Black Friday Series – Gunnar Optiks
If you’re an avid gamer you may have seen pro gamers wearing yellow tinted glasses while at tournaments. Have you ever wondered what exactly those are and why they are wearing them? They are most likely a pair of Gunnar Optiks. These glasses are meant to ease the stress on your eyes from looking at a screen for extended periods of time.
I will admit that when I first heard about them I was very skeptical. My number one concern was that they glasses would tint everything yellow and make my games look weird. My other concern was dropping $70 – $100 on something that I couldn’t really test for myself. The reviews online were useless since there are so many positive and negative reviews. What finally changed my mind was simply for the fact that so many pro gamers swear by them. Whether or not they are being paid to wear them, they are in fact wearing them and still able to perform at a professional level.
So how and what exactly do Gunnars do?
In a nutshell, the glasses filter out the harmful blue light that LCD, LED, and Fluorescent bulbs emit. The glare combined with the unnatural light and close proximity to the screen, your eyes strain. If that strain is going on for hours on hours, it could cause long lasting negative effects. I’m sure that some of you get headaches after playing for a long time and this is why.
http://shop.gunnars.com/store/ProductImages/details/PHA-00101z_onyxz_l.jpg
As you can see, the Gunnars are extremely thin, almost to the point of feeling fragile. I definitely wouldn’t recommend dropping them from a high position or giving them to your baby to play with. That being said, it is nice that they are so lightweight and thin. Headphones fit well over the glasses since they are so thin. They also come with a fabric bag to store them in.
When I put them on for the first time I was pleasantly surprised that I actually felt my eyes relax. What was also interesting is the fact that I actually got a headache after a few hours with them on. I can only assume it’s because I was so used to the other way that changing it caused the headache. That only happened the first couple times wearing them. The other aspect that I wasn’t expecting is that it actually makes the screen look like it’s brighter. I’m not sure what causes that but it’s actually pretty neat. The yellow tint is there but it’s not as invasive as you might think. If you’re a really hardcore videophile it would probably bother you but as a non-videophile, I don’t mind the slight tint.
Gunnars come in all kinds of styles and they are not all for Gamers. They market the glasses to any “hardcore” computer user (programmers, designers, artists, gamers, even business workers).
I’m not positive that any retailer will be reducing prices on these for the Black Friday or Cyber Monday but they are definitely something to look out for.