I review a lot of home office gear for my work, which means my workstation is variable. A new desk today, another office chair Tomorrow—you will get the idea. A constant over the last three years? BenQ ScreenBar. You may have heard of BenQ before—this Taiwanese company makes excellent monitor And projector-But this lamp is my number one accessory for working from home.
The ScreenBar doesn't take up any desk space, as it hangs over your computer monitor and illuminates the desktop brilliantly. It's a simple little thing, but it brings me great joy, and the company is constantly working on it, with the latest version being ScreenBar Pro. I'm here to tell you that you should probably buy one for yourself home office,
let there be light
ScreenBar comes in a few flavours: screenbar, screenbar hello, screenbar plusand this screenbar proI've tested the original ScreenBar and Pro – if you want light on your desktop the Halo offers a backlight that pushes light onto the back of the monitor And The wall behind your computer screen. The Plus is similar to the standard ScreenBar, but has a separate dial attachment to control the light's settings instead of touch controls on the top of the lamp.
You can configure these lamps according to your preferences by changing the color temperature and brightness or toggling on the auto-brightness function so that it matches the ambient light in the room. But what sets the latest ScreenBar Pro apart from its siblings is the motion sensor. Now, a few minutes after I leave my desk, ScreenBar Pro shuts down. When I come back, it lights up my desktop – it's like it's booting up my battle station. Red.
These screenbar lights are designed to have minimal bleed so these LEDs don't fall on your eyes, although you'll want to make sure your monitor is at eye level to avoid these. There isn't a ton of light bleeding happening on the monitor screen. That said, I've only noticed screen brightness when I'm watching something with dark content, like a moody video game or movie. That's when I turn off the screenbar to enjoy the deep blacks and deep contrast of my OLED monitor.
I've had no problems using these on all types of monitors, including my current curved Alienware AW322QF 32-inch Curved Gaming MonitorThe best part is that you don't have to use up the precious USB-A slot on your PC or laptop to keep the lights on – I plug the ScreenBar directly into my monitor's USB port for power. It also makes the cable look neater.
So where are you? have a webcam If you have a screenbar at the top of your monitor? Well, I placed my webcam slightly off-center, but it required some final and software adjustments to the field of view to get it looking just right. The better solution is to just get BenQ's webcam accessoryIt sticks to the top part of the screenbar and you can balance your webcam on top. This puts the webcam quite high, but I was able to angle my mx brio Well so that it doesn't seem strange.
leave no one behind
ScreenBar is useless if you don't have a computer monitor at your workplace. But if you work exclusively from a laptop, BenQ hasn't forgotten about you! Last year, I tested the LaptopBar, which mounts behind a laptop screen to illuminate the keyboard and work area for those spending late nights at the office.
There are some trade-offs in this version, however. You need to stick a magnetic adhesive on the back of your laptop, which keeps the LaptopBar stuck to it. When you don't have the LaptopBar attached, there is a permanent magnetic circle on the exterior, which doesn't look good. The LaptopBar is also battery powered and can last about two hours at full brightness, but you can plug it into your laptop to keep it on longer (this will drain your laptop's battery).
Still, it's a great little lamp on the go, perfect for anyone who regularly types in the dark. The lamp comes with a carrying case, can be dimmable, and offers warm or cool color temperatures.
This may all sound a little silly—it's just a lamp! Who cares! I know I know. But the unique-looking ScreenBar series actually saves space on my already packed desktop. I also like lights – I'm the one who likes to have lights on around the house while my wife likes to sit in the dark (I once found her cooking in the dark, which was very strange to me). So having as much light as I want on my desktop makes me feel happier at my workplace, especially in the months when the sky gets a little dark after 4pm.
It's small, convenient things like this that make working from home so enjoyable. And you won't have to change your work clothes either. Or traffic. Or pack a lunch. Well, you got it.