Make your Monitor easier on the Eyes.

[Andybaby]

http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/

this is a small program with a big impact, the later it gets, it Unharshes the whites and gives your monitor a more natural glow, this makes it easier on the eyes, the follow is what the site has to say about it

New! PC supports slow transition and exact location finding


Ever notice how people texting at night have that eerie blue glow?

Or wake up ready to write down the Next Great Idea, and get blinded by your computer screen?

During the day, computer screens look good—they're designed to look like the sun. But, at 9PM, 10PM, or 3AM, you probably shouldn't be looking at the sun.
f.lux

F.lux fixes this: it makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.

It's even possible that you're staying up too late because of your computer. You could use f.lux because it makes you sleep better, or you could just use it just because it makes your computer look better.

I tried this program a few months ago and kicked it because that computer was hooked up to my TV and it messes with the colors in Video, so it made my TV shows look funky. But now that i have a laptop, i was noticing it was harsh on the eyes at night, even the dimmest backlight setting would begin to make my eyes hurt. so i went back and downloaded it again, and instant change.

F.Lux is for Windows/Linux/OSX, so give it a shot, see if you like it.
If you do not use your computer to watch alot of video, you should like it

For windows its a quick install, and also a good uninstaller incase you do not like it.
it uses less than 5 megs of ram even after extended periods.

[rebarnmom]

Wow! This is really cool! Or should I say nice warm hues!
Thanks for sharing the link!

[Dylrob]

Oh wow... that does make a big difference.

I dare say this kind of software should come standard on every computer!

[mores]

get a mac - it'll do that automatically. Not by time, but according to the ambient light.

SCNR.

[Andybaby]

thats okay, my 600 buck notebook does this instead of a 2 grand mac daddy, and i may be mistaken, but it would only dim/brighten the backlight, not do what this program does.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Andybaby

thats okay, my 600 buck notebook does this instead of a 2 grand mac daddy, and i may be mistaken, but it would only dim/brighten the backlight, not do what this program does.

If the program changes the colour (eg. "warmth") of my iMac, that would seem, for me, to be "a bad thing". I work my photos on the iMac, and consistent colour is important.

However, I've downloaded it for my Fujitsu lappy, and I'll give it a go seeing as I often work on it throughout the day in a well-lit (daylight) room through to evening lamp-light through to total darkness. It could be just the thing (and if it lets me get tired at night, maybe that'll be enough to get me into bed for a read before midnight again ).

Cheers,
Marc

[Wetdogeared]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

If the program changes the colour (eg. "warmth") of my iMac, that would seem, for me, to be "a bad thing". I work my photos on the iMac, and consistent colour is important.

However, I've downloaded it for my Fujitsu lappy, and I'll give it a go seeing as I often work on it throughout the day in a well-lit (daylight) room through to evening lamp-light through to total darkness. It could be just the thing (and if it lets me get tired at night, maybe that'll be enough to get me into bed for a read before midnight again ).

Cheers,
Marc

There is the option to disable it for an hour to do colour sensitive work. You could probably extend this, *if* it tells you when that hour is up.

I'm going to give this a try on my PC and see how it works, especially when I'm on MR in the middle of the night.

WDE.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

There is the option to disable it for an hour to do colour sensitive work. You could probably extend this, *if* it tells you when that hour is up.

I'm going to give this a try on my PC and see how it works, especially when I'm on MR in the middle of the night.

WDE.

Yes, I just noticed that, having installed it on the lappy. Yes, you seem to be able to just extend it easy. I still probably wouldn't install it on the iMac, because I pretty much only use that for photos, so I'd simply be continually extending it, but it's a nice little option for those that do otherwise.

I found the "warmth" a little distracting last night (its colour gave me a slight, visceral, "ick" feeling), but simultaneously also felt it to be beneficial (especially when comparing it to the "daylight" setting). I think it might just be the distraction of the new. I've left it running.

Cheers,
Marc

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Yes, I just noticed that, having installed it on the lappy. Yes, you seem to be able to just extend it easy. I still probably wouldn't install it on the iMac, because I pretty much only use that for photos, so I'd simply be continually extending it, but it's a nice little option for those that do otherwise.

I found the "warmth" a little distracting last night (its colour gave me a slight, visceral, "ick" feeling), but simultaneously also felt it to be beneficial (especially when comparing it to the "daylight" setting). I think it might just be the distraction of the new. I've left it running.

Cheers,
Marc

If you go into the settings you can fine-tune it for your particular lighting. This make it look more natural. It also seems to help by having the transition period set to slow.

[Andybaby]

at first it is a little different, but after a few hours it does feel better on the eyes and its not distacting


As i said on my first post, on my main PC i do not have it installed cause it plays video half the day on my 42" TV, and having people look the correct color is more important, but on my laptop, where exact color reproduction isnt needed. it feel better.

you can turn it off for 1 hour, or you can just exit the program if you want to do color sensitive work, but thats rare for me to do on my laptop.

Its not a perfect solution, but it works for its intended purpose

[Wetdogeared]

OK, we just had our sunset, and right on time my screen just went muted. All light pinks and mauves and slight cross hatch patterns.

This will take some getting used to.

A lot less light given off, which is nice because the PC is in the bedroom.

Kind of changes while you're working away, very eerie.

I'll try it for a while and see if it's easier on the eyes. It certainly isn't all that easy on the brain when you first see it. If I didn't know better I'd have thought some pharmaceutical had just kicked in.

WDE.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

If you go into the settings you can fine-tune it for your particular lighting. This make it look more natural. It also seems to help by having the transition period set to slow.

This helps (the fine-tuning), but it's more the colour-tone. That "warmth" reminds me of our bedside lamps (if a different tone): they're officially "warm" fluros, but the colour has too much yellow in it, with a hint of green. On the monitor the "warm" colour it applies feels "not quite right" to my eyes, a pinking orange that isn't sure what it wants to be, but, at the moment, as mentioned, that may be the distraction of the new. Thank-you for the suggestion to tone it down.

(Note: I'm partially colour-blind, so I'm purely talking absolute subjectivity here, on both globes and screen)

I think I am going to like it - I'm hoping it stops the lappy from keeping me awake, allowing my eyes/mind to relax at night (which is, I think, why I've been staying awake too long at night).

Thanks for the heads-up, Andybaby.

Cheers,
Marc

[soilwork]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

I'll try it for a while and see if it's easier on the eyes.

To see the difference, you can turn the program off during the night.
I did not like the yellowish color at first. But the difference became quite evident when I turned it off at night. The screen color and/or brightness without f.lux at night seemed to poke my eyes.

[Andybaby]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

OK, we just had our sunset, and right on time my screen just went muted. All light pinks and mauves and slight cross hatch patterns.

there is a setting for the change to happen gradually over an hour instead of quickly.

another thing i love is "capslock to backspace" (too many programs do this, im using a very tiny Autohotkey script to do it) I havent pressed the backspace key in months, the caps lock key is so much closer, especially on a laptop wher the backspace key is in the middle of 9 other keys, hitting backspace is hit or miss, capslock on the other hand rule. I also type using the keyboard layout Colemak (which maps the caps lock to backspace automatically cept in vista/windows 7, because of new keyboard language restraints) so my keyboard looks like
qwfpgjluy;
arstdhneio
zxcvbkm,.
instead of qwerty

[Andybaby]

after running this program for a few days, i dont even notice it (especially when you set the color change to 1 hour instead of 20 seconds)

but now the screen doesnt look right without it.

how about anyone else who tried it?