Not necessarily inviting at first glance, but with a serious background: red street lamps in the Dutch municipality of Nieuwkoop (Source: Signify.com)
At GameStar Tech we always devote ourselves to exciting topics that have nothing to do with games, but still pique our interest. This is also the case in this case, which involves red instead of white LEDs in street lights.
As can be seen in the example above, the appropriate images quickly attract attention because they can be reminiscent of a horror film.
Would you like more evidence? Here you go!
The images come from different regions of Europe. The following overview shows where exactly and from which websites the photos come:
But what are the red lights all about?
It’s about nature conservation
More precisely, nocturnal and light-shy animals, such as bats in particular, should be protected by the red light.
According to Press release from Signifiy In 2018, Nieuwkoop was the first municipality in the world to install such lights for nature conservation. It says, among other things, the following:
The streetlights use a special light that is perceived as darkness by bats but provides sufficient illumination for residents. This helps make the streets and sidewalks safer while also being very energy efficient.
The small town south of Amsterdam and its surroundings are part of the Natura 2000a large European network of nature reserves.
Who is Signify? Signify was previously known as Philips Lightning and was formerly part of the large Dutch company Philips. The separation from the parent company took place in 2016, and two years later the decision was made to change the name to Signifiy. However, certain products continue to be sold under the Philips name, for example the well-known ones Hue lamps.
The articles linked above about the other European regions with red instead of white LEDs also always mention the protection of bats (and similar animals) as the main reason for installing the red lights.
The human eye can also benefit
Apple, among others, is taking advantage of the fact that red light can be more pleasant for people in the dark with the appropriate night mode Ultra Watch 2 on. You can see it in use in the following picture.
On the left the standard display of the Apple Ultra Watch 2 during the day, on the right the version with red text for the night.
On PC and cell phone screens, it is also recommended to use a redder light in darker environments. You can find out more about the background and how easy it is to do under Windows here:
No matter what PC it is: I recommend this Windows option to each of you
At the highest setting, even Windows is somewhat reminiscent of the images of the red-lit cities and surroundings above. Do you want it a little less on the PC? creepy
We recommend the medium setting.
What do you think about the red street lights? For the benefit of nature conservation, would you have no problem seeing them more often in general? Or do you find the idea of walking through such an illuminated area in the evening or at night a bit scary? Do you also use night mode on your PC and/or cell phone screen? Feel free to write it in the comments!
