Scam Alert!!
As the public becomes increasingly aware of the dangers of blue light at night, scammers have taken notice. There have been several fake screen protector products that claim to protect you from the harmful effects of blue light. There is even one brand aggressively promoting their $35 screen protector with BS testimonials and a slick animated sales video. The problem is that the “filter” doesn’t do anything. It’s just an over priced regular screen protector that comes in fancy packaging. They sell it on Amazon as well as their own site. I bought this item, curious as to how well it would work as it seemed to be perfectly clear. I thought maybe they removed just a sliver of the blue spectrum thus minimizing the color distortion. No such luck. When it arrive, I promptly tested it out with a spectrometer. I was shocked to find that it did nothing! Nothing at all. Fortunately I’m not the only one that bought and tested one. There are several negative reviews and one other reviewer also tested it with a spectrometer. They advertise it has being 92% transparent so I suppose that it blocks 8% of the blue blue light (as well as the rest of the spectrum)!
Easy Money
I suppose we should have seen this coming. Lots of media attention on a public health danger and a population looking for an easy fix, is just too easy of an opportunity for some to pass up. I suspect that we will see a lot more of these coming. Also lookout for light bulbs that advertise to be “reduced blue light” or “sleep friendly”. There are legitimate products on the market now and lots more coming soon. The thing to remember is that there is no fancy technology that can eliminate the blue spectrum without altering color appearance.
Remember
Blue light filters will make things look yellow/orange
Lamps without blue light will shine yellow/orange
A Bulletproof Exec and his Magical Zen Technology
There’s a new product on the market. I knew for sure that “biohackers” everywhere would be the first to jump on a new product that with the promise of improving health and performance. That’s why it was only a matter of time before the Dave released his own blue blocking product. Unfortunately for him and his reputation, this looks suspiciously like a re-branded regular screen protector. I even attempted to ask him on twitter if he has evidence that this product actually does anything. No response.
.@bulletproofexec @caloriesProper Oh no Dave.. Looks just like all the fake blue light blockers out there. Spectrograph proof?
— Shawn Severinsen (@shawnseverinsen) April 9, 2015
I must emphasize that I have not tested his product, but I am extremely skeptical! I think that he may have just re-branded that popular “blue-blocking” product that I have tested. This means that, while maybe not intentionally scamming customers, he has NOT vetted the products that he is selling. This should make anyone think twice about ordering anything from his site.
While I’m tempted to test one out, I don’t care to spend the money at this point. Hopefully someone will test one and share the results. Or perhaps Dave will come forward with proof and an explanation of how they developed special technology that can remove the blue spectrum and yet still show blue colors. That would indeed be awesome and I would purchase one for all my devices!
Bottom Line
Just be aware that there are plenty of people out there looking to take advantage of us. If you see a product that you think is questionable, I’d love to know about it. You can always contact me on Twitter: @ShawnSeverinsen.
