That odd moment when you realize that designing a “sun” light at night is really hurting your ability to sleep.
Be cautious of how you play with LEDs at night.
http://www.lumilabs.co/blog/2015/1/28/blue-light-perks-you-up-but-keeps-you-up
@Erin_St_Blaine fine for your computer, but there’s no flux for LEDs. All of the hues with a blue component would wreck your ability to sleep.
If only there were some way to globally adjust the Blue component of an animation (and the Red and Green, too) !
I love color, and playing with it. It’s great to be among so many other chromophiles.
@Mark_Kriegsman setCorrection(255,170,0) three hours before bedtime? haha.
Kind of reminds me of waiting an hour before swimming after you eat.
Unfortunately, the research shows the effect is real.
It’s not just the blue. Red, green and whites all mess up your circadian rhythms.
The pure colours are too pure compared to that of 20yrs ago. White is probably the worst after blue because the white is generated by reflecting the blue off phosphorescent materials to add the reds and greens need to make white.
Any exposure to the eyes by most LED light sources should be avoided from about 3hrs after sunrise through to the following sun rise.
Trying to find LCD panels lit by CFL compared to LED now is a nightmare!
@Adam_Sharp I don’t know of any studies that showed that. If you do, could you share them?
This is such a new subject, that most official reports are still in the progress of being studied or not being publicly released at this time. And there are not many (if any) in the public domain at this time. I have reports but I am prevented from disclosure. However, briefly:
It is safe to assume that our bodies evolved to work with the natural environment around us. You can then also assume that our circadian rhythm will be controlled by the spectral shift of the sun that our eyes are exposed to during the passage of a day(light). From the blues of early morning which trigger us to be awake through to the oranges of evening that trigger us to find somewhere safe for us to start sleep.
White LEDs which use either phosphorescence or combination techniques to construct the white are too blue, holding the body into the ‘awakening’ state. Blue are obviously worse because of the saturation of blue.
The sun, once diffused by atmosphere and clouds produce a very specific spectral shift that our bodies have become programmed to over millions of years. If you compare these spectra of daylight at times of the day against the fixed spectra of modern LEDs, you will notice not only the purity, but also the intensity. And it these two factors that is keeping us awake or producing eye strain.
Old day candles, incandescent lights and alike, have a good matching spectra for the setting sun and as they were expensive to use (originally), they were also only used in the evening and early night. Thus not really impacting out circadian rhythm.
Intensity is also another issue. I have reports that indicate, for example, air crews have an environment that meets lux levels, but they still want to turn a light on. This is because the intensity of LED illumination is fasely triggering the pupils in our eye to close and reduce light input to the eyes. LEDs often have a source of <1mm2, often with focusing lenses which hit the retina directly, also not good. Try looking at the sun directly.
Our eyes are being triply confused by LEDs. Firstly by the spectrum throwing out our circadian rhythm, the purity are affecting the cones and the intensity are affecting the rods.
We need LED light to reduce energy consumption and heat considerations, but finding the right spectrum that shifts throughout the day is a real problem. LED lights have probably evolved too fast for our bodies and legislation to keep up with. Although it is unlikely that our bodies will catchup any time soon, legislation is probably the only solution and this could take several years.
There is plenty of data out there on the net, it is a matter of putting it together yourself and I’m sure public reports are in the pipeline. If I find a complete public article shortly, I’ll paste a suitable link. But generally it is assemble for yourself at the moment, sorry. But even the basics indicate this is an issue.
Thanks @Adam_Sharp . I’ll keep an eye out for those official reports.