

Does the color temperature of a computer screen affect sleep patterns? - sklivvz1971
http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/3465/96

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tptacek
Is this really controversial? As a commenter points out, the "opposite" effect
is well established. Go to Google Scholar and search [bright light therapy
circadian], and skim the abstracts.

You can find papers there on color temperature affecting melatonin and core
temperature, too.

Anecdotally: I'm a F.lux user and I haven't had a severe insomnia episode once
since I installed it, and that it in any case reduces eyestrain.

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AJ007
I've been using F.lux for a few months, but had "solved" my sleep problems
prior. The secret was to ensure my computer was off 2 hours before my intended
sleep time. Interestingly I could sit in from of a 55" LCD television for that
time period instead (with the brightness dimmed a bit.) Within two hours I
would go to bed and be asleep within 15-20 minutes.

As a self employed entrepreneur since I dropped out of college some 5 years
ago or so, I had immense difficulty with my sleep patterns until late last
year. 24 hour cycles, waking up at midnight, every possible worst combination
imaginable.

Based on my own personal experience over the years I suspect light intensity
and prepping for bed time fixes 90% of the problems -- assuming you are not a
user of any type of narcotics or stimulants, prescription or otherwise.

To a lesser degree changing my diet and pulling out all added sugar at 95% of
dairy probably contributed positively as well.

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michaelcampbell
I use f.lux, but I wish the transition were slower; I want it to gradually
change color over the course of noon or 3 pm or so to sunset, not the 20s or 1
hour choice that it currently has.

But otherwise, it's a nice program and does seem to help, although I'm sure
everyone will have varying levels of success with it.

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Yxven
While I'm sure it depends on the person, I no longer suffer from insomnia
since I installed F.lux. It's free. Why not try it?

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aw3c2
I would guess it is not the "temperature" but the overall (feeling of)
brightness. And that is a no-brainer for me. Of course bright light means day
and activity for us.

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sathyabhat
Am I the only person to feel that f.lux is counter-productive? I'm not sure if
it's me or my laptop screen.

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rolleiflex
It changes screen to screen. on my macbook pro screen f.lux produces some
mellow golden (?) tint to the screen and basically unnoticeable, but I have a
cheap samsung 21 monitor, and on that f.lux makes screen quality deteirorate
noticeably.

Think of it like that: your lcd is certified to have a certain color gamut at
6800 kelvins. (daylight) But when you push it down to 3000K, there is no
guarantee that your lcd will retain same color range - and in most cases it
doesn't. That's probably why its about quality of your lcd. Most budget
laptops has pretty bad lcd's, so it makes sense that your laptop doesn't fare
as well.

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sathyabhat
For me, it's a case of the colour not being uniform throughout - the lower
part is considerably more "whitish" than the upper part, especially with f.lux
fully kicked in at night. This basically irritates the heck out of me and I
end up disabling it.

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Groxx
I'm not entirely sold on that theory, though it does make some sense (sunset
is a different color than daylight). I use f.lux because my screen looks
better, and it _definitely_ reduces eye strain for me.

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johkra
For X11 users, there's also redshift (<http://jonls.dk/redshift/>).

I use it when using the computer at night as it makes for easier reading.

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ajarmoniuk
f.lux doesn't work with 2 monitors; does redshift?

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drivebyacct2
Even the app-indicator version doesn't support 2 monitors? What setup is your
dual monitors? I'm trying it out, I don't use gnome-panel applets, those
bastardly things.

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ajarmoniuk
I haven't been using f.lux since I learned about the flaw - it would only work
with one of my monitors on Ubuntu Maverick (or Lucid, I don't remember now).

I'm now happily using redshift and it does work with two monitors.

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Luyt
The app 'Shades' for OSX is free and can dim to warm colors, too.
<http://www.charcoaldesign.co.uk/shades>

I use it to dim the LED screen of my bedside MacMini to a very faint
yellowish/brown color, which is just right for a totally dark room.

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car
Curiously, a recent study found that evening exposure to LED monitors
specifically affected sleep.

Here the original paper:
[http://jap.physiology.org/content/early/2011/03/10/japplphys...](http://jap.physiology.org/content/early/2011/03/10/japplphysiol.00165.2011.abstract)

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pgisaweenis
See also the excellent BYM addon for Firefox: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
us/firefox/addon/blank-your-mo...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
us/firefox/addon/blank-your-monitor-easy-readin/)

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gcb
OT: when will stack exchange stop? whats next? a web site dedicated to
question about buttering a slice of bread only?

