You might have seen this particular accessory
in some of my videos,
and a couple of people have commented asking what it is.
Well, it's called a light bar.
And if you're someone who spends a lot of time at your desk,
it could be one of the best desktop accessories
you've ever bought.
In particular, if you're a student
or you read, write, draw, or build things at your desk,
buying a light bar is a no-brainer.
There are also a lot of health benefits
to a properly lit desk space in general,
especially if your room is dimly lit or gets dark at night,
but more on that later.
So how does this thing work
and what makes it so special?
Honestly, not much.
At the end of the day, it's really simple.
It's just a strip of LEDs
that sits on the top of your monitor screen
and projects light down onto your desk below.
Now light bars come in various different styles
from different brands.
You have budget options from companies like Baseus,
or if you're willing to spend a bit extra,
BenQ makes some really good ones
like the ScreenBar Plus I use in my office desk setup.
I'll make sure to link
all of the light bars I've used and tested down below
if you want to go ahead and check them out.
And I'll also have individual reviews
on these devices on the channel.
But at the end of the day,
there's not a massive difference between them.
Sure, you'll get better build quality
and some additional features on the more expensive models,
but the main purpose of a light bar
is to light the surface of your desk,
and all these devices do that regardless of price.
Okay, so let me give you a couple of examples
as to why I personally use a light bar
and have used it every day for the last 12 months.
Firstly, it's just so much better than using a lamp.
A lamp takes up quite a bit of real estate on your desk.
And a big issue with lamps is they will often result
in reflections on your screen
or cast some kind of shadow on your desk,
because the light source is only coming from one side.
For example, if you take notes
at your computer at night using a lamp,
you'll get big shadows from your hand or pencil
that can get annoying.
A light bar solves this,
because it's directly in front and above your hand and desk.
It eliminates annoying shadows
and also means
you don't have to turn on overhead ceiling lights
which might be too bright
or cast shadows at an even worse angle.
Secondly, a lot of people tend to sit in really dark rooms
while using their computer,
especially at night when there's not much ambient light.
This can put a lot of strain on your eyes
and cause headaches and blurry vision.
Now most light bars have non-flicker
and anti blue-light technology.
And paired with the ergonomic position of the light bar,
which is directly in front and above you,
if you're sitting at your computer for hours at a time,
your eyes will thank you.
Personally, I pair my light bar
with bias lighting behind my screen,
and it's been a really enjoyable setup
and has definitely improved my experience
when using a computer for long periods of time.
Okay, so let's talk
about some of the features of light bars,
starting with just how they actually attach
to the top of your monitor.
Well, they essentially just sit
on the top edge of your monitor.
There's a round, weighted bit that hangs off the back
and a hook that keeps it in place at the front.
And as you can expect, installation is extremely easy.
Just place it on the top of your monitor
and adjust until it's right in the center.
Now all of these light bars
will have a standard USB-A plug for power.
So if your particular monitor
also has the same plug on the back,
you can just plug this and power it directly
from the back of your monitor.
For example, all the monitors you see in this video,
like the Dell U2720Q or the U3219Q or the LG 27UN850,
they all have USB ports in the back.
And I'll make sure to link all of these monitors
in the description so you can take a look at them.
Another advantage to being able to plug this device
directly into your monitor
is that a lot of these models
will automatically turn on or off
when you're using your computer.
This is especially great if you're someone like me
who works from home a lot.
Often, I will just get up and walk away from my desk
for an hour at a time.
My laptop will go to sleep,
which also means the screen will go to sleep,
and the light bar will follow suit.
Okay, so let's have a quick chat
about some of the settings on these devices
and if they're customizable or not.
So you can obviously customize the brightness,
so you can turn the brightness up and down,
but you can also customize the color temperature.
For example, you might prefer a really bright white light
during the day to keep you focused
and a warmer color temperature at night before you sleep.
Also, depending on the model of light bar,
it can detect the ambient light in the room
and automatically set the best color temperature
and brightness levels for you.
This is handy because as the day goes on,
the ambient light levels may change as the sun goes down
or afternoon shadows come in.
And it just saves you
from having to adjust everything manually all the time.
Now most light bars will have the brightness,
on and off, and color temperature controls
on the light bar itself.
But some, like the ScreenBar Plus from BenQ,
have a separate control module
that sits on your desk.
Now like I mentioned, guys,
there's a pretty wide price range
that these particular light bars fall into.
If you're a student of someone with a limited budget,
I think one of the cheap Baseus options
for about $40 is a pretty good deal.
You get most of the features of the more expensive ones.
The build quality is decent.
And if you do anything reading or writing related
on your desk,
I think this is definitely, again,
one of the best upgrades you can make to your desk setup.
But if you have a little bit more disposable income
and you want to get something that really does spoil you
and perhaps you don't like these touch sensitive buttons
on the top and you want that little control puck
that sits on your desk,
something from BenQ, like the ScreenBar Plus,
might be more worthwhile to you.
But it just all boils down
to how much you're willing to spend.
Anyway, guys, hopefully you enjoyed
and I'll catch you in the next one.