Gaming Glasses, do they really make a difference?

ryanator

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I was looking at computer glasses lately to help with reducing eye strain from computer screens. (et. https://gunnar.com/) In the past year or two, I've been developing more eye strain with related slight headaches behind the eyes. Obviously working at a computer full time and at home will put strain on and wears over time as one ages. My vision has always been great, been going to an eye doctor every two years, never needed prescription glasses. The best ones in reducing the blue light and glare have the yellow tint though, not crazy about the look, but function over form.

Has anyone had any experience with these or know of anyone that has them with positive results?

 
I have heard of Gunnar stuff before. A lot of gamers use them. I know when I head about them years ago I thought they were full of shit, But I think they actually work with the yellow lens. The prices aren't bad either. I wonder if they have a money back guarantee? I would try a pair for the money.
 
I went ahead and bought a pair off Amazon, did the upgraded prime next day shipping. (They have a 30 day return policy) Though, the best price can be had from EZContacts, plus a 10% off. ($20 cheaper than Amazon). If you buy from the Gunnar website, they have a 30 day try it guarantee on any non-RX glasses. That's another cool thing, you can even get prescriptions on their glasses as well for around $100+ more, but don't have the the 30 day return guarantee.

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Let us know what you think.
 
Even though I won't be able to report on the chronic eye strain relief until a week or two, I'll give my first day impressions.

So far, I really like them. It makes the contrast on displays instantly very easy on the eyes. They give a very slight magnification (not enough to bother or really notice, but enough to enhance the size a tad and somehow the boldness). When I took them off, any writing on the screen looks a bit less focused. And just to compare to regular writing against a white note paper pad, it didn't have the same effect, so these definitely helped and are meant for the artificial lighting on computer screens and TVs. These glasses also enhanced low brightness on screens too, so you can even turn the brightness down , and these glasses made it even more comfortable while keeping your eyes from not having to struggle.

If one is worried about any types of "crutch" effects, Gunnar mentions these on their facts page, and says they will not cause your eyes muscles and anatomy to weaken and get used to the glasses. Displays are themselves an unnatural source of viewing, so why not comfort the effects with these types of glasses.

The glasses themselves are definitely high quality and compared to the picture, the graphite color is more darker than the silver it showed, which I liked. The lenses are not as yellow as the picture either, with having just a tint to them. The yellow tinted ones are what give it their optimally balanced 65% blue light blocking material, compared to their in the middle 35% tint and crystallized clear 10% tint lens options.

Of course the real test will see if they relieve the chronic eye strain I've increasingly been having the past two years. Gunnar states along with most positive reviews that it will take a week or so. (And important to note, I get regular full eye exams and have good eyesight only with a slight astigmatism that came on, but not needing prescription glasses). I would also like to see the better sleep effects that they advertise, but we'll see how far they are stretching their marketing. I will update this as I notice more good or anything bad.

 
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I also wanted to bring up from personal experience an important point and comparison about apps that change the screen color to a warmer tone like f.lux on computers, or the night shift display on iPhones, etc. I've been using f.lux for 6-7 years now (originally for preventive measures). Apparently they don't actually take the same blue light out (they do some), but still have to beam artificial light out which hit your eyes directly, whereas glasses block/filter it, just like sunglasses help block/filter harmful UV rays from the sun. F.lux and those apps also don't increase the contrast the same as these glasses do. Actually, when using f.lux alone, it makes the screen slightly more difficult to read without having to increase the brightness (counter intuitive it seems), but the glasses help enhance the display without having to do so.

One other thing to mention, the non-RX glasses as such that I use won't help alone if you have poor eyesight, since your eyes will strain themselves with blurry vision. Luckily, you can get these in prescription strengths as well.

 
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Interesting. Kinda makes me want a pair. Like I said years ago when they were introduced everyone scoffed at them, I think they have stood the test of time and people see the benefit. Even my Fire tablets have a blue nighttime mode to them. In fact Windows 10 has something similar to f.lux now a night time mode. I hope they work out for you @ryanator . For the price you paid they can't hurt.
 
All I can say is after three nights, I definitely feel the difference in my sleep after wearing the Gunnar glasses while using the computer. The increase in your body's natural melatonin production they describe is no joke, I haven't felt like this in almost 10 years. I've also taken melatonin supplements before and they didn't work. During the day I'm fine with the glasses, no tiredness, but have noticed I feel a nice comfortable sleepiness at night before bedtime, all three nights in a row. I'm used to waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and always an hour or two early, but it's much different now, I still feel a sense of heavy sleepiness and am able to drift back off to sleep easier. Hopefully in time, I can sleep all the way through like I used to. By the way, I had a professional sleep study done, and they found no problems with sleep apnea or anything else, was it computer work screwing with my circadian rhythm this whole time? My eyes are feeling good so far too, but will test this in the next week when I'm back to work.

On the subject of melatonin production from glass filters, I found out another popular and cheap option people swear by, the Uvex safety glasses with SCT-orange lenses. These block out almost all if not 100% of the blue light and would be great for up to two hours before bed time when doing anything near bright lights or screen viewing. These would have a heavier effect on you, so it's not meant for long hours during the day and mostly just for the night (your body needs blue light to feel awake in the day). So anyone with late night gaming, shop work, or computer browsing before bed, these should work great.

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Do you wear sunglasses during the day? I know they make all sorts of lens coatings with different colors. I know yellow is used for ski googles to define definition in the snow. Without them it looks just all white.
 
Do you wear sunglasses during the day? I know they make all sorts of lens coatings with different colors. I know yellow is used for ski googles to define definition in the snow. Without them it looks just all white.
Yes, I usually only wear sunglasses when I'm driving, as I'm usually not sitting out in the sun much. Any tint in the yellow, orange, or red would have similar effects of filtering out blue light.

 
So, gaming glasses have been around for a while. I think Gunnar was the first brand to come out with them and to block blue light from what I remember. They have been out for years and a lot of people not only use them for gaming but also for general computer work. I already have blue light blocking in my day to day glasses, but since I am getting older I have to take my glasses off while using a computer, so I am thinking about purchasing a pair so I can continue to block blue light while using a non-prescription pair of glasses for work/home/gaming computer work. Anyone use a pair or would recommend them? I see Amazon sells tons of different brands now. I am going to do some research,

GUNNAR Glasses | The Original Gaming & Computer Glasses

Horus X - Ultimate gaming & blue light blocking glasses – Horus X - USA (horus-x.com)

 
After I posted this I see @ryanator made a similar post awhile back, what are your thoughts @ryanator?




 
Just cut gaming time in half, no need for glasses.

 
Just cut gaming time in half, no need for glasses.
It's not just gaming but my daily work since I site behind a screen most of the day.

 
I cancelled my order last night for the Horus X and ordered a pair of Gunners. I still might try the Horus X but couldn't pass up the deal on the Gunnars.

 
So I received my Gunners yesterday, the quality is top notch. The frames are real glasses frames. The yellow does not bug me, but I didn't know they have a slight, slight prescription built into them to help relax the eyes I read, but it drives me crazy for looking at my computer screen. Up close it's not bad, but with the slight prescription it messes with my eyes. I didn't know there was a slight prescription from the factory. I might send them back and get the ones without the prescription in them. You think Gunnar would advertise that more. I understand why they do it, but because of my eyes it don't work very well.

 
I tried to like the Gunnars but with my eyes the prescription really messed me up, I went and ordered Horus X to try, they are supposed to not have a prescription. 

 
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