A new study claims that Night Mode on the screen does not help you sleep

In recent years, several studies have found that the blue lighting of our screens causes sleep problems and that not only keeps us awake but even when we sleep, we do not get enough rest. These research findings have been universally adopted by all smartphone companies and now offer ” Night Mode ” which adjusts the color temperature to warmer, reducing blue light.

But maybe warm lighting may not have the results we would like. A new study from the University of Manchester shows that the yellowish color of screens is as bad as blue lighting, if not worse.

The lead researcher, Dr. Tim Brown says the whole thing with blue light starts from a 20-year-old discovery that melanopsin, an eye protein, is important for regulating circadian rhythms.

The melanopsin system is there to detect brightness. Because this protein better detected short-wavelength photons, it was thought to work in favor of blue light. However, retinal ganglion cells also play a role in determining color and doing the opposite of what most people think.

The study therefore argues that brightness levels are more important than color in regulating circadian rhythm. Indeed, when the light is the same brightness, blue is more restful than yellow.

However, it is worth noting that the experiments were done only on mice and so far we just think that the same is true for humans. Perhaps the only real Night Mode is to leave the phone on the bedside table.