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May 17, 2014

PC Glasses: Allure Eyewear COD Black Ops II, EEye Protection, GAMMA RAY GR032-C1 & GR004-C1 UV Protection Glasses

 Gear: Allure Eyewear Call of Duty Black Ops II Sunglasses, EEye Protection Yellow Lens Gaming Glasses, GAMMA RAY GR032-C1, GR004-C1.

About a week ago I accidentally stepped on and broke my Gunnar Optiks PC glasses.  Since 2012 I have used computer glasses that help me deal with eye fatigue, and because I'm used to them I chose to purchase new glasses.  When the decision time came I narrowed it down to four models and then I chose to just buy all of them and test to see which one is better for what.  Below you will find images and details of each, and how they compare against each other.

 Back of the boxes.

 The Allure Eyewear COD Black Ops II is on the top left.
The EEye Protection is the bottom left.
The GAMMA RAY GR032-C1 is the bottom right.
The GAMMA RAY GR004-C1 is the top right one.

 By far the sportier, and cooler looking, one is the Allue Eyewear COD Black Ops II one.  The frame is rubbery and therefore offer flexibility--yet they are sturdy.  If I shake my head the glasses tend to grip my head well enough such that they will not come off.  Overall they are very comfortable.

 The surface of the lenses are plastic.  The changes to colors is quite dramatic.

 The box contents of the EEye Protection one includes: a case, a cleaning cloth, the glasses, and a screwdriver.

 The frame is plastic, there is a very small amount of flexibility.  The frame and the lenses do produce a "creaky" noise when you fold/unfold them.  If I shake my head they remain in place.  

 The lenses are glass--and as you can observe the tint is quite dramatic.

 The GAMMA RAY GR032-C1 are by far the lightest of the four.  The box contents include: glasses, cleaning cloth, pouch.

 The frame is thin, construed of metal and rubber materials and therefore are very flexible.  If I shake my head they will come off.

 Most of the glass-based eyewear has an inner reflection.

 The GAMMA RAY GR004-C1 box contents include: a case, cleaning cloth, and the glasses.

 There are two different colors on the glass frame.  The frame portion next to the lenses is black, but the frame portion that goes towards your ears is blue.  (Some people may like this and others may not).

 When folding/unfloding the frame the glasses will make a "creaky" noise.  Also, if I shake my head the glasses will come off.

The two glasses that change colors the least are the GR004-C1 (left) and the GR032-C1 (right).

 The two glasses that change the colors the most are the Allure Eyewear COD Black Ops II (left) and the EEye Protection ones (right).


Color Changes

This is the view from my backyard, which we will use to note some of the differences when using glasses.

In the image above the COD II glasses seem to change the colors a lot--however the image is not realistic because the camera furthers the effects.  Below are two images that are closer to what I observe when wearing them.  (also, there is a bit of a smudge on the image above).

This is a variant of the COD II glasses that is more in alignment with what I see.

Another image of what is more in alignment with what I see with the COD II glasses.

The EEye Protection have a strong yellow tint.

The GAMMA RAY GR032-C1 change the colors slightly, but definitely not as dramatically as the previous two glasses.

The GR004-C1 change the colors the least.  These would be the most useful if you spend lots of hours on a computer and your job requires a lot of attention to colors.  Although, I'm sure there are alternatives that would be even better.


NOTES

Allure Eyewear: Call of Duty Black Ops II (brownish)
  • Sporty fit, comfortable. The frame has a rubbery slightly flexibility but they retain a certain sturdiness, they have a sporty fit, and overall are very comfortable. If I shake my head the glasses will come off.
  • The lens material is plastic.
  • They change the colors of a screen dramatically: dark colors become very dark (this could be troublesome if there is dark text on a dark background), bright blue-white colors are also darkened and become slightly redish-gray. Overall my eyes feel very comfortable when looking at my 30 inch computer monitor.
  • While wearing them I can sometimes observe the reflection of my eyes on the lenses. The closer my eyes are to the lenses the less I notice the reflection.
  • When I'm wearing them I feel that I look: cool
  • $26.45 at time of purchase--price seems reasonable.


EEye Protection Yellow Lens Gaming Glasses (strong yellow)
  • The frame is plastic, they have a very small amount of flexibility. The frame and the lenses produce a "creaky" noise when you unfold/fold them. The frame does grip my head quite well, and if I shake my head they remain in place.
  • The lens material is glass.
  • They change the colors of a screen dramatically: dark colors attain a yellowish tint, bright blue-white colors become slightly dark with a bright yellowish tint. My eyes are more comfortable than without them, although I tend to dislike the particular tint of yellow color.
  • While wearing them I can see the reflection of my eyes on the lenses.
  • When I'm wearing them I feel that I look like: a super dork
  • $29.50 at time of purchase--price is slightly above what I think they are worth.


GAMMA RAY GR032-C1 (thinner frame, light yellow)
  • Very light and comfortable. The frame is flexible due to the metal and rubber materials. If I shake my head they will come off. They remind me of my previous Gunnar glasses.
  • The lens material is glass.
  • They do not dramatically change colors. I can barely notice the addition of a slight yellow tint. My eyes do feel more comfortable than without them.
  • While wearing them I can see the reflection of my eyes on the lenses.
  • When I'm wearing them I feel that I look like: a competition shooter.
  • $49.95 at time of purchase--frankly I don't think they are worth this much.


GAMMA RAY GR004-C1 (thicker frame, very light yellow)
  • The frame is plastic and is slightly flexible. The frame portion next to the lenses is black, but the frame portion that goes towards your ears is blue--this hipster move may be attractive for some but not others. When unfolding/folding the frame they will make "creaky" noises. If I shake my head the glasses will come off. They are though comfortable.
  • The lens material feels like glass.
  • They do not dramatically change colors--they do so less than the GR032-C1. My eyes do feel more comfortable than without them, but not by much. Out of all of the options this is the one that will change the colors the least, so it may be the more appropriate if you have to inspect colors on a computer.
  • While wearing them I do notice a reflection of my eyes on the lenses--however this is not as noticeable as the GR032-C1.
  • When I'm wearing them I feel that I look like: a dork, not as bad as the "EEye Protection."
  • $21.95 at time of purchase--I think the price is reasonable.


OVERALL:
Each have positive and negative aspects. I do not think any of them are the "one." However, I believe that each can have a use for a particular scenario; the Call of Duty ones would be great for most daytime usage; the EEye Protection ones would be good if you are moving a lot; the GAMMA RAY GR032-C1 are stylish enough for you to be seen in public without major ridicule; the GR004-C1 are by far the better choice if you are required to inspect colors. There are other alternatives available on the market, and some may be even better.  But for now, this post will end here and I have to say that I cannot consider a single one to be "the best."

If you do not wish to purchase a set of glasses but you want to reduce that eye fatigue you can also use a computer program called "f.lux" at justgetflux.com I tend to prefer the glasses because they also provide UV protection when away from the computer.

2 comments:

  1. hi Jesse, as a side note, if you are experiencing eye fatigue... is your main monitor LED backlighted or CCFL? If it is LED then I recommend you to try again the "old" CCFL technology... some people (like me!) experience a lot more fatigue when using LED backlighted monitors when compared with CCFL backlighted. CCFL is still used on "high end/prosumer" monitors like Eizos (http://www.eizo.com/global/products/coloredge/cx240/index.html) or NECs (http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/p241w-bk). Cheers,
    Nicolas

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    1. I'll keep those in mind when I purchase a new monitor. There are also the BenQ line of monitors that deal with eye-fatigue http://www.benq.com/microsite/eye-care-monitors/lbl.html Thanks for the tip!

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