Blue Light Filters and Your Light Sensitivity Problems

Posted by Steve Mower on 18th May 2016

Like many people, Uroš Bole has problems with glare. Uroš has a blog, Glarminy.com, where he has been collating information about glare and blue light, and the  various solutions on the market (including ours). His latest post, "How to pick the best blue filter for your light sensitivity problem." delves into different types of lens filters and what they do. Blue light filters are essentially lens tints that filter different wavelengths of light. (Not to be confused with blue block anti-reflective coatings which work differently.) It is as usual, an excellent read, so you should check it out.

From his post:

"Blue light filter selection is complicated. A blue filter may help you with many problems: computer eye strain (computer vision syndrome), LED & fluorescent light sensitivity, sleep disorder, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), light sensitivity (discomfort glare), visual acuity… But not every blue filter will produce optimal results given the specifics of your blue light sensitivity problem. The chaos of hype marketing terminology often hides more than it reveals which further complicates the selection process. Read on to find out: which wavelengths your blue filter should absorb/block, by how much, how to compare bluelight filters…"

Uroš and I have been corresponding by e-mail for the last year or so about these issues. There are unresolved questions regarding how to best define blue block filters and how to communicate this to the public in a simple, understandable way. Computer users need vision protection from damaging blue light, yes. What exactly is damaging blue light, and why filter more blue light than necessary? At what point does a lens filter do more than it needs to? What if a particular person's problems aren't blue light related? It could be a different part of the spectrum that needs to be filtered. 

These and other important questions are being parsed out. We are soon going to release a joint interview with a research scientist that works in the lens/lens filter field. Stay tuned!

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