Comment Re:What is the best way to buy some in bulk? (Score 1) 944
I have neurosarcoidosis; it is a degenerative autoimmune condition. Like many others with NS, many people with multiple sclerosis, everyone with macular degeneration, many with Lupus, and even some with conditions most do not associate with light sensitivity such as rheumatoid arthritis -- I am highly sensitive to certain spectrums of light. With Lupus, and NS there are often issues with natural sunlight as well. I have special glasses that filter out parts of the blue spectrum, IR, UV, and most the red spectrum. They are similar to shooters glasses, but about 5x as expensive due to the IR coating requirement still being limited to NOIR. Some of you who work with higher powered lasers are probably familiar with NOIR. Lowbluelights is another company that makes specialty filters for things like smart phone screens, and has a few (but expensive) LED fixtures for those of us with special frequency needs.
Right now I can buy amber incandescent lights for $120 for a case of 40. I can buy a single 7w low-blue LED for $35... In terms of dollars its going to be an expensive proposition when I can't buy incandescent bulbs anymore, even if I have to shell out more for amber bulbs as it is.
There is one maker of laptops that will work with people with custom needs, and that is Toshiba. They were willing to put in custom LEDs in my laptop to make it tolerable when they learned it was a disabilities issue. I wish Toshiba was as accommodating for TV's and computer monitors with the same issue (in fairness I haven't tried to get a custom back lighting TV from them yet, but I did try to purchase custom back lighting monitors from them without success.) I had to void the warranty on both of my ASUS monitors to get the back lighting correct as ASUS was not any more accommodating. The custom frequency LEDs exist (although they still tend to emit IR), but the demand isn't enough for the big makers to notice the need yet.
The challenges can be overcome switching to LEDs, but its not going to be cheap for those of us with needs for non-blue, no UV, and no-IR lighting. The market is at least two million people who have conditions like myself that benefit from them. People don't realize that the issue also includes: smart phones, tvs, monitors, laptops, flashlights, and light fixtures. I wish some of the larger appliance makers would wake up to the issue and I could just go buy a TV without having to make a parts swap. There is a growing body of evidence that it might be in everyone's interest to demand LEDs in those nicer frequency ranges: http://www.livescience.com/31949-led-lights-eye-damage.html