Ask HN: Reflective display for programming

6 points by printer 13 years ago | 4 comments

Brightness is a selling point these days. But every time I use a display I turn down the brightness (sometimes down to 10). Bright displays are nice for games and watching movies, but (IMHO) not for programming or watching all day. I wondered if there are reflective displays available (like E Ink) so I looked around. But I can't find any of a decent size (20" and above) or a decent response time. Does anyone know if there are decent size reflective (LCD) displays available? And why aren't they more popular?

jameswyse 13 years ago |

I don't know much about reflective displays but I use an app called f.lux which adjusts the color on your display based on the time of day. Now I can hack away all night with no eye strain!

http://stereopsis.com/flux/

printer 13 years ago | |

Thank you. I already use something similar calles Red Shift. But I still think it would be nice to have a reflective display.

tl 13 years ago |

Until you find such a display, I recommend you look into platform's accessibility options and invert the colors instead of messing with brightness. Google "black on white" for Mac or "invert colors" for Windows / Linux instructions.

printer 13 years ago | |

Nice, I did not know this was possible. But I'm currently on Windows Server 2008, and the invert option is only available in the magnifier screen.