Anybody else? LED Christmas light blur

[kbutton]

Does anybody else find that LED Christmas lights, especially blue and green, blur into almost a hazy blob? I find them really uncomfortable to look at--so much so that I don't like light displays pretty much at all anymore. I tolerate the lighter colors, though I can't say that I like them very much (some of the white are okay). If someone takes a pictures or video footage of the LED lights, they don't look blurry. 

Does anyone know the science behind this? I have googled, but I can't find an explanation for the blur, just for other things people don't like about LED lights.

I use normal LED lights in my home with no problem (as long as they match--if we get something that doesn't match, I have to fix it). 

[MEmama]

I bought some new “warm white” LED lights for our tree. When we initially tested them we both thought they were a little flickery or pulsating, but once they were on the tree we don’t notice it. 
 

I definitely don’t like the light from them nearly as much as the warm glow from incandescent bulbs, but these don’t look quite as cold as the strings we had previously.

I realize this doesn’t answer your question at all, sorry! 

[Carrie12345]

I hate it. 
I’m okay with white LED lights, though I don’t love them, but the colored ones kill me. I’m glad our tree has different modes, so the kids can get their color for a bit, and then I can get some visual peace.

I have wondered if it’s because of my astigmatism.

[alisoncooks]

I saw something recently (here? elsewhere? It was a meme…) that attributed this to astigmatism. 

[TechWife]

10 hours ago, kbutton said:

Does anybody else find that LED Christmas lights, especially blue and green, blur into almost a hazy blob? I find them really uncomfortable to look at--so much so that I don't like light displays pretty much at all anymore. I tolerate the lighter colors, though I can't say that I like them very much (some of the white are okay). If someone takes a pictures or video footage of the LED lights, they don't look blurry. 

Does anyone know the science behind this? I have googled, but I can't find an explanation for the blur, just for other things people don't like about LED lights.

I use normal LED lights in my home with no problem (as long as they match--if we get something that doesn't match, I have to fix it). 

I have read that LED lights flicker at a slower rate than other lights so more people can see it. When I’m driving and a car with LED headlights comes up behind me I can see the flicker through my rear view camera when I put my turn signal on. When I look in the rear view mirror they look like they are blinking like a police car with the siren lights on - they alternate between the two headlamps because the voltage between the lamps alternates. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought I was being pulled over for no reason. 

Light is fascinating. Well, I guess a lot of things are fascinating to me. In any case, I can’t stand color LED Christmas lights because they are too blue for me. I am careful to look for warmer white LED lights. I returned a lot of light strings last year because the white was too blue/cool when I got them home.

[Farrar]

I have an astigmatism and I also sometimes experience this. Has anyone else worn those Christmas goggles? The ones that make the lights twinkle more? Every once in awhile, it's like I'm wearing a low key version of those. It's better with my glasses though.

[Miss Tick]

2 hours ago, alisoncooks said:

I saw something recently (here? elsewhere? It was a meme…) that attributed this to astigmatism. 

Here it is. I was wondering about its veracity, now I know!

 

[kbutton]

13 hours ago, Farrar said:

I have an astigmatism and I also sometimes experience this. Has anyone else worn those Christmas goggles? The ones that make the lights twinkle more? Every once in awhile, it's like I'm wearing a low key version of those. It's better with my glasses though.

The distortion I see is not like this, but I do have mild astigmatism. It’s more like whatever shape the blue LEDs make is filled in by dark, blue mist with tiny, dim light blobs inside the mist. Nothing sharp or starry. For instance, if someone makes a pine tree shape, it looks like an upside down blue ice cream cone made of mist with vague blobs. If someone made a white tree with LED lights, I would see individual lights with no mist.

It’s so interesting because my only problem is the blue and green (sometimes red) Christmas lights. I don’t care for LED traffic lights and such, but they don’t bother me. The lighter Christmas lights look normal other than my objection to the colors. If the string is multiple colors with blue and green in it, the effect is lessened, but the lights are still unpleasant.

[mellifera33]

I find that the led Christmas lights mess with my depth perception. I haven’t determined if it varies by color, but objects decorated with led lights look much closer or further away then they are. I do have astigmatism and convergence insufficiency. I still use them, though. I like decorating with lots of lights and I burned out too many circuits last year overloading them with strings of incandescent bulbs. 

[kbutton]

9 hours ago, mellifera33 said:

I haven’t determined if it varies by color, but objects decorated with led lights look much closer or further away then they are.

I think that might be part of what bothers me too--it's like the darker objects become flat and lack dimension with the foggy mist of the lights. 

[JustEm]

I have this issue but I do not have an astigmatism ans my dh who does have one doesn't have this issue.  The blue lights in particular are the worst. They look blurry and give me a headache.  It does not looking like they are twinkling.