Desk lighting: monitor light bar or desk lamp?

Bad desk lighting causes glare, eye strain and terrible video calls. The fix is usually cheap, but the right type depends on your desk and what you do at it.

Monitor light bars

A light bar sits on top of your monitor and shines down onto the desk at an angle designed to keep light off the screen. They take zero desk space.

• Check the bar's clip fits your monitor's top edge thickness, especially on thin or curved monitors.
• If you have a webcam on top of your monitor, look for a bar with a webcam mount or room beside it.
• USB-powered bars can run from your monitor or computer, so no extra plug.

Desk lamps

A lamp with an adjustable arm lights paper, crafts or a second work area better than a light bar, and works if you use a laptop without a monitor. Clamp-on lamps save desk space.

Three specs that matter

Color temperature (Kelvin)

Lower numbers like 2700K look warm and yellow, good for evenings. Around 4000 to 5000K is neutral daylight for focused work. Many lights let you adjust it, which is worth having.

CRI (color rendering)

CRI says how true colors look under the light, on a scale to 100. Look for CRI 90 or higher if you do photo work, makeup or anything where color matters.

Dimming

Stepless dimming beats a few fixed levels. Your room's light changes all day, and the right brightness changes with it.

For video calls

Light coming from in front of you, at eye level, looks best. A light behind you, like a window, turns you into a silhouette. A small light near the camera often helps more than a brighter overhead light.