Review Light Shield "Red Eyes XTRA Dark Cling"

[Nyctimene]

Review of the Light Shield "Red Eyes XTRA Dark Cling" (Sirius Astro Products)

 

Since using SkySafari, running on my two Sony Android smartphones, I was always annoyed by the amount of the grey-white LED backlight disturbing my night vision, even in Night Mode. Following the usual suggestions, I tried to block this backlight by using a deep red sheet of acryl, applying two layers. The results were not convincing, and I was always struggling with the stubborn sheets, when using the smartphone directly at the scope.

About ten months ago, I stumbled across an article on the CloudyNights forum dealing with red light issues, and found a member's vote for the abovementioned light shield. There are two sizes available; a smaller size suited for cellphones (3"x5,25"), and a larger version for iPads and other tablets (6"x9"). Prices are affordable: 5,95$ resp. 13,95$. I at once ordered the smaller sheet directly from this website: http://www.siriusastroproducts.com/index.html

Payment (by credit card) went without problems. Delivery (to Germany) was within a week, in a small extra envelope.

I cut the sheet according to the display size of my Sony Xperia Z Compact. The soft and flexible vinyl material immediately clings (one side) to the display and stays there without slipping during use, even in a jacket's pocket. Yet it can be removed without any residues, and put on repeatedly without losing it's "clinginess". Fingerprints and dirt, which seem to impair the adhesive function slightly, can be washed away with water and some detergent, restoring the "clinginess" to it's default state.

I'm using SkySafari Pro with my smartphones. For optimal function with the light shield, I switch to the Night Mode (which displays the toolbar comfortably), and adjust brightness using the smartphone's display settings. You can go down to very low (almost "Namibia-suited") light levels. Alternatively, there is an app: "ScreenDimFull" with even more functions available for Android.

The light shield suppresses, contrasting to red acryl or SkySafari's Night Mode, completely any backlight (LED-) illumination of the display, which is of immense value, when observing faint, extended Deep Sky objects as galaxies and gaseous nebulae with low surface brightness. Even the typing of numbers and letters, when I'm using the "Search" function, highlights these now just in a somewhat brighter deep red colour (in SkySafari's Night Mode, they appear shortly black on white!); not really annoying. The display's sensitivity to fingertouch is in no way impaired by the light shield's vinyl material.

During use, I almost forget the existence of the light shield. It clings unremittingly to the display; only during one cold night (-6° Celsius) it was within an hour slowly losing it's "clinginess" and behaved finally similar to an acrylic sheet (recovering rapidly in higher temperature).

Within nine months of use, the vinyl surface has got some scratches, but they don't affect the view. The corners show a very slight delamination (about 1 mm), resulting in white light transparency, again not visible any more in the dark.

At the scope, the combination of smartphone, SkySafari and the "XTRA Dark Cling Light Shield" replaces more and more the traditional paper atlases and maps (so my very nice collection is gathering dust....); but I still need the comprehensive description of objects and the drawings found e.g in the Night Sky Observer's Guide.

Below a picture, comparing the"XTRA Dark Cling" (above) to a deep red acrylic sheet.

 

Very recommendable!

Thanks for reading

Stephan

 

 

Edited August 30, 2017 by Nyctimene

[Littleguy80]

Good review, Stephan. Thank you for posting I'm just using setting on my iPhone to turn everything red and dim the screen to only 5% brightness. I'm curious to try the sheet now to see if it performs any better than my current solution!

[MarsG76]

Good review... although I don't think it's necessary for (at least) iPhones with iOS 9/10/11 where the light level can be changed to a very low level and in iOS 10/11 the hue can be changed to pure mono red with limited white peaks.

Literally makes the screen not visible in any day light and barely visible at night.

[Nyctimene]

Just stumbled across a remark by the Deep Sky doyen Jon Isaacs of the CloudyNights forum, that he is using the same product ("General observing and Astronomy - Rogue observing", pg. 2, Aug. 23th). Prompted me to post an update about this product after two more years of use (about 290 observations with it  in toto since October 2016).

There is little to add. The light shield works still absolutely fine, despite some scratches, minor dents and slight delamination at the corners, which all cannot be seen when in use. Clinginess and flexibility remain at the default state. The light shield has become for me an indispensable item for all observations, as are the neck lanyard for my glasses and the dimmable red light torch. No hassle with the greyish LED backlight anymore, or with black  letters on white flashing up when typing. For observers under 21+ SQM-L skies the best choice. Works best, when the SkySafari display is set to the "monochrome" mode. Very recommendable, and not pricey (5,95$) - have ordered three spare ones three days ago. (Of course no affiliation etc., just a very pleased owner.)

Thanks for reading

Stephan

P.S.: ordered the Light Shield Sept. 04th; arrived today, Sept. 11th. No costs for shipping and handling etc.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Nyctimene

[Paz]

I agree this is a good idea. I've been using a red film on my android phone for a couple of years with sky safari. I take off my phone's case and tuck the film inside the case in front of the screen and snap it back together. This way my phone is solid and the film can't be moved/lost.

I'm not sure though if my film is this dark type or something a bit lighter... I'm going to check it out.