Is blue light a problem?

[Peter Brentlinger]

http://www.electronista.com/articles/14/09/17/said.to.reduce.blue.light.by.90.percent.first.series.to.receive.technology.is.aoc.76v/

I'm just wondering if this is a real problem? I just recently replaced my ancient Sony Artisan with a NEC PA 272W. I'm enjoying it, but don't want to ruin my eyes!

[howardm]

Seems like it's a bit of FUD marketing that keys off a report indicating that if rats stared at a 100W blue light source at 10" distance for 12 hours non-stop, there might be some damage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-energy_visible_light

[Jim Kasson]

http://www.electronista.com/articles/14/09/17/said.to.reduce.blue.light.by.90.percent.first.series.to.receive.technology.is.aoc.76v/

A 10 nm shift in the peak energy? Yawn...

Jim

[Peter Brentlinger]

Yeah, Thats what I thought.

Thanks

[Czornyj]

PA272W has GBr LED backlight, emmits much less energy in the "blue" region of the spectrum, so there's nothing to worry about

[Redcrown]

Strange, this the second reference to bad-for-you blue light from LCDs/LEDs I've seen this week. Never heard of it before. Makes me wonder if it's a solution looking for a problem. Kind of like drugs for restless leg syndrome?

First reference I saw was on some other forum where the OP asked about "Hoya Blue Blocker" eyeglass lenses, which are designed to filter out the bad-for-you blue light from monitors. Made me curious, so I Googled.  Hoya had a lot to say about it, and several optometrists are selling them. But then I noticed all the hits were in Europe. No optometrists in the USA were selling them (yet?), which made me more curious.

Anyway, if you are truly concerned about the issue, special eyeglasses might be a better alternative than a custom monitor. No limit to choice of monitor.

[Tim Lookingbill]

I've been staring for hours at two 6500K calibrated CRT's and two LCD's and one LED since 1997 not to mention TV's all my life and at the age of 55 all I now need is reading glasses.

So when am I suppose to know the display is affecting my eyesight? What are the signs the display is causing eye damage?

Something tells me I'm not going to get a definitive, concrete answer.

[Redcrown]

About 7 years ago I got hit in one eye and suffered a lot of damage. The event landed me with a top level ophthalmologist, and I keep going back to her for annual checkups. In addition to monitoring the bad eye I get a full exam and prescription.

Unrelated to the injury I also suffer from dry eyes. Itiching, burning, general discomfort which I can mostly avoid with eye lubrication drops, 4-5 times a day. The doc tells me that condition is mostly due to staring at bright computer screens for 40+ years. She says dry eyes are common in people over 50 who have used computers extensively.

However, she has never mentioned the blue light aspect. My annual checkup comes in December, so I plan to ask.

And FWIW, prior to going to an ophthamologist I used a plain optometrist for exams and prescriptions. My insurance never covered that so I paid out-of-pocket. My insurance does cover ophthamologists, so now I get more for less.

[Tim Lookingbill]

Unrelated to the injury I also suffer from dry eyes. Itiching, burning, general discomfort which I can mostly avoid with eye lubrication drops, 4-5 times a day. The doc tells me that condition is mostly due to staring at bright computer screens for 40+ years. She says dry eyes are common in people over 50 who have used computers extensively.

In the past couple of years I started getting dry eyes and general discomfort with an occasional stye on the eyelids and found it was on account of seasonal pollen allergies triggering my immune system. Visine didn't help at all and in fact made it worse. It only lasts about a week and I don't get it until the next seasonal change. Stye's are very rare for me. I can't remember ever getting them until recently. I now wash my hair and face before I go to bed which made a big difference in reducing the frequencies of a lot minor skin flaking, dandruff and eye irritations.

I'm assuming your eye discomfort is more frequent.