# Watching tv in the dark

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tv-in-the-dark/148072>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 12, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tv-in-the-dark/148072 "2003-01-12T03:38:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tv-in-the-dark/148072/1 "2003-01-12T03:38:09Z")

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I’ve always heard that watching tv in the dark is bad for you - because it’s really bright when everything else around you is dark. My bf thinks this is bunk. Anyone have anything to back either case up?

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tv-in-the-dark/148072/2 "2003-01-12T03:45:06Z")

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This is more of a GQ thing, isn’t it?

It _is_ [bunk](http://www.azstarnet.com/health/news/eyes/eyes-10410eyestrain.shtml), though.

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**Author:** ![lindsay.reid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@lindsay.reid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsay.reid)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tv-in-the-dark/148072/3 "2003-01-12T04:23:57Z")

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My father, who is an optometrist, has assured me that there’s nothing to that story.

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**Author:** ![superfreakicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@superfreakicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superfreakicus)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tv-in-the-dark/148072/4 "2003-01-12T04:35:17Z")

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I have no science on this, but I know lots of people w/glasses, and I’m not one of them.  
I’ve also watched tv in the dark my whole life.

if anything, I’d think it would be the reverse — I squint a little more w/bright lights on.

I realize this is as much evidence as the 90 year old uncle who smoked his whole life, but I’ll let the above posters handle the hard evidence.

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tv-in-the-dark/148072/5 "2003-01-12T04:53:28Z")

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Hmm… I prefer to watch TV in the dark, and maybe my eyesight _is_ failing. (I was _sure_ this was posted in Cafe Society.) 😉

My WAG would be that concentrating on _reflected_ light in a low-light situation might contribute to eyestrain, but since a television is a light source in-and-of-itself, ambient light has absolutely no bearing on the situation.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tv-in-the-dark/148072/6 "2003-01-12T07:23:58Z")

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We watch movies in a theatre in the dark, so why can’t we watch TV the same way? I know there’s a slight difference in projection methods, but it should still apply.