Does your PC monitor need an LED light bar? This accessory sits on top of your monitor to cast light on to the keyboard and the mouse. An area of your desktop that is lit indirectly by nearby lights.
The generic light bars are between $20 US and $40 US, has three color temperature settings, and plugs into a USB port. If you want recognizable brand name or features like a curved light bar, you can spend up to $150 US.
I’m going to review the Gomyhom monitor light bar and how I set up the light bars for two different monitors.
Gomyhom Monitor Light Bar
I bought a pair of Gomyhom monitor light bars for $12.50 US each on Amazon. The price went up a buck to $13.50 since then. That’s still a great deal as the regular price is $26 US.
The light bar comes in two parts.
- A weighted clamp with sticky tape on two sides and an adjustable holder.
- The light bar has an inline four-button controller on a 6.9-foot-long USB power card.
The weighted clamped and adjustable holder are somewhat puzzling.
I can understand having sticky tape on one side to stick the clamp to the back of the monitor. I’m not sure why there is sticky tape on the other side.
The stickiness of the sticky tape is like that of a Post-It Note. If you need to reposition the clamp, you can pull it off the monitor, move it, and press it back on the monitor.
The 135-degree adjustable holder has five positions. The default position is down to cast light on the keyboard and the mouse. Any other position would cast light into your eyes or above your head.
After threading the USB cable through the adjustable holder, the light bar snaps in place. Don’t forget to remove the peel off the light bar.
The inline controller has four buttons: power, color temperature, and up-and-down for brightness.
Home Office Monitor
For my home office desk, the light bar sits on the right side of my 27″ Pixio 1440p monitor. I set the color temperature to white to set off the desk area from the yellow task lights on either side. That’s fine if I’m browsing the Internet or editing a video. If I’m playing FortNite, I turn off the task lights.
I have a Logitech C920 webcam on left side of my monitor. Since I sit to the left side of my desk, this set up works fine for conference calls. If you have a smaller monitor, you will have to decide which device is more important to you.
WFH Monitor
For my work from home stand-up desk, the light bar sits centered of my 24″ Acer 1080p monitor. I set the color temperature to yellow to match the yellow task light. That makes it easier on my eyes when I start work at 7:00AM.
A light bar is a nice to have accessory for your monitor. A huge improvement over the indirect lighting for the keyboard and the mouse on your desk. A light bar doesn’t have to cost much, especially if you can get one on sale.