We all know that blue light can impact your eyes. Many people want to know if a Kindle Paperwhite emits blue lights.
As with any other screen device, the Kindle Paperwhite does unfortunately emit blue light. However, it is at a much lower level than phones, tablets, or other Kindles and e-readers.
Do you think your Kindle impacts your sleep? 😴
Sleeping well is one of the most important factors to your overall wellbeing and health. If you think reading on your kindle (or your phone for that matter!) impacts your sleep negatively, the best way to avoid it is to use blue light blocking glasses. The glasses are cheap, and if they even raise the quality of your sleep with as little as 5% I would say that it is worth it. Most of them come in multipacks as well, so you can give a pair to a friend, your son/daughter, or partner.
The ones below are some of the most popular Blue Light Glasses on Amazon and they’re less than $20 👇🏽
- DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY BY PEEPERS – Our Blue Light Blocking Reading Glasses and No Correction Frames are truly next level thanks to trend-forward design and thoughtful craftsmanship.
- PEEPERS BLUE LIGHT FOCUS LENSES – Utilize proprietary baked-in technology that filters over 40%+ of High-Energy (HEV) Blue Light from digital devices and other potentially harmful sources reducing eye strain and making screen time easier on the eyes
- UV400 PROTECTION – Blocks 99.9% of UVA/UVB light rays
- 7-LAYER ANTI-REFLECTIVE & DUAL ANTI-SCRATCH COATING – Enhances contrast and visual sharpness by reducing reflections and glare on the surface of the lens while providing long-lasting lens protection
- PURSUING THE BEAUTY OF SELF-EXPRESSION THROUGH EYEWEAR – Stylish optical quality eyewear crafted for comfort with lightweight frames, spring hinges and unique lens clearness for comfort and style.
What is Blue Light?
Not many people know what blue light is, so it’s essential to understand that before delving into how to reduce blue light on the Kindle Paperwhite. Light is made up of electromagnetic particles that travel in waves of different lengths.
Because these lengths have an inverse relationship to the energy they produce, shorter wavelengths have higher power; alternatively, longer wavelengths have lower power.
Visible light partitions of the light spectrum are what our eyes are sensitive to, such as blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
That said, blue light is not always considered to be bad; for instance, the sun produces blue light and we are exposed to this regularly. Natural blue light can be very beneficial to us; by boosting out alertness, improving our moods, and our general well-being.
Blue light is like a signal for our bodies, it helps us to inherently know when it is light outside and helps to regulate our sleeping patterns and behaviors.
The negative aspects of blue light are closely associated with sources of this light that are artificially engineered, such as backlighting on computer screens and mobile devices.
The blue light that is produced from these types of devices can cause a strain to our eyes, give us headaches, and can damage our eyes over time.
One of the most common negative aspects of blue light is how it can affect our sleep.
Our bodies see blue light as a sensor of letting us know when it is light outside and when we should be awake. Exposure to blue light before bed can mess without bodies’ capabilities of producing melatonin and affects our natural circadian rhythm.
This not only makes it hard to fall asleep but lowers the overall quality of sleep that we receive.
Avoid Blue light… Listen to audiobooks at night instead
Although reading on your Kindle appears to be your favorite way of consuming books, another way to enjoy reading and a good story at night time is to listen to books instead. This can be a very calming and nice way to finish your day, instead of putting strain on your eyes. You can try it 30 days for free.
Does the Kindle Emit Blue Light?
Many hand-held mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets use blue light spectrums for their backlighting.
Although many newer devices utilize better filtering methods for the blue light, some tablets such as the Kindle emit blue light at all times.
And although the Kindle Paperwhite does emit a meager amount of blue light compared to other e-readers on the market, it does still emit some of it.
Does the Kindle Paperwhite have a Blue Light Filter?
Although the Kindle Paperwhite has far less blue light spectrums compared to other tablets and e-readers, it is still apparent.
Because there is less blue light from the backlighting on the Paperwhite, there is currently no functionality available to lower the blue light on the device, such as a night mode that other devices have.
However, you can manually turn down the brightness setting on your Paperwhite, as this will help to reduce the blue light.
If you want to do this, but still would like to read when the room is darkened, you can use another source of light to illuminate the surface of the Kindle Paperwhite.
A lot of people will use a nightlight such as a lamp, or a clampable low-wattage light for this purpose. Additionally, there are products available that can permanently disable the blue light of the Paperwhite by using a stick-on filter.
How do I Turn Off Blue Shade on my Kindle?
Blue Shade uses specialized filters to limit exposure to blue light and was added by Amazon to most Kindle devices through an update.
This feature limits the amount of blue light that is emitted, which makes reading e-books and using the Kindle easier on the eyes.
Blue Shade works by offering warm color filters instead of blue light, so you can still easily use the Kindle and read e-books in a dark room.
This feature not only lets you easily use your Kindle in the dark, but also makes sure that you are not disrupting your circadian rhythm if reading before bed; melatonin will still be produced by your body the way it should, and your sleep will not be affected.
It is relatively easy to toggle Blue Shade on and off and to do so you will simply swipe down from the top of the screen and tap Blue Shade. To adjust the Blue Shade from the settings menu, you can swipe down from the top, and select Settings.
From here, select Display, then tap Blue Shade. This will toggle it on and off, making it easy to switch between having Blue Shade selected or not.
Is Kindle Bad for your Eyes?
Anything that has a blue light will ultimately be wrong for your eyes. Unfortunately, the Kindle is no exception to this.
However, there are steps that you can take and settings that you can adjust to lessen the adverse effects that back-lit electronic devices can have on your eyesight, sleep patterns, and overall health.
By reducing our exposure to blue light, we are effectively lessening the amount of strain on our eyes, keeping out sleep patterns from getting out of control, and maintaining our overall quality of health.
By following these steps below you can help to reduce the amount of artificial blue light that you are exposed to:
- Turn on Blue Shade, or use a film protectant on your Kindle
- Turn the backlight all the way down
- Use other sources of light to use your Kindle
Although I have not personally tested them, there are non-prescription glasses that have a blue light blocker in them, and I have heard that they work quite well.
It is also important to remember that non-artificial blue light is good for us, as well as our state of mind.
This is received from the Sun, and you should not worry about being outside during the day as it relates to blue light exposure. Just make sure to wear sunscreen!
