Red Night Mode

peegee

Petr Manek

Subject: The Importance of Red Light in Outdoor Equipment

In my opinion, it is just as important to have the option to switch Suunto watches to Red Night mode. During an expedition, we often do not want to attract attention from the surroundings or scare wildlife in the forest. Additionally, red light affects melatonin production, which is important for maintaining a proper sleep cycle.

Why is this important?

Discreetness: Red light helps maintain a low profile in the wilderness, avoiding unwanted attention from wildlife or other people.

Melatonin Production: Exposure to red light minimizes disruption of melatonin production, which is crucial for maintaining healthy sleep patterns.

Current practice: Many outdoor watches already include this feature, highlighting its importance and effectiveness in outdoor activities.

Integrating these features enhances both functionality and comfort during outdoor expeditions.

My wife, Denisa Mankova, PhD, is a sleep scientist and works on projects for the military, police, etc… So I have that on my plate every day

Egika

@Petr-Manek If your wife is working in this area, you should know, that for a melanopic effect on the human body, a minimum light intensity is necessary. The display of a watch will never have a melanopic effect, like lamps with HCL do.

The disturbance effect still holds true though

Petr Manek

@Egika Hi, my wife would probably disagree with you.

It’s true that a sufficient amount of light (intensity × spectrum × time × distance + individual sensitivity) is needed for a significant melanopic (circadian) effect, but the statement “a watch display will never have a melanopic effect” is too categorical and cannot be valid as a general statement.

A watch will usually not have a comparable melanopic effect as strong HCL lighting.

I should probably modify my comment something like this:

“The melanopic (circadian) effect depends on the light dose - intensity, spectrum and exposure time. A watch display usually delivers a much smaller melanopic dose to the eye than HCL lighting in a room, so its effect tends to be small. However, it can still disturb sleep at night (brightness, notification, activation), and at high brightness/near distance the melanopic effect may not be completely zero.”

And quality sleep and recovery is what we’re all about, don’t you agree?

I’m sorry, but this is probably not for discussion here and with me

UjcoCZ

@Petr-Manek Most women disagree with men, but I don’t understand one thing. Watches have a perfect night mode, nothing lights up, nothing disturbs your melatonin production. If the watch lights up, you did it yourself, you are awake and active, and you are limiting your own production because you created stress. A very theoretical debate at the placebo level, I think. At night, I move around in the mountains with a headlamp, preferably white light, because no one really walks with red light. In real life, theory and practice are often two different things. ‍️

dankcushions

@UjcoCZ but what about when you want to check the time (or whatever)? that’s the issue - getting a blast of full spectrum OLED to the retinas at 4am rather than a subdued red display. i’m not an eye scientist or whatever, but it’s unpleasant.

…hence essentially every other smart/sports watch or smart phone has some kind of night mode, which is either redshift or some other tonal shift that is less harsh on the eyes. not sure why there’s a debate - it’s a good feature to have. you’ll like it.

Petr Manek

@UjcoCZ Sorry, but I absolutely disagree. The watch definitely doesn’t have a perfect night mode. During the night, we can experience brief micro-awakenings (mikroarousal). But I don’t think that will interest you.

I use the same watch as you. Suunto markets it as an “Adventure” watch. Trust me—there are plenty of active situations where you really don’t want white light in the mountains or in the forest. Most of my friends walk in the woods with a red light, use a red theme on their phone, on their watch, etc. The moment I look at red light, my eyes adapt to the dark much faster and I can see. I don’t disturb wildlife, and nobody can spot me from hundreds of meters away.

I believe that if you hike in the mountains with white light, you don’t need this feature

vinc14

@Petr-Manek
also in Alpin-Huts better to have red light then to wake other up with the white light

MikhailMalamud

+1 this is a must. Lack of night mode causes temporary blindness when in pitch black conditions.

JebClydeNC

Agree wholeheartedly with the OP here. Red, and Green, would be AWESOME. Both are important, as red works with natural night vision, and green typically works with night vision goggles so military folks can use it too…

brechtvb

@Arju-Ambin this is a smartwatch feature, which Suunto doesn’t give a flying **** about. Suunto cannot even keep up with sports features.

It’s all very sad, yet, I completely agree with you. This is part of DND mode.

Petr Manek

Suunto Software update Q1 (2.53.42)

maybe later…