Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by aw3c2 on Friday May 11, 2012 @11:03AM
(#3959527)
I am really happy with "render effects" on Android in combination with screen filter. Setting it to a monochrome red and dim brightness like the author wants is a piece of cake.
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by fredley on Friday May 11, 2012 @12:30PM
(#3960013)
It sounds like this is exactly what the author wants. Given this is the kind of thing that is much harder to implement on Android than iDevices (due to the large number of different screen technologies) it wouldn't be a difficult thing to add the the OS. That having been said, I don't expect to see it (on a non-jailbroken device) any time soon.
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by fmoralesc on Friday May 11, 2012 @11:03AM
(#3959533)
I guess that with modern composited desktops you could filter everything that gets outputted to the screen and change the colors (turn everything into monochrome and then apply a red filter on the whites). http://stereopsis.com/flux/ and http://jonls.dk/redshift/ do something like that.
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by zacharyvoase on Friday May 11, 2012 @10:55AM
(#3959488)
How feasible is it to just implement this in hardware? That is, a sheet you can place on your iPad screen which attenuates bright whites and tints everything red. Might be the 80/20 solution in this case.
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by niels_olson on Friday May 11, 2012 @01:42PM
(#3960346)
Hi, I'm the author of the post. We use this hack on the bridge of Navy ships. The red density required is pretty significant (the plastic we used was a little thinner than a #2 pencil). We would velcro it over the screen. The velcro leaves a gap which creates a fairly significant light leak around the edges. First iteration, so better, but a long ways to go. Comparing that to Blacktree's nocturne, software is at least a significant part of the solution.
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by niels_olson on Friday May 11, 2012 @01:47PM
(#3960372)
Hi, author of the post here. There are plenty of occasions where someone out on point in whatever field of endeavor needs some random nugget of information and a browser is a good way to get it.
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by debacle on Friday May 11, 2012 @10:29AM
(#3959330)
This is very true. What we need is a readability-type program that will alter a stylesheet to red/green/grayscale at night.
The problem is that it wont always work - if someone uses a gaudy background image, it's still going to look like crap if you use a plugin to change the CSS.
It's basically meant to be a tablet-style display that contains all the manuals, maps, charts, checklists, and other information that a pilot would normally use while flying the plane. Interestingly enough, the night vision issue that TFA is talking about is one of the requirements for military versions of the device.
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by georgieporgie on Friday May 11, 2012 @02:19PM
(#3960547)
I use F.lux. I find certain things about it irritating[1] and I don't see any signs of updates or improvements from the author. Unfortunately, it appears to be patented, which rules out the possibility of competition spurring improvement.
[1] screen dimming is way too fast, happens in sync with the sun going down even though I want normal colors til 9pm, odd behavior when waking the computer, no ability to create custom brightness curves (e.g. in the afternoon, the sun bounces off the building behind me, greatly intensifying brightness for about two hours).
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by overshard on Friday May 11, 2012 @10:58AM
(#3959505)
I agree with most of this, I often times grab my phone at night to look something up and it would be nice if I didn't have a glaring white Google page in my browser destroying my vision. If it would just automatically revert to a night-vision mode after 10pm for me that would be great!
Re:Night Vision: a very real UX problem
by sbierwagen on Friday May 11, 2012 @02:16PM
(#3960521)
Activating a single set of color pigments (red OR green OR
blue) is not enogh for yor brail to to really constrict
your iris or wash out your pigments (the gohst images you
see after seeing something bright).
Most likely this could be achieved in a hacky manner via the monitor calibration settings in most operating systems.
I imagine that there could be some edge cases where contrast could be low etc. But it's a cheap solution.
The problem is that it wont always work - if someone uses a gaudy background image, it's still going to look like crap if you use a plugin to change the CSS.
It's basically meant to be a tablet-style display that contains all the manuals, maps, charts, checklists, and other information that a pilot would normally use while flying the plane. Interestingly enough, the night vision issue that TFA is talking about is one of the requirements for military versions of the device.
When going from my laptop to ipad at night its a huge and painful difference, its largely the reason I am considering jail breaking.
[1] screen dimming is way too fast, happens in sync with the sun going down even though I want normal colors til 9pm, odd behavior when waking the computer, no ability to create custom brightness curves (e.g. in the afternoon, the sun bounces off the building behind me, greatly intensifying brightness for about two hours).
F.lux has a preference for transition. Fast (20 seconds) or Slow (1 hour).
though I want normal colors til 9pm,
Change your location to a point two hours to your west?
True, but as I recall it still behaves oddly in some circumstances.
Change your location to a point two hours to your west?
That's the usual suggestion, but then you have to change it back if you rise early.
From the article's comments, it appears that Cyanogen Mod can work-around this limitation.