Monitor Lightbar.

[ADJimbo]

The nights are drawing in, the turkeys getting fat, and lighting my desk by candlelight has been outlawed, meaning the concept of monitor lightbars have come to bare.

Can my fellow PH’ers recommend something suitable? Ideally USB powered and budget is fluid - with an air of sensibility however.

[Sy1441b]

I fancy this too.

[AB]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Edison-Desk-White...

This works for me, can be moved around easily for other things if needed.

[fooman]

I just went for an led usb desk lamp loads of choice on Amazon.

[CSR Performance]

AB said:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Edison-Desk-White...

This works for me, can be moved around easily for other things if needed.

I've been toying with buying that for a while. My concern is that my monitor (ironically a Philips) has a curve at the top of the back panel, so there isn't a flat surface for it to clamp to.

[Tisy]

CSR Performance said:

I've been toying with buying that for a while. My concern is that my monitor (ironically a Philips) has a curve at the top of the back panel, so there isn't a flat surface for it to clamp to.

It's not just that, but having had one of these top mounted light bars, they are annoying as fk if you have your centre screen at eye level height. Most of them you can't angle, so the light is shining directly downwards, which is directly in your sightline and visible from where are you sitting. Having a blazing white LED shining in your eyes is horrible and you'll have nasty eye strain in 5 minutes.

The ones you can angle inwards so the light is not in your sightline have a different bunch of problems, because the light shining at the screen causes everything to get a bleached out effect and even with the mesh anti-glare coatings, you get an annoying amount of glare/reflection. Of course if you use a glossy screen then it's a complete no-go.

Ergonomically these top mounted light bars are terrible. A much better solution aesthetically and ergonomically is to light the wall behind the screen to a brightness level similar to what you have your screen brightness set to. Even with a dark coloured wall, there is enough reflective light to illuminate the area and surroundings and because it's a 'soft' and indirect light, you won't suffer eye strain.

[WelshRich]

Agree with the above - I bought two really cheap (£7) desk lamps from Ikea for something else and then only needed one of them. Just because I had no other use for it, I stuck the spare behind my screen pointing at the ceiling and it surprised me just how well it works…

[David_M]

I have the predecessor to this one by Quntis which does not have (or need) a remote control. That version is still available on eBay very cheap.

I am using it now, and really like it. It throws light on the keyboard and desk, but absolutely does not shine in my eyes (you can rotate it in the mount to the angle that works) and does not affect the monitor screen at all in my opinion.

For clamping to the monitor, it comes with a couple of variations of clamp depth and holds securely. If you move your monitor a lot you might dislodge it, but I never move my main monitor.

[Griffith4ever]

I have one of these, clamped behind my minitor (to the back of the desk)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CCP446PJ?ref_=ppx_hz...

I bend it down so that the light bar is "just" below the monitor top - so it backlights the desk and you don't look at the light. It can be (and always it) set to warm white.

If I have to do something fiddly on my desk you can then swing the arms round to light the front of the desk.