I’m trying out a new (to me) software called F.lux. What it does is adjust the output of your monitor depending on the time of day. Daylight it has the full “sunlight” and night time has a “warm” tone. I tried to take screenshots but since it is the monitor, it doesn’t show up.
It is an odd program and it took me a while to figure it out. When it installs, it goes to the task menu section and is already on. You right click the icon in the tray and access the options from there. Clicking the program name in the start menu does nothing. I almost uninstalled it, thinking I had screwed it up.
Accessing the menu:
The Change Location allows you to put in your zip code, city, or GPS coords. and it will know your sunrise/sunset times.
The Change Lighting is the fun part. But it is also where I got lost again.
See the greyish dots at the daytime and nighttime? Those slide to change the settings. When you first look at it, that area is kinda further greyed out and it gave me the impression it was unavailable or already set.
The next fun part is the Preview.
You select it and it it will do a speedy time lapse and your monitor will change as the “sun” goes along the line.
There’s also the disable option like if you are doing photos at night or whatever.
Like I said, screenshots won’t work and I tried to take a photo and it really didn’t show up then, either. My screen is kinda beige-ish to orange-ish. When I click the ‘disable’ option, it slowly fades back to regular then, when I uncheck it, it slowly fades to the nighttime. It will take some getting used to. I am interested in how it does with eye strain.
One potential issue is with games. I was playing a full screen game when it dimmed. I thought we’d had a power surge or something until I remembered the software. It was sundown! Some games will be too dark and I’ll have to exit F.lux then remember to turn it back on.
I do like how it softens the white screen of OpenOffice. I used to have a ‘migraine’ color schemed I’d set up for myself but no longer use it. I think this will be better maybe.
The software is free and my download was bug free. For now, I have the firewall set to ask me whenever F.lux wants to access the internet. Their F.A.Q. page has some good information, including how to use it (duh, should’ve looked there first).
I’ll use it for a week or so then let y’all know how it goes. If any of you try it, let ME know!
I use F.lux for some time and i just love it. Since i spend most of my time on my computer (either working or playing) i found it to be a great quality of life improvement (my eyes thank me every day =P).
But one thing i do noticed is that in some games (if played fullscreen) the app don’t overrides the game gamma settings, i don’t know if it’s intended or not, but if you play it windowed it might work.
Bye.