Several years earlier, science was convinced that the blue light from screens of smartphones was not just harmful but could also keep users awake at night. To combat this, tech companies and smartphone makers came up with blue light filters that were widely received. However, based on a new study, it appears that these filters are just as bad.
The University of Manchester recently published a study that found blue light filters could actually trick our brains into thinking that it is daytime. Surprisingly, this is exactly the thing that these Blue Light filters were crafted to avoid. These Blue Light filters like Night Light in Google Pixels or Night Shift in iPhones were developed to minimize a protein in the user's eye called melanopsin.
This particular protein responds to light intensity, mainly when that light is of a shorter wavelength, the research reveals. When the device's screen is tinted yellow, the blue part of the RGB lights is considerably reduced. The study discovered that warm yellow light convinces the brain into thinking that it is daytime.
Meanwhile, warmer colors inform the body clock that it is sunset or sunrise. In either case, it tells the body that it is not yet time to go to sleep. The observations on the study conducted revealed that the yellow light affected the body clock of the subject (mice) more than the blue light. In other words, using the blue light filter of the smartphone might increase the stimuli from the eyes tricking the brain, it isn't time to sleep.
In other news those blue light filters all your devices finally have might be worse than no filter at allhttps://t.co/NftDfWh691 — Dan Kurylo (@KuryloDan) December 19, 2019
Dr. Tim Brown, the head of the research team, notes that this makes sense if one thinks about the color of light as it manifests throughout the day and in the evening. At night, there is more blue light than there is during the day where the light is more yellow. The body primarily depends on these two indicators to determine when it is time to wake up and when it is time to sleep.
If you are one of the many smartphone owners who are using a blue light filter on your device, you can turn it on quickly. For iOS, go to Settings, Display, and Brightness, Night Shift. If you are using an Android smartphone, go to Settings, Display, Night Light.
Some Android phones have different terms for the blue light filter. Samsung calls it a blue light filter, Apple calls it Night Shift, and Night Light in Google.
