After contacting T’aime to obtain spectral transmission data for the post on best blue blockers they offered to send me their computer reading glasses for review. I received their Rimless Black&white Frame (commission link) with orange-ish lenses. Below you will find my thoughts after wearing the glasses for 12 weeks when doing computer work. Overall they the experience has been very positive.

T’aime computer reading glasses’ lenses

The focus of this review is on the lens effectiveness in blocking blue light and glare from computer screens to reduce computer eye strain and/or insomnia.

T’aime offers several different frames (commission link) two different lenses in terms of their spectral transmission properties. They are the 75% and 97% blue blocking computer reading glasses. They don’t specify over what range of wavelengths the blue light filtering rate is calculated. In any case, advertised blue blocking % should always be considered with caution until seeing glasses’ spectral transmission data.

I’ve tested the T’aime computer reading glasses with lenses labeled as 97% blue light filtering lenses. Hence, in terms of optical properties, this review is also valid for their other T’aime glasses and clip-ons with the 97% lens (commission link).

Transmission: If you are considering blue blockers, their spectral transmission data should be the first thing you want to check. This is because different lenses even when appearing to have the same tint (yellow, amber, or orange) may have considerably different blue light blocking properties.

T’aime doesn’t disclose the spectrograms, but they’ve been able to provide data on how their glasses change spectral power distribution (SPD) emitted by computer screen.

Below you can see a reading of SPD of a white screen (the “before” image):

 

You may see a very high spike in the blue wavelength range peaking at 445nm.

Note that most LED back-lit screens tend to have a similar blue peak somewhere in the ~440 – ~460nm range. The intensity of blue light emitted may vary depending on the color displayed (most intense with blue and white) but it is never zero (0) even when displaying red or black. You may find data on various digital device screens on LEDMuseum or fluxometer.com).

Next you may see the “after” image; It is a reading of the same screen but with the 97% blue blocking lens in front of the spectrometer. (The computer reading glasses in the image are not the tested Rimless Black&white Frame but Semi-rimless Black Frame which use the same, 97% blue light filtering, lens).

You can see that the 97% lens blocks close to 100% of blue light up to about 460nm. Thus it eliminates all or most of the big blue spike.

 

97% lens spectral transmission and computer eye strain

Judging by their spectral transmission these glasses look promising in terms of their positive effect on computer eye strain because they block near 100% of blue light in the range where digital screens (and other energy saving light sources) emit it most intensly. This is also the range that is critical for blue light induced computer eye strain.

 

97% lens spectral transmission and insomnia

In terms of helping you sleep better, the 97% lens might work for you if you don’t have severe issues with blue light induced insomnia. That is because insomnia inducing blue light sensitivity peaks at ~480nm and approaches 0 only after ~550nm. So with a T’aime 97% blue light blocking computer reading glasses you’d still be getting into your eyes quite a bit of light in this range.

Anti Reflective (AR) coating: Yes

Prescription: These lenses have no power add. T’aime does not offer prescription (Rx) blue blockers.

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After 4 weeks of testing

In general I was very happy with T’aime blue blockers. Specifically:
– I was surprised to see how much blue light is still emitted by my black background screen with f.lux running at any setting – now, with the T’aime blue blocking computer glasses black is finaly truly black
– subsequently, the contrast between the black background and orange text I normally use is improved
– also, taking the blue light out makes for a clearer image – the characters appear a lot sharper
– the AR coating turned out very important for me (I had tried wearing my Uvex SCT Orange glasses (commission link) for computer work, but gave them up because they still caused eye strain and dry eyes
– T’aime rimless computer reading glasses are very light and comfortable
– they don’t fog up! This is because the lenses on the model tested are relatively small, which allows air to circulate between my face and the lenses. This is a big issue for me and another one that previously kept me from using my Uvex blue blockers for computer work, where I need them most – note that I normally cycle at work  🙂
– I’ve even been able to work in a room with daylight and black text on white background! (with f.lux at 2700K) without noticing the terrible computer eye strain symptoms I’d had before in such an environment. Still, I can’t do it for too long or the symptoms come back – particularly dry eyes
– I’ve also noted the symptom of dry eyes has been diminishing in intensity since I’ve been wearing T’aime computer reading glasses (as long as I use them in what for me are optimal computer lighting conditions)

A couple of negatives:
– when I work in a room with natural lighting (windows) or under regular overhead office lighting I can see a slight blue-violet reflection in the lens. I suspect this has to do with one of the coatings (AR?) that is applied to the lens and reflects blue light. This may, in some circumstances, defeat the purpose of blue blockers (as shown in this video). However, the blue/violet reflection disappears if I put my hands around the lenses, wear a wide-brimmed hat or when I work in my usual glare and reflection free office
– slightly longer temples would make them even more comfortable for me – maybe my ears are too far back from my eyes  🙂 – you might not have the same issue, but you might want to check the dimensions specified on the T’aime website.

In summary T’aime 97% lens glasses improved my visual comfort of screen-based work so 8 weeks ago I decided to continue using them.

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After 12 weeks of testing T’aime computer reading glasses

After three months of wearing T’aime 97% blue blocking glasses my opinion remains very positive. Their effect has been extremely positive for my eye comfort.

During this time I was able to extend computer screen viewing time by about 20% without worsening computer vision syndrome symptoms.

Simultaneously I’ve also been able to extend the time between eye-relaxation breaks without noticing any adverse effects. (Without the glasses I’d been doing short, 20 second, breaks every 10 minutes – now I am fine with one break every half hour).

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Recap

Consider reviewing this table in order to see how spectral transmission of these computer reading glasses is positioned in the market in terms of their blue light blocking capacity.

If you are suffering from computer eye strain symptoms, T’aime 97% blue light filtering glasses are an excellent option for you.

In terms of preventing blue light induced insomnia you could do better because they don’t filter a high proportion of blue light beyond 460nm.

Also, the lenses are relatively small and sit quite far from the face hence they don’t filter all of the light that enters your eyes. Given the design of our eye this is not a problem for computer eye strain but it might be for insomnia and possibly if you have issues with room lighting.

You may buy T’aime glasses here (commission link).

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Today I am switching to SPEKTRUM Elite glasses for testing purposes. I’ll post a review with my first impressions shortly.

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Ps: If you found this review of T’aime blue blocking glasses useful, please consider LIKING, REBLOGGING, and/or SHARING it.