I had been having trouble with the flickering and blue-light emitted by the normal LED light bulbs. My first attempt at a solution was to buy some old-fashioned incandescent bulbs online, which is the only place they were available. But those bulbs, because they were clear, got very hot - and melted my light sockets, which apparently are not made to deal with such heat. Often the bulbs would last for just a few days before burning out.

Desperate to find a solution, I looked at all kinds of bulbs in many specialty light shops around Bangkok - to no avail. Then, on one of those missions, I stopped in a supermarket on my way home for something else, and while I was there, I had a look at the light bulbs. To my surprise, there was a new Panasonic light bulb that was still an LED, yet claimed to have solved both the flickering and the blue-light issues. So I tried them, and they are wonderful! Leave it to the Japanese to come up with a solution to such an obvious problem.

I attach photos of the bulb box, in case anyone else is interested.

I have a lot of LEDs and I have no idea what you mean by flickering and blue light and whatnot.

Find them on Shopee in various flavours

https://shopee.co.th/Panasonic-%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%94%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%9F-LED-Ultra-Neo-5W-7W-9W-12W-15W-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B9%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%97%E0%B9%8C-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%A1-i.776565333.57467388230

I've never had an issue with visible flicker and the blue-light thing doesn't seem to affect me, or I don't realise it does.

Note - AI generated content below!

The main issue is not that LED lighting is inherently dangerous, but that many LEDs—especially cool-white ones—contain a relatively strong blue component, typically around 450–480 nm. That can affect us differently from older incandescent lighting.

The principal concerns are:

• Sleep and circadian rhythm. Blue-rich light strongly stimulates melanopsin receptors in the eye, which tell the brain that it is daytime. Bright cool-white LED lighting in the evening can therefore suppress or delay melatonin production and shift sleep timing. This is probably the best-established practical concern.

• Brightness and glare. LEDs are physically very small, intense light sources. Poorly designed fittings can produce considerably more glare than fluorescent or incandescent lamps of similar overall lumen output. This can cause eye strain, headaches and visual discomfort.

• Flicker. Cheap LED drivers may modulate the LED output at 100/120 Hz or at higher frequencies. Even when you cannot consciously see the flicker, some people experience headaches, eyestrain or fatigue. Good-quality LED drivers largely eliminate this problem.

• Retinal damage. Blue light can damage retinal tissue at sufficiently high intensities, which is why there are photobiological safety standards for lamps. However, normal domestic LED lighting and computer/phone displays are generally far below levels known to cause retinal injury. Claims that ordinary screens are "burning the retina" are greatly exaggerated.

• Children and very bright sources. Children's lenses transmit somewhat more blue light to the retina than older adults' lenses, so very bright exposed LEDs and staring directly into high-power LEDs should obviously be avoided. Again, normal room illumination is not considered a retinal hazard.

• Age-related effects. Older eyes scatter more light internally, so high-colour-temperature LEDs can sometimes feel noticeably harsher because of glare even though the measured illumination level is acceptable.

One important distinction is colour temperature. A 6500 K "daylight" LED normally has considerably more blue content than a 2700 K "warm white" LED. For daytime offices/workshops, something around 4000–5000 K can be perfectly reasonable. In a home during the evening, 2700–3000 K, dimmed where possible, is generally much better for circadian comfort.

The same principle applies to screens, although room lighting is often more important than the screen itself because the total amount of light reaching the eye can be much greater. Night-mode/orange-screen settings can help, but reducing overall brightness and avoiding very bright lighting late at night probably matters more.

So, if I were specifying LED lighting, I'd worry more about excessive colour temperature, glare, flicker and nighttime illumination level than about "blue light toxicity" as such.

9 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Find them on Shopee in various flavours

https://shopee.co.th/Panasonic-%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%94%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%9F-LED-Ultra-Neo-5W-7W-9W-12W-15W-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B9%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%97%E0%B9%8C-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%A1-i.776565333.57467388230

I've never had an issue with visible flicker and the blue-light thing doesn't seem to affect me, or I don't realise it does.

Thanks for the link, that's an acceptable price for a major brand, but I found that many of those don't fit in the ceiling lights because they are too wide at the bottom compared to the energy saving bulbs. Also they are quite big at the top, which limits it in ceiling fans with a downlight.

For that reason I have resorted to the Sylvania LED sticks, which have a horrible failing rate. I discovered Philips also has LED sticks, so I will give those a try next time.

45 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

I have a lot of LEDs and I have no idea what you mean by flickering and blue light and whatnot.

You can't see the flickering, but it's happening - and its' harmful.

The blue light is very noticeable when you see it next to the normal light, and it's also harmful.

I suppose it's also possible that different people are affected to different degrees.

3 minutes ago, BangkokHank said:

You can't see the flickering, but it's happening - and its' harmful.

The blue light is very noticeable when you see it next to the normal light, and it's also harmful.

I suppose it's also possible that different people are affected to different degrees.

As I understand it, most all fluorescent and incandescent lights and put out blue light and "flicker", though not visibly. The flicker exception might be those on DC.

Apparently, the Sun puts out a lot more blue light than LED, fluorescent or incandescent bulbs.