spend a lot of time in front of your monitor?

[misterx]

The effects of polarized light on melatonin regulation in humans.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3931/is_200006/ai_n8923437/pg_1

Judging by how late I stayed up making some of the pictures I've posted lately, the effects are significant! ;)

Comments

[dariens-haircut.livejournal.com]

So what do the results of this test actually mean?

Although no significant differences were detected between vertically polarized light and nonpolarized light on melatonin suppression, the data demonstrate a possible stimulus threshold difference at 40 1x. At this intensity the nonpolarized stimulus significantly suppressed the plasma melatonin levels

This is the closest I could find to the paper actually saying something. It implies that vertically polarized light requires less energy to suppress melatonin (thus making you less sleepy) than unpolarized light does.

• Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
• How much light does an LCD or a CRT emit? If they're both above or below the threshold, the difference ought to be nil.
• Should we switch back to CRTs (which don't emit appreciably polarized light)?
• Is this an argument for switching to LCDs?
• Which way is the light that comes from an LCD polarized, anyway? Linear, I know, but whether vertical or horizontal is strictly a product design choice so far.

[misterx.livejournal.com]

I think the purpose of the article was to determine if polarized light could have melatonin altering capability. The author stated at one point that the efficacy of full spectrum light for combating SAD and similar melatonin related disorders has been shown, but the lights required are bright and often cause glare and optical discomfort. So it may have been an attempt to first test if polarized light could still have this effect, and if so, that might open the way to polarized full spectrum lamps that are more comfortable to use than regular full spectrum lamps.

I mainly posted it because I've been playing around using a polarizing filter in front of my monitor to produce some of the photos I posted recently, and I came across the article in a fit of curiosity. :)