The Reading Light effect turns your screen into a soft rectangle of light, brightest near the top and fading out toward the bottom, in a color temperature you choose. Prop it beside a paper book or a desk and it works as a small, adjustable lamp rather than something meant to be looked at directly.
Before you start
- A screen you can prop up beside your reading material. A laptop, tablet, or second monitor all work — it needs to face your page, not your eyes.
- A dim enough room that added light actually helps. In a bright room the effect adds little; it's built for low-light reading and late work sessions.
- Power nearby if you'll run it for a while on a laptop or tablet. A bright screen used this way pulls more from the battery than normal use.
Set it up
- Open the Reading Light effect on the screen you want to use as your lamp.
- Set Color Temperature to Warm White or Tungsten for night reading, or Daylight or Neutral if you want a closer-to-white light for daytime work.
- Prop the screen beside or behind your page and tilt it so the top edge points down toward the page — the light is strongest at the top of the screen and fades to nothing toward the bottom.
- Set Brightness up from its starting point until the page is comfortably lit. Push it toward 100 in a darker room.
- Adjust the angle if you see a hotspot of glare on the page rather than even light, especially on glossy or laminated paper.
You'll know it worked when the top portion of the screen is casting a steady, even glow across your page and the color looks right for the time of day — warm and low-key at night, closer to white during the day.
What each control does
| Control | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Brightness | 10–100 | Overall output of the screen. Because this effect fades from the top of the screen to black at the bottom and caps its own opacity at roughly 80% of this setting, it never turns into a flat, fully bright fill the way some other effects do — raising it makes the lit band stronger, not the whole screen brighter. |
| Color Temperature | Daylight, Cool White, Neutral, Warm White, Tungsten | The color of the light, from a near-white 6500K down to a warm, orange-leaning 2700K. Warmer settings put out less blue-heavy light; cooler settings read closer to plain white. |
There's no animation and no other sliders for this effect — Brightness and Color Temperature are the whole control set. The Logo tab on the effect page still works if you want a branded overlay, though it has little use for a plain reading lamp.
Common setups
- Reading a paperback at night. Tungsten, Brightness 40–55. Low and warm keeps the room dim and the page readable without lighting up the whole space.
- Working at a desk during the day. Daylight or Neutral, Brightness 70–90. A whiter, stronger light competes better with daytime room light.
- A glossy or laminated page. Lower Brightness slightly and tilt the screen off-axis from the page rather than square-on — a direct angle reflects a hotspot of glare straight back at you.
- A long study or work session on battery power. Keep Brightness in the 40–60 range rather than maxing it out, and plug in if the session will run more than an hour or two.
Troubleshooting
The page still looks dim even with Brightness at 100. This effect's opacity tops out around 80% of your Brightness setting, and it's a gradient rather than a flat fill, so the lower half of the screen contributes little light. Tilt the screen so the brighter top portion faces the page directly, or move the screen closer. If you need more raw output, Full Screen Light fills the whole screen solid instead of fading it.
There's a bright glare spot on the page instead of even light. Glossy or laminated paper acts like a mirror at the wrong angle. Rotate the screen so it's off to one side of the page rather than facing it head-on — the reflection moves out of your eyeline instead of straight back at you.
The screen dims or goes dark partway through a session. That's your operating system's display sleep or screensaver, not the effect — Reading Light has no timer of its own. Set your display sleep timeout to Never in your OS power settings for the duration of your session, and turn it back afterward.
Battery is draining fast on a laptop or tablet used this way. A bright screen run continuously as a lamp uses more power than normal browsing. Lower Brightness a step or two, or plug in if you're planning a long session.
The color looks tinted orange when I wanted plain white. Warm White and Tungsten are meant to look that way — they're the two warmest options on this effect. Switch to Daylight for the closest to a neutral white.
My controls disappeared after I went fullscreen. They fade out after five seconds without mouse movement, same as every other effect. Move your mouse to bring back the Settings and Exit Fullscreen buttons, or press Escape to leave fullscreen.
Next steps
If you need a flat, fully bright screen instead of a top-to-bottom fade, try Full Screen Light. For a plain, maximum-brightness screen meant for short bursts rather than sustained reading, see Emergency Light.