Gunnar 'gaming glasses'

[sameer.wahid]

I've been staring at my screen much more than usual lately (mostly MS Word and reading journal articles), and developed a 'nervous twitch' on my right upper eyelid. My LCD brightness is around 25 (Dell U2711), and I lower it even more at night. The top of my screen is about 1" above my eyes.

I decided to try the Gunnar optics.  I'd read a couple reviews that seemed positive, and more than a few that were negative or just made fun of the idea, but after four straight days of eye twitching I was ready to spend $100 to find out.

Long story short, after about five minutes wearing these I found them VERY annoying, like when you wear someone else's prescription glasses. I didn't mind the slight yellow cast, and the contrast of text definitely appeared better. The glasses sit such that the bottom of the frame partially blocks my view of the keyboard, meaning I have to move my neck if I need to see the keys.  

They're going back.

[Djuzuh]

I think safe distance from your PC and frequent pauses are still the best options.

I wouldn't judge gunnar's glasses on only 5*minutes, they probably need some time to get adjusted to them. And you shouldn't look at your keyboard

[mkawa]

i do know that the yellow tint is good for keeping the monitor from making you alert, eg, late at night. the rational explanation is that your eyes are very sensitive to blue light, and light exposure is known to cause the release of hormones that make you more alert and less sleepy, which is generally thought to be bad at night.

[Lorem-Ipsum]

i do know that the yellow tint is good for keeping the monitor from making you alert, eg, late at night. the rational explanation is that your eyes are very sensitive to blue light, and light exposure is known to cause the release of hormones that make you more alert and less sleepy, which is generally thought to be bad at night.

I find using Redshift/Flu.x to do this with some red/purple backlighting works well.

[mkawa]

I find using Redshift/Flu.x to do this with some red/purple backlighting works well.

i use flux as well, and it's not nearly as effective as glasses/sunglasses that absorb light (esp. blue light). you don't want to add backlighting -- the point isn't to limit your exposure to blue light, it's to limit your exposure to light period. basically, the body is a function f for which f(light) = wake up!

another tip is that the light is used as a trigger and it's relative, not absolute amplitude that matter, so regularly exposing yourself to a lot of light during the day can mitigate the effects of computer usage at night. in fact, that's the preferred way to mitigate the stimulating effects of computer usage at night, not silly-looking glasses.

[Djuzuh]

the light from your computer screen is negligible in your f function. That's like a few lumens.

[sameer.wahid]

I think safe distance from your PC and frequent pauses are still the best options.

I wouldn't judge gunnar's glasses on only 5*minutes, they probably need some time to get adjusted to them. And you shouldn't look at your keyboard

Normally I'd give something new more than five minutes to get used to, but these made my eyes hurt to just look at the screen :-(  I read the manual and learned they have a +0.2 diopter; not very much, but that explains the eye strain I feel. You're right, I should give them another, longer try - maybe the strain will subside after I adjust.

Also, what would normally be an appropriate safe distance? I'm currently about 27" away from my 27" screen.

I agree with you about not looking at the KB - I'm trying a new kinesis freestyle so I'm having to look at the KB more often than usual.

[Djuzuh]

About the distance: I have no clue at all xD.

Google it, should give some decent answers.

I am pretty far from my monitor, because I have a laptop, and then a kb in front of it.

[mkawa]

the light from your computer screen is negligible in your f function. That's like a few lumens.

like i said, it's all relative. if you're outside all day (and don't live in iceland lol), i absolutely agree. otoh, if you spend all day in an office staring at a monitor...

[Djuzuh]

I'm pretty sure that if you don't get any sunlight, your body will assume you live in a cave or permanent night or whatever, and you will just be tired all day and need a lot of sleep. I don't think that relativity is an issue in here.

[mkawa]

yes and no. it's generally agreed that light deprivation is highly correlated with depression (see, SAD), but also with sleep disorders. my layman's understanding is that your body is trying to implement a day/night detector, and when it can't key on light exposure, it has no idea wth is going on, and just generally starts going haywire.

[Djuzuh]

No it's something like, the body needs to « tire himself », to know that the day is over.

He knows this thanks to : the amount of light you got into your eye and the amount of excercise you did (and your internal clock).

If he thinks you aren't « tired », your sleep won't be as resplenishing. (fictionnal numbers: if you are at a -5 he'll try to get to 5, and if you are at -20 he'll try to get to 20).

That's how I understood it at least.

tldr: eat sunlight and excercise to sleep correctly.

[mkawa]

sunlight is delicious

[Lanx]

gunnar crap glasses made me want to vomit, so you're not the only one. imo it's just marketing and ppl are being payed to pimp these horrible glasses. i didn't spend 5mins tho, more like i tried to hold back the bile in my mouth for 4 hours, thinking, maybe it's me or i needed a break in period. nope, glasses just suck.

[Sifo]

Personally as someone who NEEDS to wear glasses, they're fine. I get them for free and have the lenses prescribed to my eyes. I have 3 pairs and I love them. I do notice the difference.