Man, I wish i still had those knockoff BluBlockers...

April 25, 2007 12:39 PM

Would something like Blu Blocker sunglasses help me see my laptop screen better outside and cut down the glare from the aluminum case at the same time?

I am sitting on my back porch right now writing this, the sun is overhead, I've got the brightness on my Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro turned all the way up, and it's just barely workable vision-wise. Adding insult to injury is the glare coming off the silver aluminum shell of the laptop. I'm wearing a baseball cap because I figured out that cupping my hands around my eyes helps me see the screen better, so the cap helps simulate that effect. I just tried my 10 dollar yellow-tinted sunglasses, but that didn't do anything. Normal sunglasses of course would cut down the glare but render the screen too dark to see. Would those old Blu Blockers or something like them help me at all? I remember the idea was that they cut down the glare without reducing visibility. But I don't know if they would actually work or be good for my eyes for use with a laptop.

posted by dino terror to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Aren't those polarized lenses? Laptop screens are also polarized, so if you get a nice pair of polarized lenses you might not be able to see anything.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:53 PM on April 25, 2007

How about a Hoodman sun shade?
posted by jaimev at 12:56 PM on April 25, 2007

The polarization should be okay (they are likely polarized in the same direction -- at least this is the case with my polarized sunglasses and my LCDs in landscape orientation) but they won't help make the screen more visible.

What you need is a transreflective screen, which, sadly, is not offered by Apple on any of its products.
posted by kindall at 12:57 PM on April 25, 2007

i have a pair of polarized sunglasses, and as damn dirty ape mentions, they DO completely block out the screen at certain angles. i wouldn't recommend it.
posted by sxtxixtxcxh at 12:59 PM on April 25, 2007

It sounds like you are doing a good job of blinding yourself. A laptop screen cannot compete very well with direct sunlight and it wasn't really designed for that. I'm afraid you will have to sit under an umbrella to be able to see your laptop screen.
posted by JJ86 at 1:23 PM on April 25, 2007

I have a pair of polarized sunglasses and they DO completely block out the screen at most angles. I have to hold my head at a 45ish degree angle to see the screen at all. I wouldn't recommend it.

I don't think there's anything you can put in front of your eyes that will reduce glare, and I certainly don't see how tinted infomercial glasses would help you. You'll have to reduce glare on the surface you're trying to see, and unfortunately that's not much of an option on an LCD panel.
posted by majick at 1:26 PM on April 25, 2007