I make a living by publishing content online, so you can only imagine how much time I spend in front of a screen daily. While most of my work happens during the day, and I generally wind up by evening, there are days when things can get stretched to late nights. Whenever that happens, I prefer working with the lights turned off. However, I recently learned that it’s not good practice, as the contrast between the dark room and the bright screen can cause stress on the eyes. At the same time, I also don’t like keeping the bright lights in my room turned on late at night. So, to strike the right balance, I decided to pick up a light bar for my monitor.
This is a decision I made after reading about different ways in which I can reduce my eye strain. A monitor light bar sits right above any of the best monitors and only throws light in a single direction, so it’s not as bright or distracting as keeping your room’s light switched on at night. Moreover, it also looks aesthetically pleasing and adds to the vibe of my setup. While I got one without expecting it to do much, I was pleasantly surprised by the difference it made to my productivity when working in the dark.
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Drastically reduced my eye strain
Small yet effective
Working in the dark means that your eyes are constantly strained due to the contrast between the dark surroundings and the bright screen. No matter how much you reduce your screen’s brightness, it’s always going to be brighter than your surroundings. This can lead to sore or watery eyes, both of which are harmful and can have long-term implications.
What a light bar does is reduce this contrast by lighting up the surroundings ever so slightly. It’s not harsh enough to bother you, while also being sufficiently bright to reduce the fatigue caused to your eyes. After using a light bar for a week, I could sense that my eyes felt less tired than they did without it.
Improves focus and productivity
Only lights up the required portions
It’s rather simple to get distracted when working late at night, since you’re probably tired and sleepy at the end of the day. Owing to this, I used to lose focus and while away time scrolling on my smartphone, or end up shutting down my PC and going to bed. Surprisingly, the light bar even helped me overcome my procrastination by allowing me to focus on my work.
This is because of the position in which the light bar is mounted. It rests on top of the monitor and emits light downwards, highlighting the screen and everything on the desk, including the keyboard and the mouse. This focused light source ensures your attention is on the screen, as opposed to a lamp or lightbulb. Moreover, it also helps with typing if you’re not a touch typist or your keyboard doesn’t have backlit keys. You can easily view all the keys on the keyboard without guessing their positions in the dark.
No more glare or reflections
Distraction-free visuals
My biggest annoyance with bright light sources is that they create reflections on the monitor screen, especially if you have a glossy display without an anti-glare coating. Due to the diffused nature of a monitor light bar and the angle at which it projects light, you won’t have any reflections or glare issues, even when used with super-reflective screens.
One thing to note, though, is that you need a light bar that’s large enough to cover the entire width of the monitor. While the light bar itself may not be as big, you’ll have to ensure that the coverage of the light emitted from it spans the entire width of your monitor. I have a 34-inch ultra-wide monitor, and in hindsight, I should have opted for a larger size since the light bar I got is for standard 16:9 displays. This is something to keep in mind since you want to make sure all parts of your monitor are evenly lit up. It’s also slightly harder to mount on a curved monitor.
Makes your setup more attractive
It even has RGB!
I got a monitor light bar from Quntis, and the variant I have has three different color temperatures to choose from. I prefer the warm white option since it causes less strain to the eyes. It’s advisable to stay away from blue light at night, so the warm, yellowish tint is the perfect hue. Additionally, there’s also an RGB light strip at the top of the bar that shines light onto the wall behind my monitor to create an extra visual effect. If you’re a gamer or have RGB lighting as a part of your PC setup, you’re surely going to appreciate this. If you find it too distracting, though, you can always turn it off.
An absolute must if you work in the dark
If you’re like me and you spend a substantial amount of time in front of a screen in low-light situations, I would highly recommend getting a light bar for your monitor. Not just for work, but gamers who spend hours in front of a screen in the dark will also appreciate the changes a light bar brings to the table — quite literally. While there are premium options available from BenQ, any standard light bar that’s big enough to cover a good portion of your monitor will do the job.
