Blue light and television | Risks and Solutions
As you quietly sip your favorite herbal tea on your sofa, here you are attacked by a sneaky enemy . The blue light! Her again. In addition to being present on your smartphone, tablet or computer, it is also waiting for you like a faithful embankment dog that you would have done without. Discover the why and how and especially what means are at your disposal to protect yourself from it.
In this article :
- Does the TV emit blue light?
- Is the blue light from the TV dangerous?
- How to protect yourself?
- Note for the little ones
Does the TV emit blue light?
Yes ladies and gentlemen! Like any good self-respecting LED screen, the TV emits a fair amount of blue light.
Why don't manufacturers block that bad TV blue light at the source? Quite simply because to restore an image faithful to the screen, blue is necessary.
Blue is a primary color without which the rendering of other colors would not be possible.
Color rendering on a screen: some explanations
A digital screen is made up of millions of tiny dots called pixels.
Each "pixel" is composed of 3 colors:
- 🔵 blue
- 🟢 green
- 🔴 red
These pixels are so small that you cannot see the individual dots on your screen.
The idea here is that thanks to its three colors, the screen will, by combining them, manage to produce an image that your brain will interpret with different color variations.
Without blue light, colors cannot be formed properly and most of them will be absent. We won't have purple, cyan, or even white, if blue light were removed from screens.
💡 Why can't manufacturers use another color to create colors? Good question and I'm glad you asked it! However, the color gamut that can be produced would be reduced and the screen would be unattractive.
The combination of blue, red and green gives the widest possible range of colors, which is why it is used.
Why is the blue light from my television dangerous?
The problem is that our electronic devices tend to send us light concentrated on certain wavelengths which is not necessarily very good for us when we stare at it for so long.
Our eyes are not made to stare at an LED screen all day. And blue light is the most aggressive light in the spectrum that will attack your eyes by overexposing them.
Whether emitted by the TV or any other electronic device, blue light presents certain health risks for you and your family.
So no, you're not going to find yourself tonight with a third eye in the middle of your forehead, but you may have already felt several of the effects of blue light.
And that's without taking into account the long-term risks.
In the short term, blue light and screens in general will cause a set of phenomena that can be grouped under the term computer vision syndrome or digital eye strain:
On top of that, another immediate impact of blue light from TV and other screens is to inhibit the production of melatonin (the hormone that helps you fall asleep).
Finally, in the long term, more and more studies are highlighting the contribution of the blue light factor to retinal aging (and retinal diseases such as AMD or macular degeneration ).
How to protect yourself from this blue light
3 essential steps to best protect yourself. Follow the guide step by step and you will be better protected than 90% of the population who may not even think about it.
1- Avoid TV at the wrong time of day
This is THE golden rule and it applies to all screens. The general rule is to avoid exposure to screens and bright lights 3 hours before bedtime.
So we agree, it's not simple but it's a solution that works so we give it to you!
The ideal if 3 hours is not possible is to maximize this time.
⌛ Let's say that if you used to watch your favorite series just before going to bed, try adding half an hour to at least an hour between the end of the episode and bedtime. The results are guaranteed on your melatonin production.
If you feel like you're tired all the time, this little daily optimization will go a long way towards improving your daily fitness.
2- How to remove blue light from screens - Adjust TV settings
First things to do, modern televisions (such as Samsung TV) offer anti-blue light modes that will slightly modify the color rendering to avoid as much as possible attacking your little eyes. You can activate this mode if it is available.
If this mode is not available, you can simply adjust the brightness according to the surrounding light. Gradually decrease the brightness to obtain deep but still very sharp blacks (this will depend on the lighting of the room in which you are).
You can also work the hue or saturation manually to try to tend a little more towards orange which will tend to emit less blue light but this is more technical so we advise you not to modify too much.
If you follow the rest of the procedure you don't need too much normally.
Protect yourself with blue light blocking glasses
The final touch: use an effective blue light shield.
Blue light blocking glasses are the perfect tool for this. The best blue light blocking glasses are designed to stop as much harmful blue light as possible, improve the contrast of your screens but also reduce the bad reflections that tend to tire your eyes even more.
Which screen bezel to choose? Meet these simple criteria for ideal protection:
- ☀️ 100% UV filtration
- ⚡ 100% blue light filtering between 380 and 400 nanometers
- ☇ Filtering between 50 and 90% of blue light between 380 and 450 nanometers
- 🌟 Anti reflection
- 👓 Ergonomic design for better comfort
You will often have the choice between a slightly tinted glass or a much more amber glass. Our recommendation:
-
⛅ During the day : use a clear glass goes everywhere to cover your back
-
🌃 In the evening : use a darker amber glass for intense filtration and better protection before going to bed.
Our selection :
The amber collection for intense protection
This collection incorporates the most powerful technologies from the world of those who spend the most time on screens: gamers. A relaxing amber hue that's quick to get used to and really soothes the eyes when watching the final season of Rings of Power.
The nomadic collection for protection that goes everywhere during the day
A collection equipped with Ghost technology from Horus X (that's us :) ) for discreet but optimal protection for wearing all day long.
Some brands have also designed filters to stick on the TV. We find this television blue light filter not ideal because once the filter is applied, there is no going back.
And in some situations, we like to have the choice of a perfect color rendering, even with a little more blue light. It's better to have a good pair of glasses so that you don't touch your beautiful TV.
Watch out for children!
Children are more sensitive than adults in the eye area. For babies and the little ones, we strongly advise you not to expose them to screens before the age of 3. And not just because of the blue light. Regulated screen time is important for good cognitive development in addition to the impact on their eyes.
And to come back to the subject of the eyes, they take time to reach their size and maturity. Overexposure to screens with the associated dose of blue light is not a good idea to optimize their visual health.
Two pieces of advice: less time on the screen and a child's blue light blocking glasses or a child's gaming glasses .
Blue light television | The final word
The dangers of blue light are real. Protecting yourself from this blue light is therefore essential. TV or other screens, it is everywhere. If, like the vast majority of the population, you spend a lot (too much) time in front of a screen, relevant solutions exist, are easy to set up and their cost is limited (between 30 and 70 euros for a good pair of anti-light glasses blue). Reduce your visual fatigue, prevent sleep disorders, reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Questions ? Send here or on the networks, we like to discuss!
