Who else can see it?
I first saw LED lights several weeks ago walking with my wife on the Southside (Pittsburgh neighborhood). One of the bars had white lights in the trees out front, and they stopped me dead in my tracks...it felt like I was looking at a glitch in the Matrix. Once the Christmas decorations came out in all the stores, I realized they were LED lights.
Looking at them, even just seeing them out of the corner of my eye, is unpleasant; they cause a sensation that feels like a rapid buzzing deep in my brain. My two-year-olds love the Christmas trees at Target and Home Depot, so I've seen them a lot lately. It's gotten so I can easily spot them in someone's yard from my car while I'm driving.
My wife can't see it at all. She also was never able to see the difference between 60 and 75 Hz on an old CRT monitor, though. During my long ago stint in Desktop Support, I would instantly notice when someone's monitor was still set to the 60 Hz default, and I always changed it first thing. Some users would break out into a big smile and thank me profusely, but most couldn't see a difference. I'd bet that some of the former might see the same thing I do with LED lights.
I'm guessing it's due to the 60 Hz AC; I can see the flicker in fluorescent bulbs (and even more so in Europe where it's 50 Hz), but they don't induce the same sensation. Any thoughts on what causes it? Is it all bright AC LEDs or something unique to Christmas lights? I'm seeing these things for sale everywhere now, I'm thinking I'm going to have to stock up on the incandescent strings of lights while I still can...there's no way I could have those LEDs in my house without going nuts.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
I first saw LED lights several weeks ago walking with my wife on the Southside (Pittsburgh neighborhood). One of the bars had white lights in the trees out front, and they stopped me dead in my tracks...it felt like I was looking at a glitch in the Matrix. Once the Christmas decorations came out in all the stores, I realized they were LED lights.
Looking at them, even just seeing them out of the corner of my eye, is unpleasant; they cause a sensation that feels like a rapid buzzing deep in my brain. My two-year-olds love the Christmas trees at Target and Home Depot, so I've seen them a lot lately. It's gotten so I can easily spot them in someone's yard from my car while I'm driving.
My wife can't see it at all. She also was never able to see the difference between 60 and 75 Hz on an old CRT monitor, though. During my long ago stint in Desktop Support, I would instantly notice when someone's monitor was still set to the 60 Hz default, and I always changed it first thing. Some users would break out into a big smile and thank me profusely, but most couldn't see a difference. I'd bet that some of the former might see the same thing I do with LED lights.
I'm guessing it's due to the 60 Hz AC; I can see the flicker in fluorescent bulbs (and even more so in Europe where it's 50 Hz), but they don't induce the same sensation. Any thoughts on what causes it? Is it all bright AC LEDs or something unique to Christmas lights? I'm seeing these things for sale everywhere now, I'm thinking I'm going to have to stock up on the incandescent strings of lights while I still can...there's no way I could have those LEDs in my house without going nuts.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about?