Blue Ray Eye Health

Futuristic digital technology screen on the eye

Reduce Harmful Blue Light from Computers, Smartphones, and the TV

Unfortunately, blurred vision, headaches, and insomnia have become routine for some of us in the digital age. All too often we read about the negative health affects of ‘too much screen time.’ The culprit has been identified as blue light, and the good news is that there are many solutions to reduce it.

With so many people today spending increasing amounts of time looking at display screens, problems become evident. Blurred vision, headaches, and disruptions to sleep are common with computer, television, and smartphone use. The culprit, blue light, emitted out of each one of these devices is a high-energy, short-wavelength light. Blue light has a natural source as well, the sun. Even when looking up at the blue-colored sky during the day, you see scattered visible blue light provided by the sun. So, if it’s natural, why is it causing eye and sleep problems for today’s savvy technology users?



Blue light sits in the high spectrum of light and is very powerful. So powerful, that it can create alertness in someone looking at it. Just like the sun can wake you up in the morning, blue light affects how alert you feel. This alert feeling isn’t a lousy side-effect initially when working on the computer, but as the day wanes on, your eyes begin to feel fatigued.

“Common symptoms reported by today’s technology users are eye strain and sleeplessness,”

Not only does blue light lead to eye strain, but when viewing content on your device late at night can lead to an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep. When your body receives such high doses of blue light, it impacts your natural ‘circadian rhythm’ (your body’s 24-hour natural cycle/built-in clock). It’s this rhythm that allows you to get much-needed rest by naturally winding the body down to prepare for sleep. In other words, your body tells you when you need to sleep. If this rhythm breaks, or you prevent yourself from sleeping, your sleep becomes impacted, and thus affect you the following day. And so it goes on. This is how we get in to a bad sleeping cycle!

But you must continue to use your PC for work, your smartphone for communication, and your television for entertainment, so what can you do to help minimise blue light from affecting your eyes and sleep pattern?

Fortunately, scientists have been working on blue light solutions for some time now, and so many devices now offer filters you can equip yourself. For example, your smartphone likely has a ‘Blue Light Filter’ option which will remove harmful blue light. The only difference you might notice after activating the filter is a warmer tint to the screen.

Images iStock


For personal computers, there are a few options available to you for eliminating blue light. First, most new monitors come with presents that include an eye-saver or similar technology. Again, the only thing you’re likely to see is a more amber hue to the screen than usual. Also, Windows 10 has included a feature called ‘Night Light.’ Night Light is essentially a blue light filter that you can activate immediately or set a time for it to come on automatically. The benefit of Night Light is that it allows you to control the blue light filter’s strength. From a negligible difference to an intense amber color, the Night Light can protect you from eye strain and sleeplessness.

As far as your television is concerned, you can reduce blue light by changing the color temperature settings to warm. These settings are on the main menu of most televisions and are easily accessible. With a warmer temperature, you are placing less strain on your eyes as you watch it.

Lastly, there is another method to reduce blue light, and it comes in the form of filtered glasses. These glasses come with a protective blue light-reducing film and give everything a slight yellow tinge of colour. These can be effective with all your devices and contribute to a more comfortable experience. And as they are becoming so popular, so are their designs (so, you’ll look good too!)

“Your smartphone most likely has a ‘Blue Light Filter’ option which will remove harmful blue light,”

It’s essential to recognise that even though technology has become commonplace, you should still protect your eyes and mind from the harmful effects of it. If you find that you’ve been suffering from headaches, blurred vision, and disrupted sleep, you should consider reducing your hours of exposure to blue light altogether. With so many options to filter out blue light, you should also be able to find a solution that works for you. Say goodbye to eye strain and restless nights with blue light filtering.