Night mode might be as bad as blue light

[PeterT]

I know we've had previous discussions on blue light, pros and cons.

Thus article and the referenced study might be of interest.https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/12/17/p...an-blue-light/

Your phone’s blue light filter may be worse for you than blue light

Research suggests your eyes respond to yellow light more than blue light

It turns out that smartphone features like Night Light and Night Shift — which tint the screen to reduce blue light and help users fall asleep — don’t actually help users fall asleep. In fact, tinting your screen may actually be worse.

According to a study conducted by the University of Manchester (https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discove...get-the-blues/) , using Night Light on Android or Night Shift on iOS to make your display more ‘yellow’ is worse than leaving it in the regular untinted ‘blue’ mode.

Initially, the reasoning behind changing the colour of your phone screen was based on some rather sound principles. The human eye contains a protein called melanopsin, which reacts to the intensity of light. In other words, your eye reacts to light with a shorter wavelength — perceived as blue — and theoretically stimulates your brain to let it know it’s daylight and not time to sleep. Thus, the night mode options on smartphones adjust the colour of the screen to reduce blue light and prevent your eyes from telling your brain it’s still day.

Read more at*MobileSyrup.com:*Your phone’s blue light filter may be worse for you than blue light

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[tomsem]

There are no details in the article to be able to even begin to evaluate the claims. Even the claim that blue light filters help significantly is lacking in rigorous real world and long term studies.

I do use a moderate level of Night Shift on my iOS devices and computers but mainly I stick to Dark Mode/ Theme whenever I can; it just feels more comfortable. I don’t have any trouble going to sleep in general and I must be at the higher levels of screen time.

[Lparsons21]

In my case I’ve not found myself having sleep issues regardless of whether I read with a night filter on or not, or even if I read or don’t read.
At 75 I have sleep problems on occasion, but how or whether I read before trying to fall asleep doesn’t seem to be a part of the issue.


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[ZodWallop]

I don't have an opinion on the science behind whether white/blue or yellow light is better for you at night. I don't think either has much of an impact.

But what I will say is that the amber light on a reader is less glaring when reading in a completely darkened room. I noticed it when I was reading on a Kobo Aura (white/blue) but the better half was reading on a Glowlight 3 (amber).

Having said that, I don't use Night Light, Night Shift or f.lux on any of my tablets or computers.

[Deskisamess]

I use Night Shift on my iPad mini if I'm using it at night in a semi-dark room, along with keeping the brightness turned way down. But I don't like Dark Mode at all, not at all. Fully black pages online with light text send me straight to the back button.

I sleep pretty well, but we typically don't stare at backlit screens during that last hour before sleep.

Not the topic, but the only time I've used white text on a black background with any success is in very bright sunshine. Trying to read inverted text on a backlit screen is like trying to read little shards of light, and my eyes can't take it. Inverted text on my Kindles is so fuzzy and low contrast, I can't stand it.

[barryem]

I've been reading half an hour to an hour in bed before I go to sleep. I read mostly on my phone and don't worry about the color of the light. I sleep just fine.

As I recall this all began when studies showed that bright blue light can alter our sleep patterns. The studies involved more light than we get from our phones and a lot more than we get from our Kindles. And from there it took off and became a thing.

Once the public began to believe it companies trying to sell us stuff jumped on the bandwagon. Now it's a "known fact", to quote my neighbor when she describes anything that she has no evidence for but has been told by someone she trusts in her church.

I have a Nook Glowlight 3 and I did add just a bit of yellow to the light and I like it better than I did before I added that. Not enough to really matter but why not! So I do benefit a bit from this hysteria.

Barry

[Sirtel]

I do use the night light on my laptop, tablet and ereaders in artificial light. Not because it helps me to sleep better (it doesn't), but because it's easier on the eyes in a dimmer room. I don't use the dark mode on any of my devices, it's more tiring to my eyes than the light mode.

I've never cared in the least whether blue light is harmful to my sleep or not. But it's true that warm light is more comfortable to my eyes in artificially lighted environment. And that's all I care about.

[fjtorres]

I don't read much in bed. I generally just drop and go unconscious.
But what little I do, I do with brightness at minimum or white on black inverted display. Often both.
Only works when the book is slow, though.
Really good books give me insomnia.

[AnotherCat]

I would just like to know what color light will stop me falling asleep while reading in bed .

[Luffy]

I have a Kindle Paperwhite 3 32gb and any light it displays in the dark sends me to sleep quicker than pills.

[Apache]

I read on my tablet, with the same settings for day or night, and have never had a problem going to sleep.
Apache

[shalym]

Originally Posted by AnotherCat

I would just like to know what color light will stop me falling asleep while reading in bed .

Yup. That's my issue, too!

Shari

[4691mls]

I continue to believe that people are different and what works for one person, whether it's LCD vs e-ink or blue light vs orange, may not work for another, so we all should use whatever works for us. I don't expect to see news of a study reporting this, though

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I continue to believe that people are different and what works for one person, whether it's LCD vs e-ink or blue light vs orange, may not work for another, so we all should use whatever works for us. I don't expect to see news of a study reporting this, though

You sound fairly confident of that though.How come?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Luffy

You sound fairly confident of that though.How come?

Probably because there is no grant money to be had in documenting the obvious.