Yeah, yeah! I’m down for another match.
Wait, What? Is it really 2am?!
No way!
Guilty as charged - and while yes, the game is partially to blame here, it’s also the
fault of the screen itself and the blue lightit emits.
If you are a fan of late-night screen time, never fear, we’ve got ways to keep your peepers protected.
This is DIY in 5!
Hey everyone!
Welcome to DIY in 5, the show where we take tech and make tech simple enough you can do it yourself.
Today we’re talking blue light blocking, what is it and how to protect your eyes from blue light,
so you can game and doomscroll in peace - if that’s even possible.
If you find the tips in today’s video useful, please go ahead and like this video, subscribe
to this channel and hit that bell so you don’t miss out on any future tech tips.
Blue light is a type of light emitted by screens that stimulates your brain.
It does so in such a way that can cause eye strain, headaches, and your brain can even be fooled into thinking it’s daytime,
which can be a problem if you like to work late at night or look at your phone before you fall asleep.
Now, researchers are constantly releasing new studies on the potential harm of blue light
and while there have been some studies that suggest this isn’t truly to blame for
your insomnia as much as people think, regardless, these tips and tricks are so simple that it’s
worth a go if you are a late night browser or often experience headaches or eye strain
after a long period of computer or phone use.
The first hack to think about isn’t even a tech solution!
The 20-20-20 rule suggests that anyone using a device for an extended period should look
away from the screen every 20 minutes, at least 20 feet away - for at least 20 seconds.
I will never remember to do that personally, but it is a healthy habit to get into if you can manage it.
Let’s start with mobile solutions since most of us are guilty of late night or simply too much phone use.
If you are an iPhone user, the Night Shift feature allows you to filter out blue light
and adjust the warmth of the colors on your display.
It will automatically do this at sunset and return your screen to it’s normal display settings in the morning.
To enable Night Shift, simply open Control Center, press Brightness Control and tap the symbol that looks like a sun.
Or if you want to go through settings, go to settings, Display & Brightness, and toggle Night Shift.
In settings, you also have the option to set specific schedules
if you don’t want sunset and sunrise to be the startpoint and endtime, or manually turn it on and off as it suits you.
If you do not see the Sunset to Sunrise option in your settings, you may need to turn on
the Setting Time Zone option in your Location and System Services.
For Android users, this will differ slightly depending which manufacturer your phone is from.
For Samsung phones, this feature is called Blue Light Filter and you can access it from your quick settings.
For Pixels, this feature is called Night Light and is available in your Display settings.
Both features allow you to adjust the intensity level and start/stop times.
For other Android options, check your Display settings, and see if your phone has this
type of feature albeit under a different name.
If your phone does not have this feature built in, there are third party apps like Blue Light Filter,
sFilter and Twilight: Blue light filter that will get the job done just fine.
For the gamers out there or workaholics using full screen applications, sometimes fullscreen applications
will automatically override any night light settings you have enabled.
If this is you, know that some monitors will now come with built in blue light filtering.
And if none of these solutions work for you another option is blue light filtering glasses.
There are varying levels of filtering, with stronger options traditionally having more
of a yellow tint than others, and they come in all shapes, sizes and prescriptions too.
I have light blue light filtering in my everyday glasses,
prescription Gunnar clearer lensed glasses for long computer sessions while streaming
and some really intense blockers if I’m not streaming and playing super late into the evening.
Between glasses, hardware solutions and software solutions, and the good ol’ 20-20-20 rule,
there are many different ways to protect your eyes from blue light.
What’s your preferred solution?
Let us know in the comments.
Alright, take care everyone and thanks for watching DIY in 5!