Health Impact of Displays’ Blue Light Emissions and Our Solution to the Problem
Published: March 2016
Updated: November 2024
For over a decade, LaptopMedia has studied the impact of Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) on display performance and its effects on our eyes. PWM is a method used by screens to control brightness by quickly switching the backlight on and off, which can cause eye strain and fatigue over time. Thanks to our research and expanding lab capabilities, we can now detect and mitigate PWM more accurately than ever before.
Today, we want to address another major issue: ‘Blue light’ emissions from screens and their effects on our health and sleep cycles.
We offer a practical, health-focused solution through our “Design and Office,” “Gaming and Movies,” and “Health-Guard” display profiles.
Why does this matter?
Unlike natural sunlight, computer and device screens emit light directly into your eyes. This is different from reflected light (like what you see when looking at objects around you). Your eyes aren’t naturally designed to handle emitted light for long periods, which can lead to eye strain and health problems.
Constant Exposure – Artificial light surrounds us all the time, not just from screens but from LED bulbs, streetlights, and more. Today’s “cool” blue-tinted light (often above 7000 Kelvin) has replaced warmer yellowish light (around 3000 Kelvin) as the norm, adding to eye strain.
Three main problems with modern displays:
1️⃣ High Brightness
Some modern screens are extremely bright, with luminance levels exceeding 5000 nits in HDR mode. This might sound impressive, but medical experts have linked strong artificial light exposure to a higher risk of vision problems, such as cataracts and macular degeneration, even in young people.
2️⃣ Aggressive Pulsation
Many displays control brightness by rapidly turning the backlight on and off, creating flickering at low frequencies (below 300 Hz). This “invisible flicker” causes eye fatigue, headaches, and other discomforts.
Read more about that in our What is PWM, Why is it Important, and Why Did We Add This Test to Our Reviews? article.
3️⃣ Blue Light and Sleep Disruption
Blue light, particularly in the range of 415-445 nm, can have a powerful effect on your brain. It mimics the effects of daylight, signaling your body to stay awake and stopping the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps you sleep. While this “daytime mode” boost might be helpful during the day, it becomes a problem when you’re using screens late into the evening.
However, the result is not just eye fatigue and difficulty falling asleep, but it may also lead to more severe health issues like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, as proven in numerous scientific studies (1, 2).
OUR SOLUTION
To minimize the harmful effects of the devices we use daily and can’t live without, we have dedicated extensive research to finding effective solutions for our users. While it’s challenging to step away from technology, our lab’s advanced testing has allowed us to create tailored solutions that make screen use healthier and more comfortable.
From now on, every notebook tested in LaptopMedia’s lab will receive a custom package of three profiles: “Office and Design,” “Gaming and Movies,” and “Health-Guard“.
These profiles are available digitally at a nominal cost. By purchasing them, users gain a valuable tool for healthier screen use and contribute to the continued growth and expansion of our lab, where we conduct specialized research to improve user experiences.
Each profile is carefully optimized for each display model.
✅ Reducing Harmful Blue Light and Improving Sleep
Below, you can see a comparison of two spectral diagrams from a modern notebook display emitting ‘white’ light. The top graph represents an unfiltered display, while the bottom graph shows the effect of the “Health-Guard” profile.
This targeted adjustment reduces harmful blue light exposure while preserving accurate colors (white stays white, blue remains true). Each profile is tailored specifically to its panel model, setting it apart from generic “color warming” alternatives that merely add a red tint to your screen.
✅ Eliminating Pulsations
For PWM-controlled backlights, the profile lets you dim the brightness, ‘closing’ the pixels through a special PWM-Free slider, avoiding PWM.
This means you get a flicker-free viewing experience, leading to greater comfort, reduced eye fatigue, fewer headaches, and an overall better experience during extended use.
✅ Lowering the Brightness When Needed
You can also use this slider to dim your screen further in case the brightness of your display is too high, even when you’ve lowered the Windows slider to the minimum.
How to Buy?
For every laptop that visits our lab, we create display profiles, which can be found in our detailed reviews. We also have a LaptopMedia Profiles Supported Laptops List page, where you can find all the machines for which we have created profiles over the years.
You could also place an order here but don’t forget to tell us an e-mail with your exact panel model. Scroll down to see where to find it.
En plus de recevoir des profils efficaces et favorables à la santé, en achetant les produits de LaptopMedia, vous soutenez également le développement de nos laboratoires, où nous testons les appareils afin de produire les examens les plus objectifs possibles.
Design and Office
The Design and Office profile makes display colors as close to real as possible.Ideal not only for professionals but also for everyday users, it meets sRGB standards (D65 white point, sRGB gamma) with minimal DeltaE for precise color reproduction on your panel.
Gaming and Movies
Have you ever watched a movie where, during dark scenes, you can barely see anything? Many displays fail to distinguish dark tones properly. Our Gaming and Movies profile enhances low-light performance, like HDR tech, using a gamma curve tailored to human perception — ideal for gamers seeking faster reactions and clearer visuals.
Santé-Guard
Our Health-Guard profile protects your eyes by eliminating PWM flickering, reducing strain and fatigue, and minimizing harmful Blue light exposure that can disrupt sleep and health. It uses software dimming and a gamma curve tailored to human perception for comfort and safety during screen use.
Get All The Profiles With 33% Discount!
Where to find my exact panel model?
One of the best ways to do that is with an app like HWINFO – it’s free, and its portable version doesn’t need installation:
Installation and Usage
For easy use and switching between profiles, we developed the LM Profiles 3.0 app. Just download it, then drag and drop the profiles onto the application. That’s it!
You can now effortlessly switch between modes and take advantage of the PWM-free brightness slider when the “Health-Guard” profile is activated (to ensure that PWM is eliminated, make sure the Windows brightness slider is set to maximum).
Have Questions?
Feel free to reach out to us through our Contact Us page.
Author: Kroum NikolovHead of Engineering at LaptopMedia.com, inventor and innovator with 40+ years of experience in electronics and high technology.
Author: Simeon NikolovEditor-in-Chief at LaptopMedia.com with 20+ years of experience in testing and analyzing laptops and mobile devices.
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What does the ‘profile’ means? (Ex:Health guard profile)
Is it a software you are selling?
It’s a combination of a screen profile, specially tailored for each model’s display panel, and the application we developed called ‘LM Profiles‘.
The profiles can be purchased through our detailed reviews (you should find the review specific to your laptop model).
Additionally, we have a LaptopMedia Profiles Supported Laptops List page where you can find all the machines for which we have created profiles over the years.
P.S. Sorry, the article was ‘buried’ for many years, now it’s updated, as we’re releasing the 3rd Gen Display Profiles.
Hi,
Thank you for the article.
I was about to buy a refurbished DELL E5540, but the noteboochech article about it’s display afraid me a little.
But i wonder if it’s only the model they tested that had a strong bluish cast. Sinch each screen is different from another.
Could dell E5540 owners tell me if there notice a strong bluish cast in the display and what is the PWM frequency of the machine.
Please i really need an answer.
As we haven’t tested the E5540 in our labs, I can’t comment on its screen quality;
Sorry, the article was ‘buried’ for many years, now it’s updated, as we’re releasing the 3rd Gen Display Profiles
In this part of the Earth the natural light in daytime is orangeish, and bluish at night. I assume we all sleep bad for hundreds of thousands years…
At night, moonlight might seem bluish, but its intensity is much lower than sunlight and generally doesn’t significantly affect melatonin levels. Our bodies have adapted to these natural light cycles over hundreds of thousands of years.
The main concern today is the exposure to artificial blue light at night from screens and LED lighting, which can trick our brains into staying in “day mode” and disrupt our sleep patterns.
So, while natural light does vary, it’s the modern artificial lighting that poses a greater challenge to our sleep.
[…] Встановлення нашого профілю Health-Guard не тільки усуває ШІМ, але й зменшує шкідливе випромінювання синього світла, зберігаючи при цьому кольори на екрані точними. Якщо ви не знайомі з синім світлом, версія TL;DR – це випромінювання, які негативно впливають на ваші очі, шкіру та все тіло. Ви можете знайти більше інформації про це в нашій спеціальній статті про Blue Light . […]