JeremyE wrote
Just pop in a new resistor to change the voltage the LED see's. There are table all over the internet that tell you the different ratings and what resistor values to use.
Ah! Pretty obvious when I actually take the time to think about it. :-[ I'll have to check the voltage supply and see what the stock resistors are (and if they are SMD, I'll just have to add a second resistor).
There is a great article here:
http://texyt.com/bright+blue+leds+annoyance+health+risks - seems to support what I experience with blue LEDs.
Some highlights for the lazier reader:
"blue light causes greater eyestrain and fatigue than other colors. It is harder for the eye to focus and causes greater glare and dazzle effects."
"Blue LEDs are literally 20 times brighter than traditional red or green LEDs."
"blue light appears much brighter to us at night, or indoors where ambient light is low – an effect known as the Purkinje shift."
"blue is brighter in peripheral vision"
"our eyes cannot focus blue sharply. We actually see a distracting halo around bright blue lights. "
"We're half blind in blue. The modern human eye evolved to see fine detail primarily with green or red light."
"Blue glare interferes with vision. The twin effects of fuzzy focus and blue scatter both make intense blue light from a point source, like an LED, spread out across the retina, obscuring a much wider part of our visual field."
Something that surprised me greatly was this:
"Blue light's effects on circadian rhythms and sleep, however, are quite firmly established. Putting blue LEDs on a radio alarm clock isn't a great idea."
There are also some theories that claim they cause cancer - but then again, what doesn't these days?
