on the PS2 was so cool when it first came out.

Re: Fixing annoying blue standby lights

#44

Post by TacticalCoder »

mrweasel wrote: post #12

Why is it that manufacturers go for blue or bright white LED indicators? I assume that they are cheap enough that it doesn't matter, but green would probably still be slightly cheaper. We have a USB charger that cannot be used in a bedroom, not that you should, but it can light up an entire room. Why not just have a tiny green LED? Apple is really good about not using bright LEDs in their product, or really any LED i…

> Why is it that manufacturers go for blue or bright white LED indicators?

I don't know but I'm sure allergic to red. I don't understand why so many devices are using red for standby or even to indicate work (I'm looking at you Raspberry Pi).

To me red is "blood" and blood is "bad". Red means error.

Thankfully some devices, like ethernet switches, are using proper colors: green for trafic, orange for "degraded" link (say 100 Mbps on a gigabit switch). I look at the rack and there are tens of LEDs and it's all blue, green, orange. That's correct. Zero red. That's what I expect when everything is working fine.

Orange for standby is acceptable, I guess.

I like blue. Maybe not bright blue but blue is way better than red IMO.

If I see something red, it better be an error: alarm / motion detector / garage door opened / whatever.

Re: Fixing annoying blue standby lights

#45

Post by INTPenis »

I got a Thermaltake Core Chassis back in 2019 and its blue LED was so strong that the first time I took a nap on the couch in that room I was awaken by it in my eye like a police flashlight. It was super annoying, and unexpected.

I put some tape over it, fixed forever.

Re: Fixing annoying blue standby lights

#46

Post by jjav »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #35

2 problems here: color and intensity. 1. Color. Blue is more rare in nature than other colors and it has a known association with daylight that is disturbing for sleep. Why not something more neutral like orange (not red, not green)? 2. Intensity. I think the manufacturers don't even think about this. For indoor use, full brightness makes no sese, but bad UX is the default choice for most, what TV manufacturer pays a…

> Blue is more rare in nature than other colors

Since the sky and the ocean are blue, that suggests a majority of visual field in nature contains blue in most cases.

Re: Fixing annoying blue standby lights

#47

Post by _moof »

cogwheel wrote: post #43
_moof wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's basically this, yes. Blue LEDs were such a game-changer that the inventor won a Nobel prize for it. When they became cheap enough to use in consumer electronics, manufacturers went absolutely nuts and put them in everything as a sort of whiz-bang look-what-we-can-do thing. But since everyone did that, they stopped feeling distinctive almost immediately. The only designers still using them for indicators are the…

I remember thinking the blue led on the PS2 was so cool when it first came out.

I remember, it was extremely cool! 23 years later the novelty has worn off a bit.
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