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How to improve your WFH lighting to reduce eye strain

• michaelteter 2y ago
  This is another +1 for WFH. Many office environments have terrible lighting, and there's very little you can do about it.
  • bunderbunder 2y ago
    The over-bright lighting, monitor glare, and eye strain are a favorite conversation topic at my workplace since RTO.
  • toddmorey 2y ago
    I remember standing up on office chairs to twist the florescent tube bulbs above my desk just enough to turn them off. That light was just awful. It helped a lot until maintenance would come in at night and "fix" the light and I'd have to do it all over.
    • therealdrag0 2y ago
      Same. Though mine got left off for a long time which was great.
    • xdennis 2y ago
      Could be worse. I worked in an old building in London which I think used to be a warehouse. It was renovated but the lighting was very low and they said they couldn't install stronger diffused lighting because of the local code. They eventually added hanging spotlights. Very bright and very narrow. But they would always end up shining right into someone's eyes. Every once in a while someone got annoyed by one and would rotate it in some other direction, only to piss someone else off.
    • y-c-o-m-b 2y ago
      I did the same thing and it was good for a long time, then one day I came in to find the maintenance people replacing it - thinking it was broken - instead of just twisting it back. I guess they weren't too bright (lol).
  • thanatos519 2y ago
    Amen. I wear a ballcap at the office.
  • Twirrim 2y ago
    Ours are absolutely atrocious. I forgot just how bad it got until they did a big office move a couple of months ago. Previous to that I'd been way out on the edge with large windows behind me (with some shading film on them). My move now put me in the centre of the floor with barely a window in visible range, stuck under these godawful, far too bright lights. The first day in that space reminded me just how much I'd hated that aspect of things before the pandemic.
  • mjcohen 2y ago
    My eyes are sensitive to glare, so in my last job I took to wearing the visor I wore outside also inside. Got some weird looks but it was a lot easier on my eyes.
  • benoliver999 2y ago
    Oh god they just replaced our horrible fluorescent tubes with dazzling white LED. From bad to worse.
    • sysworld 2y ago
      I have a friend who setup lighting in there garage where he works on servers, he was really proud of his new lights, when I came in, I was shocked to see he picked the worst lights possible, blinding blue/white, flickering, shining directly into your face. I don't know how he does it, but I can't stand it. Also, at work we have fluorescent tubes, it's so bad. Sometimes when I work weekends (by my self), I'll leave them off when I get in, just use natural light. It's so much nicer. Also helps that the building "A/C" is off too. I quote it because it's a sad excuse for A/C which barely cools, just makes a huge amount of noise for doing nothing.
  • matsemann 2y ago
    Had a coworker that could notice the flickering from the bulbs (fluorescent?). I can't see it, but for those who can it's apparently really jarring.
• Carrok 2y ago
  > When it comes to light brightness, too much is just as problematic as too little Recently moved into a house with on/off light switches. Having the ceiling lights on full brightness was downright oppressive. I installed dimmer switches, and it's so much nicer it's hard to really convey.
  • joelfried 2y ago
    How do you source lightbulbs? I have yet to find a reliable LED bulb that doesn't hum or flicker on a dimmer despite being advertised as "dimmable" . . .
    • adhoc_slime 2y ago
      that's probably a problem with your dimmer switch, not the bulbs.
      • gruez 2y ago
        Explain. Isn't a dimmer switch just a variable resistor? Do you need fancy dimmer switches if you want them to work with LED bulbs?
        • airblade 2y ago
          A dimmer switch for an LED light is different from a dimmer switch for a non-LED light. If you try to use an LED light with a “normal” dimmer, it won’t work well.
        • aidos 2y ago
          Not 100% sure of the details but I think it’s more like a digital pwm system. I had dimmers installed when we rewired our house and I thought they were rubbish. Replaced those with Varilight v-pro and they were noisy. Discovered that I could switch between leading edge and trailing edge modes (or something like that) and the sound went away. Love them now.
        • rb2k_ 2y ago
• marcyb5st 2y ago
  For me the revolution was to get a rather expensive monitor [1] with a great reader mode that lessen the flicker considerably. When I game with it and I turn off reader mode my eyes really feel the difference even though I spend way less time gaming than working. I wonder if OLEDs will be even better since they shouldn't flicker during productivity (from what I read at least). [1] was one of the LG ultrawide 34" but it was a few years ago and can't find it anymore.
  • wvenable 2y ago
    It might be time for me to upgrade my monitors (they are very old). I never thought too much about flicker, etc. Does anyone have any good recommendations for just decent 24" monitors for coding?
    • marcyb5st 2y ago
      Not me, sorry. At the time I did watch a bunch of reviews on YouTube, but since the purchase I haven't kept up
    • lawn 2y ago
      I've been considering the "programmer" monitors from BenQ, but I don't know if they truly help. [0]: https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/programming/rd280u.html https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/programming/rd280u.html
    • zonkerdonker 2y ago
      If you've got the budget for it, e-ink monitors are becoming more available recently, and I've heard that they make a huge difference for eye strain. There are still only a few companies manufacturing panels that large, and I think the framerate can be pretty jarring for anything other than text, but I have been keeping an eye out for when the prices drop.
      • lazerwalker 2y ago
        For most people, using e-ink for general-purpose computing tasks is going to be so jarring and unpleasant that it's extremely difficult to recommend to anyone who doesn't have severe eyestrain issues and has tried and failed more typical accommodations. I adore e-ink for reading, and own several e-ink readers in various form factors, but the tradeoffs just don't make sense for a desktop computer for most people unless staring at your monitor for eight hours a day is causing you physical harm.
• adhoc_slime 2y ago
  I recently picked up a monitor light and the change is huge, I wish I did it sooner. My rule of thumb is that I obviously don't point lights in my eyes, only on camera. no overhead light, but lamps are great because they direct light away from you and bounce it around the surfaces of the room.
  • wvenable 2y ago
    I also found a monitor light to be a great addition.
• C-Loftus 2y ago
  Are there any communities of others online dealing with general eye strain? Or other blogs / videos that have helped others? I have had chronic eye pain for a while now and could really benefit from hearing what has helped others. I have not found doctors to be helpful I have a pretty normal Dell office monitor but not sure if I would benefit from an upgrade. I have relatively normal overhead lighting and try to take breaks or use a screen reader as much as I can, but haven't had much luck reducing pain.
  • kanbankaren 2y ago
    The standard 60Hz refresh rate of monitors is unlikely to produce any eyestrain. The refresh rate of the backlight could produce eyestrain and headaches. Unfortunately, the exact frequency of the PWM used for backlight isn't often mentioned in the specs. In general, anything above 500 Hz is better as some people get headaches even for 250 Hz.
    • kanbankaren 2y ago
      P. S. The linked website is poor on details and not worth reading.
    • JoshuaEN 2y ago
      Rtings.com measures PWM frequency[1] as part of their reviews. 1. https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tests/motion/image-flicker https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tests/motion/image-flicker
  • camhart 2y ago
    There's a good chance its due to dry eye. If so, you need to blink more. Get an eye compress (heat it up in microwave, toss on eyes for 10 minutes). That can help release oils from glands onto your eyes. Artificial tears can help with comfort but wont solve the underlying problem--we don't blink (enough) when we focus on screens that are close to our face.
    • C-Loftus 2y ago
• sitzkrieg 2y ago
  switching to light editor themes that more closely matches ambient lighting will reduce eye fatigue a ton too
• camhart 2y ago
  A big thing not often spoken about with eye strain is dry eye caused by the lack of blinking due to focusing on screens too close to our face. This is an evolutionary phenomenon--close dangers cause extreme focus without blinking. Extreme focus on close items reduces our blinks. Our eye lids have glands in them that release oils on your eye with each blink. These oils help prevent the watery part of your tears from evaporating. When it evaporates your eyes dry out causing discomfort and potentially pain. If you don't blink enough, the oil doesnt get on your eyes and eventually, in extreme cases, the glands can even die. A lack of oil in tears can cause extreme eye fatigue and even pain. This is why dry eyes is on the rise. Remember to blink! I actually built a little web app to count my blinks. See https://dryeyestuff.com/ https://dryeyestuff.com/. Not perfect, just a prototype. 100% free.
  • amelius 2y ago
    Interesting. Could an external stimulus trigger a subconscious blink?
    • camhart 2y ago
      I'm not aware of any triggers to cause subconscious blinking. That'd be fantastic if there was an option though. The web app can trigger a notification if your blinks / minute drop too low. Only challenge is modern browsers throttle websites that aren't visible, so the blink counting gets messed up.
      • amelius 2y ago
        Maybe you could set up the conditions for a Pavlovian response. E.g. let your app give a signal (e.g. beep or buzz) every 30 seconds if you don't blink. Then train yourself to blink if you hear the signal. Edit: Yes, it can be done: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyeblink_conditioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyeblink_conditioning
        • DonHopkins 2y ago
          You could also lie less often, because you blink less frequently when you lie. ;) https://ris.utwente.nl/ws/files/23166678/HICSS47_Do_Liars_Blink_Differently.pdf https://ris.utwente.nl/ws/files/23166678/HICSS47_Do_Liars_Bl...
• binary_slinger 2y ago
  Another tool, although I have only anecdotal evidence, is f.lux and similar software.
• dinkblam 2y ago
  > An even, diffused lighting environment is best for the eyes indeed. i am unsure where the love for those "spotlights" embedded into the ceiling comes from. every time i enter a room that has them i want to crouch like gollum. the only thing they seem to do is blind you. indirect lights can be expensive and hard to find though. i built 12 hanging lamps that illuminate the ceiling instead of the floor myself, which saves a few thousand bucks but was unfortunately more work than expected.
  • amluto 2y ago
    Ceiling downlights can me (for most people and most purposes) quite nice, but they need to actually be spotlights. If you have a light that is close to being a point source (very bright per unit solid angle), which includes most lights aimed at people, you want that light to avoid emitting light at an angle that you're likely to be able to see. So a downlight on a ceiling should emit very little light past an angle of, say, 45 degrees or even less from vertical. After all, for most purposes (but not bedrooms when in bed!), you are not looking straight up, and a light that's shining on the top of your head or even on the tops of your eyebrows is not irritating your eyes. But a bright light, shining at you, that's in your field of view when looking horizontally, can be extremely annoying. The office-style solution is big diffuse ceiling lights. The easy but rather inefficient solution is indirect lighting. The expensive solution is to use high-end architectural lights that have a trim or lens design that makes the light source almost invisible from shallow angles. An excellent and cheap solution is to use highly recessed lights with standard, inexpensive designs. A PAR30S lamp in an ordinary (not "shallow") 5" or 6" ceiling can, with a trim that allows it to be installed at a respectable recess, can work very nicely. (That "S" is important. The whole point is that it's a "short neck" light, so the bottom surface is farther above the ceiling. And the PAR part is important, too -- PARs are reflectors, not floods, and they emit over a narrower angle.) Here's a decent article about it: https://www.agcled.com/blog/glare-and-ugr.html https://www.agcled.com/blog/glare-and-ugr.html As far as I can tell, this is almost completely ignored for residential and small business lighting, especially with LED lights from places like Costco and Home Depot. You do not want a bright light that emits over 180 degrees installed in plane with your ceiling.
  • rusty-ux 2y ago
• Karrot_Kream 2y ago
  A lot of the guidelines that are used to light a scene for a camera are also quite useful for lighting a room for yourself, just with less light needed as the human eye has a much higher dynamic range than a camera sensor: * Use diffuse light. This usually means multiple light sources bouncing and diffusing light off surfaces (ceilings, walls, etc) or diffusers. * Minimize shadows. Shadows lead to contrast which can lead to eye strain. Use multiple, maybe directional, light sources to illuminate shadows. * Minimize highlights. Windows without blinds let in lots of light which leads to contrast and can lead to eye strain. Curtains and blinds are great ways to diffuse light. * Uniform color temperature. Try to make sure all your lights have the same color temperature. Small variations are okay but large color temperature variations lead to color contrast which also tends to be hard on eye strain. * Select your color temperature based on needs and feeling. A lot of people prefer warmer color temperature lights and cool temperature lights are known to be more stressful for folks with anxiety-related conditions, but if your work requires accurate color representation, or you find yourself mentally trying to compensate for color temperature, then change the temperature to what you find most productive yet relaxing. * Wall color. Remember that "white" light that reflects off colored surfaces will take on a hue similar to the reflected surfaces. Walls of different colors can cause challenges for uniform color temperature, and warm colored walls can take cold lights and turn them warm. A side effect, of course, is that your room will become a lot more photogenic. It's no coincidence since photogenic rooms are often just easiest on the eye to look at. "Golden Hour" is considered a great time for photogenic events, photographs, and videos. "Golden Hour" lighting tends to be diffuse, not too strong, and warm toned. Humans tend to really like this style of lighting and if you do too, you might want to recreate some of these properties in your office.
  • toddmorey 2y ago
    In the history of LED lighting, it took quite a bit of work (hybrid phosphor technology, etc) to get them to emit warm color temperatures. The exact color temp can be a personal preference, but I think a lot of people aren't privy to the difference the color temperature of "white" light can make! I want to go on a guerrilla campaign around my neighborhood and replace porch light bulbs with warm equivalents.
• nluken 2y ago
  Many people overlook how spaces are lit from an aesthetic perspective as well as a from the functional perspective this article is written from. Lamps and other eye-level lighting sources do more than just help eye strain as the article suggests; they also work wonders from an interior design perspective, and make spaces feel way more livable. I always find homes overly reliant on overhead lighting struggle to shake the more sterile feel of offices, where overhead dominates.
  • empressplay 2y ago
    You can have both though, overhead white lighting for the day and lower temperature lamps for the evening. It's not a binary choice.
• jen729w 2y ago
  This is worth considering in the context of driving at night. I used to get terrible eye strain, causing fatigue and sleepiness. Obviously not good. Then I bought a Saab 900. It had a 'night mode' that disabled all dials except the speedo. The lights went off and the dial went down. (It came back on if it needed to alert you of something, say low fuel.) [0] This made a radical difference, and led me to the dash-brightness dial that nobody ever touches. Turns out if you turn that way down, reducing the contrast between you and the road, it's actually enough to get you 90% there. Because you probably don't drive a 1992 Saab (more's the pity). [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIfzUqYEkiw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIfzUqYEkiw
  • deleted 2y ago
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  • iforgot22 2y ago
    My Crown Vic can be pretty dark on the inside. The problem with this is the outside light sources like other headlights, especially with certain cars like Teslas that are super bright and aim high. If anything, I feel less eye strain with more lights inside. But either way, I get a headache any time I drive for >2hr at night, haven't found any solution.
  • Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
    Are there any cars that DON'T have a way to adjust the brightness of the dash lighting? Every car I've ever owned (86 Chrysler, 2000 Suzuki, 2016 Subaru, 2019 Tesla) had a dial to adjust the brightness of the dashboard lighting, or in the case of the Tesla, adjust the brightness of the screen. Sure, I couldn't completely shut anything off like your Saab, but I could easily turn the brightness down pretty dim.
    • plun9 2y ago
      It seems if you turn the dial all the way to the left on the Toyota Camry (and maybe other Toyotas and Lexuses), everything will disappear except for the gear position.
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• aunagar 2y ago
  Would love to know how did you generate those renderings? Is it blender or something else?
  • rusty-ux 2y ago
    It’s adobe substance stager 3d
    • DonHopkins 2y ago
      Oh, it's CGI? I wanted to know who your housecleaner was and if I could borrow them. ;) So much cat hair...
      • imp0cat 2y ago
        An army of robot vacuums working tirelessly 24/7 can help. That is, until they encounter a piece of cat excrement. :)
• bensandcastle 2y ago
  The natural light and diffuse light are good tips. Next is to get a big screen eg. 85" 4K and put it 1.5m away. That should be your main display. I don't have that all the time, but then I get some variety, 85" @ 1.5m a lot of the time, laptop some of the time, driving/walking etc. for longer range. 1.5m is the midpoint of focus for the muscles in your eyes. I built augmented reality displays and this was the focal plane we selected for to minimize eye strain and the felt sense of vergence/accommodation conflict. We could then throw graphics as close as ~30cm, or at infinity using vergence adjustments, even though the accommodation was at a fixed 1.5m. Graphics felt best at that distance, but they also felt ok in the range 0.5-10m, which suited nearly all productivity scenarios.
  • frabert 2y ago
    85" @ 1.5m is insanely big for me, do you not get sore having to dart your eyes about to read the corners?
    • JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > do you not get sore having to dart your eyes about to read the corners? I wouldn't be surprised if this is what makes it healthier. Not only are you exercising your eyes, you're also giving them a chance to let you know when they need a break.
      • syndicatedjelly 2y ago
        Yep, I set my mouse sensitivity to extremely low as well so that I’m basically “wiping the windshield” of my desk while using my computer
    • stevenAthompson 2y ago
      I do almost exactly this, but instead use a cheapish 65" 4k/60hz TV instead. I can see bits of my surroundings with my peripheral vision, but only with the parts of my vision that are already blurry. I suspect that 85" was chosen to maximize immersion for gamers (cover the entire field of view), rather than to minimize eyestrain. For me doing development work on a 65" from about 1.5m is close to ideal.
• layer8 2y ago
  The environment and the screen should have similar brightness. In the pictures in the article, the screen seems much too bright in comparison.
  • rusty-ux 2y ago
    You are spot on! - was a limitation of my 3d rendering abilities but great point.
• divan 2y ago
  Having worked from home for many years, I was surprised that I had never come across the acronym “WFH” before. It took me a moment to decipher its meaning, especially since the article introduced another acronym, “PWM” (pulse-width modulation), right at the start.
  • hammock 2y ago
    Have you heard of COVID? Is your home the ISS or something?
    • khnov 2y ago
      Now you need to tell him also what ISS is
      • divan 2y ago
        I know what ISS is. I just never had anyone in my circle reducing phrase "work from home" to a 3-letter acronym.
  • bongodongobob 2y ago
    What planet do you live on? Most of us here are from Earth.
• deleted 2y ago
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• hirvi74 2y ago
  Is no lighting considered too little? I like to sit in the dark with nothing but a computer monitor for light. I have noticed this greatly reduces eye-strain and distractions, but perhaps that is just me.
  • smrtinsert 2y ago
    This used to work for me as well, but one day my eyes just gave out. I now need a setup similar to the article. I use two diffuse light sources at corners in the room, with BenQ light bar in front, and (almost most importantly) a warm lamp backlighting the monitor. I might replace the backlight with an RGB bias light of some sort, but it has to be there or everything gets painful fast.
    • freefaler 2y ago
      Yeah, light behind the monitor is a great idea. Reduces contrast between the bright monitor and dark background. I've used this for years and it makes working during the evening so much better.
  • Kiro 2y ago
    Same here. Sounds like people are describing their yoga studios in this thread. Not for me.
    • DoingIsLearning 2y ago
      A lot of it is learned behaviour. You get used to working and being productive at night because it's often when you have free time and quiet time. Your brain then starts associating that light setting/environment with 'in the zone' mental states. As an example I used to be a midnight owl but now with kids I have to make the most of my daytime hours and squeeze as much sleep as I can in the night hours. I totally get the warmth of working the night hours but I am also fine with being in the zone during the daytime. You can shape your brain to get used to anything.
  • Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
    You're an exception. For most people, sitting in the dark with only their monitor giving off light massively increases eye-strain.
• vault 2y ago
  @jahfer what about dark mode/night mode? are you using it?
• jjcm 2y ago
  One slightly different approach I haven't seen mentioned here - I use grow lights in my office. They're way brighter, so simulate sunlight better, are full spectrum, and as a bonus my plants are super happy. I use 5 of these with a diffuser: https://www.amazon.com/SANSI-Daylight-Spectrum-Sunlight-Greenhouse/dp/B07BRKG7X1/ https://www.amazon.com/SANSI-Daylight-Spectrum-Sunlight-Gree...
  • stevenAthompson 2y ago
    What do you use as the diffuser? I also use these, but they're a bit too bright and I find myself shutting them off because the light isn't diffuse enough.
  • sebmellen 2y ago
    Do you wear sunscreen?
• iforgot22 2y ago
  From my experience, if you're going to do just one thing in this list, it should be taking breaks. It's also the only thing you can reliably control even in the office.
• irunmyownemail 2y ago
  Light on my desk for light under the monitor, light from behind me which bounces off the angled ceiling and only light themes no dark themes.
• taylorbuley 2y ago
  Environmental modification is one of my favorite emotional coping strategies. It.. feels like you're actually doing something! Cleaning up/tidying, "sacred space creation," light and color therapy all work way more effectively than you might believe.
  • hammock 2y ago
    Talk to me about color therapy
    • taylorbuley 2y ago
      Nature bathing is great. But it turns out that people in hospital beds facing windows recover faster when they face nature. And, in fact, it's not the nature at all! It can be fake and just as effective. In the end, basically, it's the green. Color therapy or chromotherapy is incorporating specific colors into your environment to evoke desired emotional states. It blows my mind how well this works, and that's why you see peach colored walls in offices. Light works similarly. Warm vs. cool, etc. You can use light exposure to regulate mood, particularly for conditions like seasonal affective disorder (SAD). All of this is culturally-dependent but it works way better than you'd think. Here are some of the common color associations: 1. Red Emotions: Energy, passion, excitement, strength, urgency, love, anger, aggression. Therapeutic Use: Stimulates energy, increases heart rate, and can evoke strong emotions. Often used to combat fatigue or lethargy, but excessive use may lead to overstimulation or agitation. 2. Orange Emotions: Enthusiasm, creativity, warmth, optimism, sociability, joy. Therapeutic Use: Encourages social interaction, boosts creativity, and uplifts mood. Often used to combat depression or feelings of loneliness. 3. Yellow Emotions: Happiness, clarity, intellect, optimism, caution, anxiety (in excess). Therapeutic Use: Promotes mental clarity, stimulates the nervous system, and enhances focus. However, too much yellow can lead to feelings of anxiety or frustration. 4. Green Emotions: Balance, harmony, growth, renewal, calmness, peace, envy (in some contexts). Therapeutic Use: Known for its calming and balancing effects, green is often used to reduce stress and promote relaxation. It is also associated with nature and healing. 5. Blue Emotions: Calmness, serenity, trust, stability, sadness, coldness. Therapeutic Use: Reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and promotes relaxation. Often used in spaces meant for rest or introspection. Darker shades can evoke feelings of sadness or detachment. 6. Purple Emotions: Spirituality, luxury, creativity, mystery, introspection, wisdom. Therapeutic Use: Encourages deep thinking, meditation, and spiritual connection. Often used to inspire creativity and self-reflection. 7. Pink Emotions: Love, compassion, nurturing, calmness, playfulness. Therapeutic Use: Promotes feelings of warmth and comfort. Often used to reduce aggression and create a soothing environment. 8. White Emotions: Purity, clarity, simplicity, peace, emptiness, sterility. Therapeutic Use: Creates a sense of space and cleanliness. Often used to promote mental clarity and a fresh start. 9. Black Emotions: Power, sophistication, mystery, fear, sadness, protection. Therapeutic Use: Can evoke feelings of protection and strength but may also lead to feelings of heaviness or depression if overused. 10. Brown Emotions: Stability, reliability, warmth, comfort, dullness. Therapeutic Use: Grounding and stabilizing, often used to create a sense of security and connection to the earth. 11. Turquoise Emotions: Calmness, clarity, communication, emotional balance. Therapeutic Use: Combines the calming effects of blue with the rejuvenating qualities of green. Often used to promote emotional balance and clear communication. 12. Gold Emotions: Success, wealth, luxury, wisdom, optimism. Therapeutic Use: Inspires confidence, abundance, and positivity. Often used to elevate mood and encourage a sense of achievement. 13. Silver Emotions: Modernity, sophistication, intuition, reflection, coldness. Therapeutic Use: Encourages introspection and clarity of thought. Often used to promote a futuristic or innovative mindset. 14. Gray Emotions: Neutrality, balance, sophistication, boredom, sadness. Therapeutic Use: Creates a sense of calm and balance but can also evoke feelings of dullness or detachment if overused.
• tonymet 2y ago
  does anyone know if there is a phase-shifter for led lights? a way to shift each led 60hz cycle to create more-uniform light?
  • Havoc 2y ago
    You’re probably better off using a high quality converter to DC and DC lights
    • tonymet 2y ago
      in theory all the switching dc supplies will be operating on the same AC cycle thus the same led frequency
      • Havoc 2y ago
        No the output differs dramatically depending on quality of the supply. Simple example to illustrate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r715nLvwWvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r715nLvwWvE
        • tonymet 2y ago
          yes but the frequency is in the same phase . e.g. if you hook up 6 lights to a high quality supply, they will oscillate in sync
• andrewfromx 2y ago
  I started leaving most warm nightshift on MacOS and iOS on 24/7. Made a huge difference. Now when I see a normal not warm screen it hurts.
  • kali_00 2y ago
    [dead]
• darkwater 2y ago
  Sooooo, I always saw offices with neon bulbs, so, very very cold light (well, actually "hotter" in Kelvin degrees...) and very bright. So I copied this in my home office, which is a 12 square meter (130 square foot) room with 6x 7000K bulbs, each emitting about 800 lumen. Am I doing totally wrong, according to TFA? Should I replace them with warm bulbs? I'usong GU10 bulbs.
  • Karrot_Kream 2y ago
    Color temperature preferences tend to be very dependent on the person. I personally find warm color to be the most relaxing but find myself straining when viewing a screen in too warm of an environment. Warm tones will tend to slightly desaturate a picture and my eyes and brain strain to "compensate" for the desaturation. I find it best to keep my office environments a bit warm, but still on the cold side.
  • rusty-ux 2y ago
    This article is just what worked for me. Some people are more light color sensitive, if you like your cool lighting and a lot of light and it works - go for it.
    • darkwater 2y ago
      I wasn't judging anyone, sorry if it felt judgemental. I was genuinely asking, because cold, bright light is all I experienced in a workplace and when I replicated it at home, I didn't feel any particular issue with my vision. But I also tend to act a bit like a mule or workhorse in these cases, carrying on anyway until I realize it's actually harmful. That's why I was asking.
• aaron695 2y ago
  [dead]
• marcodena 2y ago
  what suggestions do you have for the led strips behind the monitor? What if I wanna do the same for the back of my TV?
  • rusty-ux 2y ago
    Best thing you can do for LED strips is to connect it to a flicker free dimmer control, such as this one made by waveform lighting. Requires a little DIY but it will mean 0 flicker. https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/filmgrade-flicker-free-dimmer-for-led-strip?srsltid=AfmBOoqaFm3X29DsnPMjH44RJwZeHnwY3RIbKxC3aPHbwONyyCvNMhV4 https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/filmgrade-flicke...
    • echoangle 2y ago
      To be pedantic, they advertise 0 flicker when capturing with a camera at up to 240 fps. It’s probably still using PWM with maybe a few kHz, so physically, it’s still flickering.
• pyaamb 2y ago
  Are there any solutions that involve reflecting mirrors that allow you to add variation to the apparent viewing distance so your eye muscles are exercised more vs staring at the same distance for too long?
  • rusty-ux 2y ago
    Cool idea. Would love to see prototypes of this. This is essentially what happens at an optometrists office when you go for an eye test.
• 01100011 2y ago
  I am sensitive to bad CRI and color temp(3100K FTW). I really like the cheap "torchiere", floor lamp/uplights on Amazon but am finally giving up on them due to issues with poor CRI. I find standard screw-in LEDs from Philips to be the best, easily available source of light.
  • rusty-ux 2y ago
    Amen. Honestly the IKEA lamps are the best - super cheap and you can swap out the bulbs with high quality dimmable philips. What torchiers are you swapping to?
    • 01100011 2y ago
      I hate that ikea uses the smaller sockets for so many of their lamps. I'm still shopping for floor lamps. Too many of them come with a reading light which I don't want .
• wzyoi 2y ago
  I was wondering how practical it is to create 3D renders of your room instead of photos for the blog post. I think I found an answer: in this case, it's insanely practical. The reason is it's a blog of a senior designer at Shopify. He has the skills to make this easy for him, and showcasing them is smart.
• __mharrison__ 2y ago
  Great article. Personally, I would prefer real images than the renders.
• Nevermark 2y ago
  I once used shop lights aimed at my ceiling to get through a winter, while avoiding depression. Four pairs on stands around the room, behind the furniture aimed at a vaulted ceiling. It worked very well. Every day felt like summer. I quickly learned to turn off the sun and go back to regular lighting around 5pm. In my next house, where I am now, I have large cove molding rectangles with recessed bands of LED lighting, all bouncing off the ceiling. It’s great, because it’s really bright, but so even. Like a good day outside. You feel very awake, alert, & energized, but it is very relaxing too. They dim, but perhaps for the same reasons as the article mentioned, that isn’t always as relaxing. So I have different accent lighting & lamps in each room to create different evening moods. For working at home, for many years, the combination has been great.
• empressplay 2y ago
  I get these LED shop light tubes off of Amazon and put them _everywhere_. It's brighter inside than outside most days! It doesn't just help with eye strain but also mood and productivity https://www.amazon.com/Barrina-Integrated-Fixture-Utility-Electric/dp/B08B4LCPTV/ https://www.amazon.com/Barrina-Integrated-Fixture-Utility-El...
• winrid 2y ago
  Note that most IPS displays have 0 PWM flicker. I use a couple IPS gaming monitors. IPS displays look better for code vs OLED anyway, IMO.
  • jonmb 2y ago
    Yep, I use IPS monitors for this reason. Gotta avoid PWM to help prevent the headaches I experienced on other types. IPS looks really good too, so that works out.
• bongodongobob 2y ago
  I think something that gets kind of buried in these discussions is that the majority of this lighting stuff is psychological. 60hz lighting doesn't strain anything. Sharp shadows don't strain anything. Colors don't strain anything. Too bright is bad. Too close is bad. Beyond that, it's preference.
• zombiwoof 2y ago
  I love we have a society where we are approaching AGI and a popular story is humans who figure out how to light their home office
  • OccamsMirror 2y ago
    > approaching AGI I don't see how we're approaching AGI? I think an argument can now be made that it seems possible. But I would need a convincing argument that LLMs are anything more than an early stepping stone.
• notjoemama 2y ago
  I want to add something I noticed about coloring diffuse light. In an older home, the "white" walls may have yellowed a bit and bouncing light off them will color what is diffused. This sameness has a backrooms kind of feel to me. But, repainting with fresh and more-white white paint, I can bounce yellow or warm colored light and it ends up being pleasing.
• sappler 2y ago
  I had a lot of problems with eye strain and was always careful having good lightning around me. What solved it for me was going dark mode everywhere. I tried everything from terminal glasses to f.lux for reducing blue light. Since then I never had any issues.
• sberens 2y ago
  I'm working on something like the lamp depicted in the images[0]. It's bright, diffuse, dimmable, flicker free, and high CRI. [0]https://getbrighter.com https://getbrighter.com
  • sebmellen 2y ago
    How would this compare to something like the Godox LA 200D, which claims an output of 100,000 lumens? I use two of these lights on tall stands pointed at my ceiling, which seems to work very well
    • sberens 2y ago
      They claim 101,000 lux, not lumens. Lux is light per square meter (roughly), lumens is total light output. The closer you get to the source, the higher the lux will be, so it's hard to compare lux equally. Based on their 230W power draw and typical COB efficiency, I'd guess it's 20,000-35,000 lumens. Tldr, we're brighter, fanless, have adjustable color temperature, smart home compatible, and more aesthetic.
      • sebmellen 2y ago
        Appreciate the response!
  • NeckBeardPrince 2y ago
    Please help me understand a $1500 lamp...
  • sgt 2y ago
    It's so expensive.. And it uses a whopping 500W. Why not then just use a regular halogen standing floor lamp?
    • sberens 2y ago
      You get 6x less lumens/watt with a halogen lamp
• neilv 2y ago
  If the room in the illustrations is what you have to work with, consider sometimes putting the desk in front of the window, facing out. When the sun is not line-of-sight, and you don't have any bright flares off other objects (like car windows or chrome). That gives you natural light, it should be even left/right, and it happens to be awesome fill light for looking good on videoconf. You can also glance around your monitor to refocus at a distance, frequently.
  • evanjrowley 2y ago
    This is an underrated comment. A desk positioned so that you can view things beyond it at a distance has been the best remedy for my eyestrain, and I say that as someone using cheap oversized 1080p screens. An expensive high DPI monitor might be more convenient than rearranging a whole room to reorient an office desk, but in my experience, the value it provides is fantastic. No matter the quality of the monitor, if my ability to adjust my focus is impeded by a room's layout, then my eyes will feel the same strain they'd have if I'd been staring at a wall all day at an arm's length distance. Interestingly, the photo search results I get for "desk ceo" all show the desk oriented in the ideal way (i.e., not facing a wall): https://kagi.com/images?q=desk+ceo https://kagi.com/images?q=desk+ceo
• thebrain 2y ago
  The room of my house that I use as an office did not receive much sunlight from the window that faces a brick wall. I recently had a skylight installed and wow, it's been life changing. I don't even need a light on anymore during the day. I highly recommend installing a skylight to add more natural light to a room if it's possible.
• sebmellen 2y ago
  Buy a Godox LA 200D light, a tall light stand on a tripod, set it up in the corner of your room, and point it up at your ceiling at an angle. It’s like having indoor daylight.
• bevan 2y ago
  Strategically increasing the amount of light I'm exposed to was a game changer. Turns out we're bad at gauging how much light is in our environment. Few would suspect that the amount of lux we're exposed to indoors is often far less than 1% of the lux outside. A typical corporate office has under 500 lux, vs 50k+ midday-if you're at home and haven't put much thought into the lighting situation, the lux could be in the low double digits. You can get a free app "Lux meter" to measure yours now. We evolved to be outside a lot, and light regulates aspects of our biology. We probably shouldn't stay two orders of magnitude beneath the factory recommended exposure levels for months at a time. Hence clinical or sub-clinical SAD,sleep and mood disturbances etc [see references]. One solution is high wattage LEDs: https://www.benkuhn.net/lux/ https://www.benkuhn.net/lux/ I've had several ~250w LEDs over the years (these are huge and actually draw 250w, they aren't 250w equivalent). 250w might be overkill, and 80w is fine for me and a lot more practical. If you get one , be warned that depending on the wattage you'll probably have to build your own stand for it as most fixtures aren't rated for that high wattage. Related to light amount is of course light timing. This may be more important than getting a steadily high amount of lux during the day. Get lots of light in the morning, and not a lot at night (just low intensity bulbs, maybe just red ones, starting 1-2h after sunset is nice). That helped my sleep a ton. Check out Huberman LAb, he talks about light amount and timing ad nauseam. [1] Office workers sleep better and are more active with more lighting: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4031400/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4031400/ [2] "Day and night light exposure are associated with psychiatric disorders: an objective light study in >85,000 people" https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-023-00135-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-023-00135-8 [3] "Time spent in outdoor light is associated with mood sleep circadian rhythm related outcomes" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8892387/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8892387/ ...
• samy_aik 2y ago
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  • ornornor 2y ago
    What does this have to do with anything?
• williamjinq 2y ago
  I use screenbars (BenQ, Mi, etc.) and found them extremely helpful, in terms of reducing eye strain and leaving spaces for other desktop setups (I currently have no lamp on my desk).
• pretoriusdre 2y ago
  Dimmable, adjustable color-temperature bulbs are one of those things which seem a bit unnecessary at first, but they really do make a big difference for quality of life. I use Wifi-enabled globes. On the plus side they have beautiful aesthetics but on the downside my lightglobes are probably going to get hacked and join a botnet.
  • nunodonato 2y ago
    I do the same, got a few IKEA ones and placed them in all rooms and table/floor lamps. Now it gives me a lot of flexibility on how I want my lights to look and feel
• DoingIsLearning 2y ago
  On the topic of WFH eye strain but less on lighting. There was a post a while back where the author proposed using a laser projector as a means of reducing eye strain. She referred to lighting as a factor but I assume the major benefit is the increasing distance to the screen such that your eyes are focused on a point much further away than conventional screens (and I assume eye strain is not linear with distance). Is there any evidence on this topic? Assuming space is not a problem why is a projector arrangement not more popular? (for office work where people don't care about colour accuracy)
  • Mali- 2y ago
    On your question about popularity - I would put it down to expense and noise. The fans go like mad (especially on the cheaper projectors) and to get parity with a decent monitor, you have to spend thousands.
    • plun9 2y ago
      You could potentially save on glasses and LASIK. You could also potentially use the same projector to watch TV and videos.
  • plun9 2y ago
    I think the arrangement from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42232741 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42232741 should become more popular. Focus distance is absolutely an issue, and you can probably convince yourself of that by just staring out a window or across the room for a while and comparing the eyestrain you get from that versus reading a book for an extended period of time.
• notsydonia 2y ago
  I appreciated this article and the intention behind it but I don't think your body makes vitamin D from being in a sunny room - you need to be outdoors with the Sun's rays beaming onto your bare skin. I also cannot believe it's 2025, we have a lot of excessive features stuffed into practically every platform or tech product but nobody has come up with a genuinely healthier monitor/screen solution. LED - back lighting or ceiling - kills me, I hate it.
  • qwery 2y ago
    > I don't think your body makes vitamin D from being in a sunny room This is correct, assuming the sunlight is being filtered through windows. The glass (or other materials) filters out the wavelengths (UV-B) that does the thing.
• t0bia_s 2y ago
  Very important number about LED lights is CRI. If this number missing, I would not buy it. Typically >80 is ok, ideally >90. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index
  • Winblows11 2y ago
    For those in UK you can get 98 CRI lighting from this company: https://www.biaslighting.co.uk/collections/medialight-mk2 https://www.biaslighting.co.uk/collections/medialight-mk2 Not cheap compared to the usual Amazon Chinese stuff though
• TacticalCoder 2y ago
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• animal531 2y ago
  I have always had great eyes with no problems, I didn't have to pay attention to any articles such as these because my eyes just did their job and everything was fine. BUT then I started working for myself and discovered that I had a pretty severe case of ADD for which I started taking medication. That caused quite a bit of dry eye, some because of the medication and some because I would just blink less. Shortly after that I also hit that age close to 50 where your eyes just degrade rapidly and stop focusing on close objects causing even more eye strain. In about the span of a week I went from "normal" eyes to extreme eye strain, pain and light sensitivity. I've had to make some big changes since then. I went for an eye checkup and got some glasses to help with the close vision. I also changed all my code, tools and web sites to dark mode where I can and turned down the brightness of all my displays a bit. I'm also taking a lot of eye drops and edited my work timer app to just beep every defined amount of time (around 20 minutes) so I could take a quick break to stare into the distance. Also changing viewing distance helps, for example if I'm looking at something on Youtube then getting up and standing 2-3 meters away from my desk helps your eyes rest a bit. I still need to look into lighting since I'm also sitting next to a big sliding glass door, so this article should come in handy there.
• damnever 2y ago
  I don't wear any glasses, but I still suffer from eye strain, especially from when I started my software engineering work years ago. I have also tried a lot of devices and medicines, but working long hours is just not good, and taking breaks is very important. So, I have even developed a macOS app to remind myself to take breaks. It is available on the Mac App Store now https://apps.apple.com/us/app/totalpause/id6482185943?mt=12 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/totalpause/id6482185943?mt=12, I hope it helps.
• gunian 2y ago
  here i am no home no money no job with 8 weeks to live looking at the lord's ladder
• OfficeChad 2y ago
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• chronogram 2y ago
  I use similar standing lights with diffusers in every non-door corner, and I agree that the quality of light matters, though that doesn't mean it has to be expensive. I used E27 bulbs with RA 95, only 1521 lumen each but the light is much better than the 2500 lumen bulbs I had before. They were very cheap at a discount store (Action in the Netherlands). I use a remote to turn the whole group in a room on.
  • tarcar 2y ago
    Interesting! What type of diffusers are you using?
• philjohn 2y ago
  My biggest boons was adding a tuneable LED strip along the back side of my desk, which softly lights up the wall behind my monitors, and getting a Colorimeter. The colorimeter in particular has been great - most monitors come eye-searingly bright out of the box, and with a white point nowhere near optimal - I calibrate all three of my displays (MBP + 2 LG 4K 27" monitors) to 6500k, 120cd/m2 which for me is tolerable and leaves my eyes not feeling so tired at the end of the day.
• randomtoast 2y ago
  One aspect of eye strain is often linked to sore eye muscles, as these muscles must focus on the display for hours without relaxation. This is similar to other muscle-related pain that arises from constant tension in the same position. The eye muscles can be trained, there are exercises that can help reduce eye strain if performed regularly.
• xela79 2y ago
  put your monitor in front of a nice bland white wall, put a led strip at the back of your monitor that lights up the wall; this is reduces the contrast between the lightening from your monitor vs what's around, reducing eye strain a lot no lights shining into your monitor , those just create reflections and make the screen harder to see use the same for your TV, Philips Hue TVs are a good example on how to make the screen bigger and reduce eye strain, similmar things can be accomplished with that led strip
• qwery 2y ago
  0) Yes, an evenly lit workspace is essential for any work. 0.1) Buy more lamps -- nothing fancy, ideally second hand, always with the common affordable household light socket. By the time you have the lighting arranged how you want, you may have too many lamps. At that point you can use your army of lamps to inform bigger (& more permanent) spending decisions. 1) If you have a regular occurrence of eyestrain or itchy or sore eyes -- particularly if you don't already wear glasses and don't think you're just spending too much time working (not sleeping) -- go to an optometrist and get your eyes/vision checked. Your eye muscles "expect" your eyes to be within spec and will work harder and harder to focus even if your eyes are wobbly and largely unfocusable like mine. 2) If your monitor's backlight flickers at a low enough frequency[0] that it's a problem -- get a new monitor[1]. If you spend enough time using your monitor that the eyestrain is real, upgrading your monitor is a no-brainer. 2.1) Spend time calibrating and adjusting your display/s, whatever it is. 3) Pay attention to how text is being rendered, be picky about it and change settings and fonts. Using all the anti-aliasing and hinting features is not always better. 3.1) Prefer light backgrounds with dark text. Your eyes have an easier time focusing with this configuration. If a light background is too bright to look at, you need to add light to the room. Understand that I put this point last because it is less significant than the others. [0] flicker, PWM: would love to see some research on that, by the way. Does the switching frequency matter? (it certainly does for my hearing) [1] FWIW, my general recommendation for serious, but not too serious, quality-cost sweet spot monitors is: IPS, 2560x1440, 27", high refresh rate (i.e. ~120 Hz) -- this comes with some risk of gamer-knife gun mount greeblies, of course.
  • Izkata 2y ago
    > 2) If your monitor's backlight flickers at a low enough frequency[0] that it's a problem -- get a new monitor[1]. If you spend enough time using your monitor that the eyestrain is real, upgrading your monitor is a no-brainer. My work laptop flickers and the only solution was to throttle the CPU. Seems like it draws too much power and the AC cable that came with it can't handle it at medium loads.
• scotty79 2y ago
  Just pointing your desk lamp onto the wall behind the screen goes 90% of the way and can be done everywhere if only you have your desk against a wall that's not too dark.
• saadel 2y ago
  I'm surprised there is no mention of circadian rythms or the effects of artificial lights on us
• esafak 2y ago
  User-tested high CRI bulbs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12jj1A6PNjHmWbFNu0FSisEztir7izxAhqw3ebxPLCZA/edit https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12jj1A6PNjHmWbFNu0FSi... EPA Energy Star qualified bulbs: https://downloads.energystar.gov/bi/qplist/Lamps_Qualified_Product_List.pdf https://downloads.energystar.gov/bi/qplist/Lamps_Qualified_P...
• mmcconnell1618 2y ago
  If you do a lot of video calls, you can also consider how to light yourself so that you show up well on camera. The traditional three-point lighting setup is a good place to start. A key light which is the brightest, main light source, a fill light which is from the opposite side to soften shadows and a backlight to help you stand out from backgrounds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting
• thepratt 2y ago
  Great set of suggestions. I experience a fair amount of over lighting on some calls due to my monitor (a 42" Dell thing, maybe sitting 50-60cm away). Most things I use have dark mode, but when someone shares their screen and it's pure white I end up looking like an apparition. Does anyone have any additional suggestions where the monitor itself is the cause of the excess light? Is distance a helping factor (someone else mentioned 1.5m away from their 85" TV)?
  • rusty-ux 2y ago
    That’s really tough. For me I use a display that has an ambient light sensor so it matches my surroundings, that might help a bit. Ideally your environment is balancing the light level of your monitor (maybe 50% black level) so you can have something that works if it’s a white display window or dark.
• stusmall 2y ago
  This was extremely useful. Thank you.
• waffletower 2y ago
  Dark mode FTW. Would be nice if Hacker News had one.
  • derac 2y ago
    dark reader works well for it
• jedberg 2y ago
  > and it can provide us with much needed vitamin D Sunlight through your windows won't have any effect on your Vitamin D. The Vitamin D is made by your body in response to UVB radiation, which you get when exposed to the sun. But most windows made in the last 50 years block UVB.
• lo_zamoyski 2y ago
  I find that having a desk up against the wall (as in the diagram) makes lighting odd, and creates a claustrophobic feeling (like you're being punished by being made to face the wall or a corner). Facing away from doors is also psychologically unsettling, because people can sneak up on you without warning. This can cause distraction, as part of your attention to be pulled away from the task at hand by the vigilance of your subconscious.
• keeptrying 2y ago
  Place your monitor in front of or next to a window so you can look out of a window so your eyes can refocus and you can look out into the world. Do NOT place your computer in front of a wall - this literally makes me feel depressed.
  • sysworld 2y ago
    So much this! Though were I currently live, this means looking out onto the neighbours fence. Hoping to move soon to get a betting working space.
• dvcolgan 2y ago
  I struggled for years to find a lighting set up for my work from home environment. I eventually realized that it was the quality of light not necessarily the quantity of light I needed to address. On a whim, I purchased two of those plant grow lamps with full spectrum, lighting, and pointed them upwards perched on a tall pedestal reflecting off of the ceiling. This has worked far better than any other lighting strategy I’ve ever tried and seems to have mostly solved my seasonal affectedness disorder. It has been 0° and windy outside lately with no sun and I’m doing fine. I am in fact a plant.
  • blakeburch 2y ago
    Glad to hear someone else doing this. I feel bad not using the grow light to... you know... grow plants. But the light it provides in my office is lovely.
• MetaWhirledPeas 2y ago
  Monitor brightness down, ambient light up. Monitors are promoted as having crazy brightness, but this is exactly what you don't want for long hours of staring at the screen. You need it as dim as possible without making it hard to see. I run mine at 20% of the factory default. And of course turn the lights on and/or open a window. No more cave coding. My other suggestion is sunglasses for every moment you spend in sunlight. This makes a huge difference. The bottom line is to simply quit making your eyes adjust to extreme swings in brightness.
• iceenforcer 2y ago
  How about to RTO instead, to have real human interactions instead? Oh i know: a severe case of tech weirdo... sure, develop in your dev mancave instead.
• kccqzy 2y ago
  This article potentially answers a question I've had for a long time: why I find working at night more pleasant than working during daytime. I thought I was just a night owl. But actually my daytime setup relies on the sun coming in from the windows just like the author's first illustration. For night time I don't have a ceiling light so I naturally have multiple lamps scattered across the room (depending on where the outlet is) all with fabric wrapped light fixture (because they look good). I suspect many people might be in the same situation.
• Slava_Propanei 2y ago
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