Powdered sapphire/ruby and it makes me feel fancy.
Dude, the Chinaman is not the issue here!
red, green, night vision â in exhaustive detail, from flashlight addicts:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?18915-Human-Night-Vision-Preservation
(Note that the red/green/blue receptors in the eye are used for vision; thereâs also a different set of receptors, different chemistry, different nerves â the melanopsin receptors â that control melatonin.)
The discovery of melanopsin containing retinal ganglion cells with intrinsic photoreception (ipRGC) at the beginning of this millennium [1, 2, 3] evoked interest not only in the research community, but also in the lighting industry. Beneficial health effects of light have been discussed not only since evidence for the use of light in psychiatric disorder therapy was achieved. One obvious drawback for broader application was always the need for additional energy, because clear effects with the typical light used for illumination purposes were dependent on higher illumination levels. It now has turned out, that the lighting used in previous laboratory and application studies was not sufficiently adapted to the non-visual reception system and cofactors could have masked these effects considerably. Though there is still discussion about the optimal lighting for non-visual effects with minimum energy use, there is no doubt in the scientific community that appropriately timed stimulation of the ipRGC during the day and avoidance of stimulation in the night stabilizes our circadian system. This leads to a more efficient nocturnal sleep and better daytime activity and alertness levels. Alertness is also directly affected by input to the ipRGCs, resulting in acutely increased performance in laboratory testing and higher activity levels in corresponding nuclei of the brain [4]. This article will highlight how to transfer scientific results on non-visual effects - also called biological effects - of light into lighting application.
Actually, blue LEDs are the least efficient LEDs in terms of light output (lumens) for a given amount of power (watts). Human visual sensitivity to blue is very low.
What makes LEDs in dark rooms obnoxious is the Purkinje shift. As human vision adapts to lower light levels, peak sensitivity shifts toward the blue end of the spectrum.
As a result, a red LED that looks bright in daylight will seem less bright at night. But a blue LED thatâs bright in daylight will seem even brighter at night because of the Purkinje shift.
All the mfrs love blue LEDs because theyâre The Official LED of Brand New 21st Century GoshWow, but theyâre a nuisance at night.
Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon, and it will become one of those curious period markers noted by future collectorâs guides.
âOh look, Herbert - blue LEDs! How Turn-of-the-Millenium!â (-:
You got me, I didnât specify a granularity
Well, that rug really tied the room together.
Orange and teal, like life.
Thats a good idea actually. I would suggest making sure itâs a monitor with a removable VGA cable encase it goes wrong though
I do that, or, when I donât like it, I use the sepia setting. Thatâs pretty warm, and I find it more relaxing than the regular setting.
You can also make an adapter with a male-female pair of the connectors. Solder them back to back, and put a switch on the blue line (or donât solder the blue line at all and enable/disable it by adding/removing the adapter).
Itâs not quite the same thing as nutrition studies. First, the effect size is pretty large by most accounts, so a low N should be able to pick it up. In any event, unlike bad diet where the effects may be hard to reverse, this is a low-risk thing to try. Also, this is one of those areas where, for an individual, any effect thatâs just due to suggestion is as good as any other effect. Scientifically, one wants to understand the mechanism of any effect, of course, but for an individual, if it cuts down sleep-related stress, itâs all to the good.
I sometimes wonder if just using a good UV filter gel would work. Perhaps what we think is blue sensitivity is really UV sensitivity. Different Orange filters have different UV rejection abilities, and that might be worth investigating if you need something to obsess on.
I just turn down the backlight to the minimum I can stand, which reduces the lumens across the spectrum, including blue, by at least a factor of 10 compared to my daytime settings. Seems likely to be more effective than reducing the blue by a factor of 2-3 as Orange filters might.
But I am in the market for a pair of rose or orange glasses to go the extra distance if anyone has suggestions.
I read every night on my ipad with white text and black background. There are a few apps that support reading like that including Pocket, iBook, kindle, etc. Iâve had no trouble sleeping.
My experience is similar; regardless of whatever scientific explanations anyone wants to argue about, it is noticeably more pleasant and tolerable to look at a monitor with flux at night. You merely need to disable flux after looking at the screen for a while with it on at night in a dark room. The screen becomes blinding and painful to look at. Your eyes adjust, but it becomes less tolerable.
Also, this doesnât really require you going full-orange to get a noticeable benefit. I do a lot of tumblring at night, which is mostly pictures, which would be annoying with a full orange shift. I have flux set to a lower setting, and for it to transition slowly around sunset, and I simply donât notice at all. My eyes adjust to the color shift and pictures and everything appear normal, but the soothing effect is still very noticeable if I disable flux.
I tried an android version a while ago and it didnât work as well as flux, Iâm sure itâs better now. Plus since Iâm using a custom ROM I can just do this in the settings:
(interestingly the screen shot is clearly in full color - itâs
affecting the hardware display not the software? not sure but it seems thatâd be ideal)
But, Iâve found that the phone screen doesnât bother me as much as the computer screen, even though I do stare at it in bed while trying to fall asleep. Results for other people obviously vary.
Thatâs why Iâve several times asked Craig at LEDMuseum to check various light sources with his spectrometer.
Thereâs a lot there on his site worth digging for, but these 2 comparisons he made are interesting on this point:
http://www.ledmuseum.candlepower.us/23/asusw.gif (white)
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/30/asusflux.gif (with f.lux)
Thatâs with a professional spectrometer.
All I have is the little Public Laboratory spectrometer; thatâd be too many links but you can 'oogle for it. publiclab.org spectrometer
which isnât accurate enough to make such comparisons.
Point is, wishing wonât make it so â measurement is needed.
I saw one publication that used f.lux assuming it removed the blue without testing the emission spectrum, and they concluded that blue wavelengths didnât have a strong effect because the f.lux group and the blue-light treatment group got about the same result. If theyâd tested their light source, Iâd guess theyâd have been surprised, looking at Craigâs spectra.
That spectrometer of his isnât enough to count photons reaching the retina, which is one of the criteria used by the published scientific research.
YMMV, thatâs the main lesson of this research; what matters is what reaches the individual personâs eye, and how sensitive they are to that.
With Android, Iâve had great success with the Bluelight Filter for Eye Care - it feels pretty close to f.lux.
There are also time-sensitive ones, like Twilight.
An easier alternative to putting bits of paper on the end of the tape for tabs is to fold the end of the tape over on itself to make a tab.
Mark, try rubber bands instead of tape, put that excessive iphone top/bottom border to use!
Courtesy tabs, as stage hands call them.