orionspotter
super member
Reged: 07/29/09
Posts: 159
Loc: Los Alamos, NM
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I was wondering if anyone knew of a free program that will change your screen to red for viewing purposes. I know I can mess with my display each time, but it's a hassle, and we take out three computers....so a real pain.
Thanks!
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10" Meade LX200 SCT on a CG5-GT
80mm iOptron SmartStar (kids' scope)
Galileoscope (kids' scope #2)
Celestron SkyScout (really fun for the kiddos...love this thing)
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bicparker
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/07/05
Posts: 1706
Loc: Plano, TX
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Red plexiglass works every time and it works better.
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Bic Parker
17.5" f/5 dob
10" f/10 SCT
5" f/8 refractor
80mm f/6 refractor
66mm f/6 refractor
Plus a few others out of the rotation
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Carl Kolchak
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 549
Loc: Northeast, Florida
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Google Darkadapted and Niteview.
peace & clear skies,
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Richard H.
Antares 105mm f/9.5 Elite Series Refractor
AstroTelescopes 102mm f/7 Refractor
Orion ShortTube 90mm f/5.6 Refractor
Meade Model 300 80mm f/15 Refractor
Tasco Cosmic 6TE-5 50mm f/12 Refractor
Orion SkyView Pro 8" Intelliscope
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars
Zhumell SuperGiant 20x80 binoculars
NightSky Journal
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orionspotter
super member
Reged: 07/29/09
Posts: 159
Loc: Los Alamos, NM
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Thanks for the suggestions.....is there one program you would suggest for the smaller netbook style laptops? We had considered getting some red transparency film, but none of our local office stores carry anything but clear. We use Stellarium, but even on the night view and the screen dimmed down to it's lowest point, the screen seems pretty bright. We're going to a big star event and have a feeling the screens may still be too bright for the other viewers. We don't want to be told to shut off our computers, so we need something that will help tone things down a bit.
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10" Meade LX200 SCT on a CG5-GT
80mm iOptron SmartStar (kids' scope)
Galileoscope (kids' scope #2)
Celestron SkyScout (really fun for the kiddos...love this thing)
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Carl Kolchak
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 549
Loc: Northeast, Florida
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I would suggest you try both to see what works best on your netbooks. Both of these apps may be too bright for a dark sky site, check with your hosts to see what they recommend.
peace & clear skies,
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Richard H.
Antares 105mm f/9.5 Elite Series Refractor
AstroTelescopes 102mm f/7 Refractor
Orion ShortTube 90mm f/5.6 Refractor
Meade Model 300 80mm f/15 Refractor
Tasco Cosmic 6TE-5 50mm f/12 Refractor
Orion SkyView Pro 8" Intelliscope
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars
Zhumell SuperGiant 20x80 binoculars
NightSky Journal
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bicparker
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/07/05
Posts: 1706
Loc: Plano, TX
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That is why I recommended red plexiglass. Modern laptop screens are simply too bright. Most major star parties won't accept them just using the "night vision" mode turned down all of the way. Do a search on "red plexiglass sheet" and you will get a number of buying options.
I personally like the plexiglass because it is easy to view through (no folds or ripples like with film) and it is easy to mount on a laptop display.
Red transparency film is typically not dark enough anymore (due to the brighter screens). I have only found one film that was dark enough, unfortunately, I don't remember where I bought it, but it was not at an office store.
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Bic Parker
17.5" f/5 dob
10" f/10 SCT
5" f/8 refractor
80mm f/6 refractor
66mm f/6 refractor
Plus a few others out of the rotation
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1096
Loc: New England
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Call local sign shops and companies to see if they have any 2423 Red Plexiglass in stock. They can cut you a piece.
Otherwise you can pay more by purchase one by an astronomy vendor.
2423 red Plexiglas is superior to Rubylith (the red film) as it is more durable and optically flat and does not ripple. I have been using it for years.
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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orionspotter
super member
Reged: 07/29/09
Posts: 159
Loc: Los Alamos, NM
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Hmm...well Niteview didn't work at all. It only created a small box in the upper right corner and when I clicked to turn the screen red, it would only change what was in the box. Although it had a tab to open it up to fullscreen, it wouldn't work. Darkadapted didn't turn things very red at all...more of a slight hue.
I would do the plexiglass option, but the party is this week and there's no way that I can order it in time. I guess I might be able to find some red cellophane. Perhaps a party store will have something that might work.
Any other suggestions?
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10" Meade LX200 SCT on a CG5-GT
80mm iOptron SmartStar (kids' scope)
Galileoscope (kids' scope #2)
Celestron SkyScout (really fun for the kiddos...love this thing)
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bicparker
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/07/05
Posts: 1706
Loc: Plano, TX
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If there is a hardware store (not Lowe's or Home Depot, but something like Elliot's or specialty hardware stores), they may have red plexiglass (they are often used for finishing surfaces or signage. Again, like Matthew suggested, ask a sign shop.
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Bic Parker
17.5" f/5 dob
10" f/10 SCT
5" f/8 refractor
80mm f/6 refractor
66mm f/6 refractor
Plus a few others out of the rotation
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xipteras
newbie
Reged: 10/28/09
Posts: 2
Loc: Germany
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> I was wondering if anyone knew of a free program
> that will change your screen to red for viewing purposes
YES, I have one!
DOWNLOAD PAGE:
http://www.astrodigital.net/download/redscreen_windows/redscreen_windows.html
This "red screen" functionality is also part of my telescope, CCD and eyepiece calculator. Please visit:
http://www.astrodigital.net/download/astrodigital_net_windows/introduction/introduction.html
http://www.astrodigital.net/download/astrodigital_net_windows/download/download.html
I hope it helps!
Greetings from Germany
Panagiotis
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psonice
super member
Reged: 07/24/09
Posts: 162
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I started writing a red screen program for OSX today. Guess it should be finished tomorrow (it's a quick job, but I only have lunch time at present :/)
It lets you set how red you want the screen to be, and how dark. I'll also add control over the screen backlight if possible, as that's pretty critical (a typical laptop screen glows grey in the dark, even with everything set to black!)
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Scott K
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/13/07
Posts: 1413
Loc: Dallas, TX & Eufaula, OK
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There are really not sufficient controls generally available on most displays to adequately dim the them in software. Most of them are way too bright even on their dimmest settings. Another problem with using software to set a red screen is that for the most part, you can't do anything about apps that don't comply with the OS in terms of setting their color scheme. A good example of this is apps that use bitmaps or other graphical elements in their UI.
So you need to think analog, not digital, when solving this problem.
I actually have a video adapter that allows me to change the output from the DACs, turning off everything but red. This works pretty well, but isn't generally available, but you know what works even better?
Red plexiglass. I bought a very nice cover for my screen from here:
http://www.astrosightsaver.com/
It works very well.
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CarolG
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 10/16/06
Posts: 829
Loc: Oklahoma
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I also tried "night mode" software, and even though the screen was red, it was still very bright. I now use a rubylith film I got from Scopestuff. You can easily cut it to size, and it works very well. You can find it Here .
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Carol
Cor Caroli Observatory
NS11 XLT w/ HyperStar
TV85 w/FeatherTouch/DM4/SC on a Scopebuggy
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psonice
super member
Reged: 07/24/09
Posts: 162
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Software CAN be good enough I'd say, it just depends on the software, OS, and hardware...
Of course, just setting windows to make the windows look red won't get you far. What should happen is either you change the video card settings to make everything red/darker, or you draw a transparent red layer over everything. Nothing should get past this.
Yes, LCDs are bright even with a black screen. It's possible to control the backlight though. If you turn the backlight right down, the display gets very dark. Easily dark enough for what we want - especially with one of the LED screens, although you only get those on the better quality machines.
I reckon good software control should be better than plexiglass/film, without the drawbacks, but like I said you really need that right combination of software + hardware.
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Larry F
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/24/04
Posts: 1598
Loc: Westchester, NY
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Try red acetate from an art supply store.
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C5 Orange Tube SCT, CPC 800 XLT SCT
Orion 127 Mak, StellarVue Nighthawk
Coronado Maxscope 40, Lunt 60mm H-alpha double-stack
5 1/4" f/5.2 home-built Newtonian
Denk II Binos
Giro 2/Tech2000 Giro Driver/Tech2000 QuickDraw Pier
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
A zillion eyepieces and some more mounts
Mason & Hamlin BB 2140 mm (grand piano)
My Gallery
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Jeff in Austin
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/26/07
Posts: 801
Loc: TEXAS
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Quote:
... I now use a rubylith film I got from Scopestuff. You can easily cut it to size, and it works very well. You can find it Here .
I also use this film. The best part is, it's compatible with every program run on every OS! 
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There's nothing like having a supportive family, including Second Grader w/ scope, curious toddler, and lovely wife.
Supporter of Austin CSC, Austin CalSky.
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bicparker
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/07/05
Posts: 1706
Loc: Plano, TX
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Quote:
Software CAN be good enough I'd say, it just depends on the software, OS, and hardware...
Of course, just setting windows to make the windows look red won't get you far. What should happen is either you change the video card settings to make everything red/darker, or you draw a transparent red layer over everything. Nothing should get past this.
Yes, LCDs are bright even with a black screen. It's possible to control the backlight though. If you turn the backlight right down, the display gets very dark. Easily dark enough for what we want - especially with one of the LED screens, although you only get those on the better quality machines.
I reckon good software control should be better than plexiglass/film, without the drawbacks, but like I said you really need that right combination of software + hardware.
Quite frankly, most major star parties won't even let you run your computer without a good red filter over your screen. And for good reason.
The reality is that at a dark site, one cannot get the displays dark enough without something like a red plexiglass filter. After looking at many, many computers over recent years at star parties, I have yet to see a laptop that can be turned down enough and have a consistent red hue. I think a lot of folks often don't realize how bright their displays are. But when your eyes are truly dark adapted, they can look like a New England lighthouse even when turned down all the way.
Computer LCD displays are being made brighter and brighter these days, for a variety of reasons. Even at their lowest levels, they are too bright for visual astronomy and there is no reliable way to turn them dimmer without a good dark filter.
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Bic Parker
17.5" f/5 dob
10" f/10 SCT
5" f/8 refractor
80mm f/6 refractor
66mm f/6 refractor
Plus a few others out of the rotation
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psonice
super member
Reged: 07/24/09
Posts: 162
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Bic: I have seen screens that go dark enough - in fact I've got one at home that goes all the way to black.
I think all LCD screens can easily go dark enough, it's just that the manufacturers set the controls to what they think is a "reasonable" range, which tends to be quite bright all the way up to maximum. If you can control the backlight directly, then it's possible to go MUCH darker than what the manufacturer thinks is dark enough.
I'd like to get hold of one of the LED backlit displays.. I suspect that they'll have much less of a problem going dark enough. Anyone tried one?
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xipteras
newbie
Reged: 10/28/09
Posts: 2
Loc: Germany
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These are great news psonice! Please, post the download link when your app is available. thx px
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psonice
super member
Reged: 07/24/09
Posts: 162
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Still a few bugs to fix, but it's up and running. Tonight I guess, unless something goes badly wrong 
I've been testing it out a bit, and as I said, it depends on the combination of hardware + software. For mac laptops, it looks to me like it'll work pretty much flawlessly. Desktops, not quite so good but not bad. Anything with a 3rd party monitor likely won't work.
On my imac, it dims the screen but doesn't make it really dark. The combination of backlight dimming plus software dimming is just about good enough I'd say.
On a new macbook pro (somebody sent one to me to set up at work this morning - how fortunate Pity I can't keep it though  ) it works great. The screen goes all the way down to fully dark. With this software running, I can't see any issue at all with this at a star party. With the backlight set low and the red filter on, it'll let out much less light than a laptop with red film/plexiglass, and I think it should work for all software (I'll have to test it with things like stellarium, but unless they do something funky with the video card it should be fine).
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