The working from home thread: tips and advice

Can someone remind me what those nice diffuse lights are that all your trendy WFH-ers have behind your screens to make it all nice and comfortable on your eyes? My place is dark, the walls are dark and I don't like the overhead light.

Thanks

I got one of these ring lights, it's fine:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/streamplify-light-10-ring-light-5v-usb-white-led-black-cc-003-sm.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1ZGcBhCoARIsAGQ0kkqlKrCgvDlSmTGmUqrRyZ_qyafGaZP6wyuGpEM4MqXl1__bu5ty5MgaAoP3EALw_wcB

I recently moved to Nanoleaf lights and they’re great. Provide loads of really even light.

£££ though.

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Elgato Key Light are quite £££ but lovely and controllable (brightness and colour temperature).

(Controllable via desktop and phone apps [and HTTP].)

That is lovely, but wouldn't work with the vibe in the lounge where my desk is and probably more than I was looking to spend...

If that could easily attach to the wall I might be persuaded, but the tripod is entirely unnecessary for my usage I think...

Yeah, nice but price - and ideally I want wall-mountable. Aliexpress have some basic battery powered LED options for £4 that I might try...

Philips Hue (white/warm changeable) bulbs in directional lamps is the easy way. Anglepoise if you want to go poser, but Ikea works. Reflect off walls for diffusion.

Next step up is Elgato Key Lights for front lighting video.

And then wall mountable... Nanoleaf is the big brand here, but if it's just environmental you can find relatively cheap alternatives on Amazon.

Nice, thank you - very helpful! Got some thinking to do...

Do they just stick to the wall with posh double-sided sticky tape?

Basically. They have a clicky circle in the centre (about 5cm across) of each one which is what actually sticks to the wall. Then you can pop them on and off. They connect together with flexible ribbon cable which pops in at various points.

Took me less than 20 mins to install.

@owl I might have misunderstood, but aren't you talking about those rolls of sticky led lights that you stick to the back of your screen rather than face lighting for calls?

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hmm they seem nice but not sure I want sticky stuff over my walls

It’s 3M command strips. They come off super easily.

Anyone got a recommendation for a room divider for a home office? My wife will be going back to working remotely before long, and I'm full time remote as well. The room we use as a home office has enough space for us both, but we sit back back to back so would like a divider to reduce noise from each other's conferences, plus also give a bit of privacy when we're both on camera.

Thick velvet curtain.

Go full Lynch and Twin Peaks, and hang a luxurious red theatre curtain between you both. It will reduce noise and provide a visual barrier.

I have no other suggestions, this is the best one.

https://youtu.be/0H0y7phPpP4

Go full Lynch and Twin Peaks, and hang a luxurious red theatre curtain between you both.

If we're doing curtains, there's always the Plan 9 from Outer Space option if you want to make your house feel like a Z-grade B-movie set!

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Are there Bluetooth transmitter that plug into a female audio out?

My problem is that I have to log onto my client's virtual machine. The settings prevent me from using Bluetooth so I have to use a wired headset.

I think I have a Jabra evolve 30 headset with this remote.

Is there anything I can plug into it so I can use other BT headphones?

Something like this I assume
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-5-0-Transmitter-Receiver-Connection-Black/dp/B0BC3YRRR3

Any suggestions for (not that expensive) webcams that are wider angle? My Logitech C270 seems very close up on my face compared to my laptop webcam and other people on calls.

(From C270 page, The lense with 60-degree field of view covers all of the action.Diagonal field of view (dFoV): 55°)

Is it doing something ‘clever’ in software so that it can face track/keep you center frame?

60 degrees field of view is the equivalent of a 32mm lens: https://www.nikonians.org/reviews/fov-tables

Wide, but not super wide. Seems to be pretty standard for webcams though. Are you sitting very close to your screen?

I have a logitech C920 which I find loads too wide by default and use the software to compensate. Specs say it's 78deg.

Might be a bit on the spendy side tho.

Cheers all. Doesn't seem to be doing any "clever" stuff. My desk is only 60cm deep so I suspect I'm just closer than normal.

C920 is a bit pricey for what I need but it's given me an idea of what to search for.