Red laptop screens?

[iceman]

Hey guys.

I'm after something to put over my laptop screen to preserve dark adaptation out in the field.

I've seen red plastic velcro'd onto the screen and i've seen a sort of red film that can be cut to size as well.

What do you use, and where can I get it from (locally), and what's the cost?

I've heard that some art supply stores might have red plastic? Or maybe I should go to a plastic/glass factory and get an offcut?

Ideally the deeper/darker red teh better, and also has to be easy to see through..

Thanks

[seeker372011]

Hey Mike:

remember a long time ago I said I would purchase a piece of perspex (red) and offered to share it?

well I got it, packed it away carefully and forgot to mention it again. have been using my half regularly

so it's there if you want..can bring along on May 7 if you can wait

[iceman]

Hey Narayan I do remember that now.. :) sounds great..

How do you find it? Dark red? Clear to see through? Do you find it preserves your dark adaptation?

If you could bring it May 7, that'd be great.. no point posting it as it's unlikely i'd use it much before then anyway.

Thanks

[ving]

Hi mike.
red celphane or perspex will do i guess.

I dont have this problem tho as CDC has redscreen option anyhow :P

get CDC :)

[iceman]

I have CDC, but that redscreen option (via software) isn't the same as using a true red filter.. it's still emitting white light afaik and will most likely ruin your dark adaptation somewhat.

[ving]

oh, I wasnt aware. looks red to me. shows ya what I understand:ashamed:

[MiG]

You could make a red theme too to change the colour of the interfaces and windows.

[RAJAH235]

Hi Guys, Have a look at this prog. for adjusting your screens. :D L.
http://www.adpartnership.net/DarkAdapted/index.html

[iceman]

I've seen that program, and know about changing windows themes, but i'm sure i've read somewhere (will have to track it down) that changing the colour of a laptop isn't going to eliminate the white light it's emitting.
I read that only a true red filter that filters the light will preserve your dark adaptation.

Will have to find the reference, or find out if it's an urban myth.. need mythbusters on the case!

[[1ponders]]

:lol: I just had a flash of Paul Hogan as his daredevil alterego Leo Wanker running an Australian version of Mythbusters :lol2: And for all youse out there who are 35 and under (Striker :P ) go ask your parents who he is. :D

[ballaratdragons]

When I worked on the Paul Hogan Show 'Leo Wanker' was our (and Pauls) favourite character.

Mike, if the red perspex doesn't work, get hold of a thing called a 'cell' in red from a company that does stage and studio lighting. It is designed specifically to cut out all white light. Cells are used on spotlights etc. for rock concerts and TV shows. It is like very thick cellophane but scientifically designed to omit white light.

[h0ughy]

Paul,

I suppose you would be one of the extra's with the fire extingushers!

[iceman]

Ken, thanks for that - that's the other stuff I was thinking of.

If seeker's red plastic doesn't work, i'll hunt down that stuff.

[toetoe]

Get the Mythbusters onto it Mike, i havn`t seen Adam and Jamie blow up a lap top yet. Leo Wanker, what a legend.
Mike, my mind is bogling as i have been told by someone some time back of eye glasses to do what you are asking of. Anyone else now of these glasses? You might look like fearless fly tho. :)

[darthjohnnyb]

A red filter is better because if you look closely at a laptop in the dark, you will see that black areas of the screen still emit white light. If you want to test it then set your screen-saver to "blank", then look at it in a dark room.

At least thats how my laptop works. Blank doesn't equal black. Reducing monitor brightness may help, but you still need enough light to be able to read it......

[MiG]

It depends on the LCD. They are getting better with respect to black levels. Having it set bright definitely won't help though.

[Dennis]

Hi

I run several astronomy apps (The Sky, Starry Night Pro, SkyTools, etc) and each one seems to implement its own red light or night scheme. If I use a red filter, sometimes the Menu options or drop down menus become "invisible" if they use red text, so I gave up on red filters and now use a "neutral density" filter. A sheet of ND2 or ND3 cost me $15 from the Production Shop in Brisbane, a film/theatre lighting shop. The stuff comes on 1 metre wide rolls and the smallest cut off is 1/2 metre. It's really tough and will not tear so it’s great for the rough and tumble of an astrocamp. As it attenuates all wavelengths equally, it does not alter the relationship between the different colours so I can now see all the Menus clearly.

Cheers

Dennis

[RAJAH235]

Hi Dennis, I'd be interested to know how/if your dark adaption was affected tho. Just curious! :D
Mike, You were right about the screen GLOW. The 'Darkadapted' prog. is not as good as first thought. Your idea of a red perspex/lexan screen would seem the better option. Can you get it moulded to shape,( or plastic welded), to fit around the edge & top of the screen? (sort of slide on). I had the opportunity on Sat. night, when Neil set up his LX90 + laptop. The glow was terrible. He tried both of his 'red' screen progs., but neither killed the glow enough.
I suppose if you're just imaging all night, then it's O.K., but for those around you!!! Go to the northern end of the carpark please. Just kidding.
:D L.

[Dennis]

Hi Rajah

With the "night screen" mode of e.g. The Sky activated, plus the x2 ND filter, the notebook display seems acceptable. I also have the notebook in an observing hutch (table with a tent around it) so eyeballers around me are not impacted.

The notebook (IBM Thinkpad) also has variable display brightness, so I can really dim the screen to almost illegibility!

Cheers

Dennis

[RAJAH235]

Thanks Dennis. Sorry if that came out the wrong way. Didn't mean to offend. :) Our member was sitting out behind his car & was wearing a light blue ski suit. He simply *GLOWED*. Didn't worry us too much tho. :thumbsup:
I think that a 'totally red shield' of some sort, is what Mike is looking for. :D L.

[Dennis]

Hi Rajah

No worries, there was nothing in your post to offend, you asked a good question. Light pollution by laptops and all the modern digital gadgets can be a serious problem at astrocamps so everyone who uses these devices has a responsibility not to impact the eyeballers who visit these dark sites to get away from light pollution and use their 'scope visually.

When I started astronomy 10 years ago, there were no computers or ccds and observing paddocks were really dark. In contrast today, it is not uncommon to see a sea of blinking red LEDs and the glow of numerous digital devices which in spite of their night vision mode, add unwanted light if not carefully shielded.

Cheers

Dennis

[mojo]

If you're wondering how much red is emitted from your LCD screen relative to other colours, you could always take a picture of your screen and look at the histogram of the RGB channels. If someone has a red filter over their screen, you can compare it against that as a matter of interest.
There's an experiment that could go onto the website.

But i'm sure if you changed your theme to RED and lowered the brightness, it would do the job.

[RAJAH235]

Hi Terry, In the previous post I said that Neil had tried both of his red screen progs. I forgot to mention that he also had tried turning the screen brightness down. He still 'glowed' slightly. I think it's because the laptop is still emitting in the visible light spectrum. I would tend to agree with the *red perspex/lexan over the screen* after Sat. nights session, as the better way to stop the 'white' glow.
Also, after looking at his pics. on screen, I did notice a loss of dark adaption when I returned to my t'scope.
I like your idea of the 'take a before & after pic'. I have a piece of red lexan here. Will try next viewing night & let you know. Anyone else gonna try? :D L.

[mojo]

He'd come in handy during a blackout :whistle:

[RAJAH235]

Made reading the Herald-Bobroff easier!!! :P :D L.