Philips combines an E Ink screen with a classic LCD monitor with an obvious ambition to fulfill confirmed blue light claims.

If you see a lot of blue light before you go to bed, you may find it harder to fall asleep. There is scientific consensus on this. Marketing departments worldwide care less about the science and like to equate blue light with the devil’s light. It would make your eyes more tired or even dry out. Blue light isn’t to blame, as we’ve written before, but that doesn’t stop companies from making claims about less blue light in their laptop screens or external monitors.

eccentrics

With the Philips 24B1D5600, Philips is now eccentrically jumping on this train. That’s a 24-inch monitor paired with a 13-inch E Ink display. You can place static content on it, which is said to be easier on the eyes. E-ink’s refresh rate isn’t suited to moving images and this copy can’t display colour, so it’s really just text. Unlike an e-reader, the e-ink screen is attached to the traditional 24-inch display.

Since Philips not only filters blue light, but also filters out all light by choosing e-ink, there is a lot to be said for eye safety. Then again, it’s not entirely clear in what context the extra piece of screen can really add value. Although you can tilt it a bit, it remains part of a classic LCD screen.

Incidentally, this LCD screen has a QHD resolution of 75 Hz, while the E Ink display gets 1,200 x 1,600 pixels. Philips introduces the screen in China. It is unclear whether it will also come to us.