Save Your EyeSight, Use f.lux on Your PC Today

A lot of us sit behind our PC basically 24/7 as long as it still has battery power. Once in a while, you may feel a little pain behind your eyeballs due to the constant peeking at your Laptop screen. Its time to save your eye sight and prevent damage to your eyeballs thanks to a PC app named f.lux. I use this app and i must tell you its a must have for anyone who needs to be using the Laptop all the time, especially at night.

 

F.lux is a freeware available for Windows, Linux, Mac and iOS devices. It changes the colour temperature of your PC depending on the time of the day so you have warmer colours at sunset which reduce the strain on your eye balls.

HOW IT WORKS

The lighting of the world around us changes depending on the time of day. During the day, we’re exposed to bright sunlight that has a cool, blue color temperature. This helps keeps us awake and affects our circadian rhythms. At night, the bright sunlight is gone — instead, we’re using indoor lighting that is generally dimmer and warmer. Our brains secrete melatonin during these darker hours when we’re not exposed to sunlight, causing us to get sleepier.

Unfortunately, our computers are still not smart enough to know this. Staring at our ever constant screen colour late into the night strains our eyes and inhibit the secretion of melantonin. Although some may reduce the brightness of their screens or like some laptops that have light sensors to adjust the brightness to the brightness around you, the colour temperature doesn't still change.

f.lux claims to use warmer colors at night than during the day, thus making white colors appear a bit more reddish. The theory is that looking at a warmer display at night will help reduce eye strain, and cause your brain to secrete more melatonin and help you get to sleep earlier and sleep better. Nice, isn't it?

HOW TO USE FLUX

Download (check download links at the end of this post) and install f.lux to your PC/Laptop. It automatically detects your location but if you are not sure, just go to change location and edit it. Luckily the app has only a few settings you might want to adjust. Once you do so, jusst forget about the app and let it do its work everyday.

You can adjust the desired light temperatures and choose a slow transition speed, so the colors on your screen will gradually change over 60 minutes instead of 20 seconds. Remember, you won’t see any change until after sunset - or up to an hour before sunset, if you choose the Slow transition speed.

SUMMARY

This is a must have app for any PC user if you love your eyeballs and a good sleep. Although, i may not recommend it for graphics designers as the change in colour temperature may distort the colours. This easily solved by the disable app in the settings which temporarily stops the app so you can carry out color sensitive work. There's also a "Movie mode" which lasts two and a half hours.

According to HowToGeek, f.lux may seem very pink at first, so be sure to stick with it for a while if you decide to give it a try. As the official FAQ puts it: “On first use, it can take a while to adjust to the halogen settings. Try adjusting the color temperature sliders under Settings until you find one you like. Start with fluorescent or halogen and change it when your eyes adjust.”

What are you waiting for? Download f.lux for Windows and give it a try. Its less than 1Mb. You can leave your remarks about the app in the comment box. Don't forget to share this post with your friends.

Download Links: F.lux Download