ZMF Chess Clocks Are Too Distracting

[tduncan]

As the one who started this thread, I have to point out that you all have strayed very far from the original topic. Someone should move all these posts to a new thread. If you have anything to say about features of a clock that pull a player’s attention off the board, that would be on point.

A summary of the beginning of this thread so we may continue: The ZMF is very bright, especially is tournament spaces (which are usually a little dark). It’s hard not to look at it. Our brains look to light automatically, even more so when that light is moving, as in the case of a chess clock counting down. When the ZMF goes under one minute, it starts counting tenths, which isn’t a problem on other clocks. Why is it a problem with the ZMF? Because it’s so darn bright. It keeps pulling the eye away from the board at the worst possible moments.

[jwiewel]

@tduncan

As the one who started this thread, I have to point out that you all have strayed very far from the original topic. Someone should move all these posts to a new thread. If you have anything to say about features of a clock that pull a player’s attention off the board, that would be on point.

A summary of the beginning of this thread so we may continue: The ZMF is very bright, especially is tournament spaces (which are usually a little dark). It’s hard not to look at it. Our brains look to light automatically, even more so when that light is moving, as in the case of a chess clock counting down. When the ZMF goes under one minute, it starts counting tenths, which isn’t a problem on other clocks. Why is it a problem with the ZMF? Because it’s so darn bright. It keeps pulling the eye away from the board at the worst possible moments.

I bolded one sentence.
This will probably become a non-issue over time.

When the first digital clocks came out there were complaints that showing minutes and seconds was a distraction and drew the eyes of people from the board. Sometimes it was almost mesmerizing and people would flag while watching the clock.

When analog clocks were all there was it used to be that the first time people would play with a clock they would end up distracted and watching the little red ticker (or the flag slowly rising).

Anything you are not used to can be distracting. Once you are used to something it is no longer distracting. As time goes on it will become a rare TD who even considers a bright clock to possibly be a distraction.

[tduncan]

@jwiewel

I bolded one sentence.
This will probably become a non-issue over time.

When the first digital clocks came out there were complaints that showing minutes and seconds was a distraction and drew the eyes of people from the board. Sometimes it was almost mesmerizing and people would flag while watching the clock.

When analog clocks were all there was it used to be that the first time people would play with a clock they would end up distracted and watching the little red ticker (or the flag slowly rising).

Anything you are not used to can be distracting. Once you are used to something it is no longer distracting. As time goes on it will become a rare TD who even considers a bright clock to possibly be a distraction.

This is a very good point. It’s something I’ve been considering, too. I just think this isn’t so much about getting used to it, mainly because I’m not being mesmerized by something new and fancy. It’s about the natural human attraction to bright colors, lights, and movement, all of which describe the display on these clocks.

[Ron_Suarez]

@tduncan

As the one who started this thread, I have to point out that you all have strayed very far from the original topic. Someone should move all these posts to a new thread. If you have anything to say about features of a clock that pull a player’s attention off the board, that would be on point.

A summary of the beginning of this thread so we may continue: The ZMF is very bright, especially is tournament spaces (which are usually a little dark). It’s hard not to look at it. Our brains look to light automatically, even more so when that light is moving, as in the case of a chess clock counting down. When the ZMF goes under one minute, it starts counting tenths, which isn’t a problem on other clocks. Why is it a problem with the ZMF? Because it’s so darn bright. It keeps pulling the eye away from the board at the worst possible moments.

As an optometrist that plays chess and either currently owns or has owned pretty much every model (especially digital) I am qualified to answer this problem.

I own a ZMF-II clock with the red display. I bought the red over the other colors for a specific and actually scientific reason.

The red color has the longest wavelength of all the other colors and affects or bleaches out the cones of the eye the least. There are rods and cones. The cones are responsible for the “20/20” and predominantly central vision while the rods are peripheral vision nerve cells that cannot see as sharply but perform better in the dark.

Red lights are used in situations where people want to see to read in the dark and not have their vision bleached out momentarily. For instance it has been used for many years in the military that red lights allow someone to read and then function in the dark.

The blue lights are the worst for bleaching out the vision and if you stare at the blue ZMF-II display for too long you will notice blur and haziness.

The white is the more neutral but the red is still the best.

I have played a good number of games with different time controls with my red display clock and actually none of my opponents or I have been distracted by the clock at all.

Yes, when the clock is started and the delay is counting down the swirling and changing display can be disruptive, but I actually don’t know anyone that watches the display of the clock, while playing, in the first few seconds of the delay.

So, sorry but the ZMF-II clock certainly is not defective in design with the LED displays. Sure, they are brighter than other clocks but they are also all LCD displays instead of LED ones. I know a fellow from DeKalb, Illinois that has a blue display one of these and I have never even once heard a complaint about his clock either.

[nolan]

Ron, have you heard of any players having problems with reading digital clocks due to color blindness?

[tduncan]

@Ron Suarez

As an optometrist that plays chess and either currently owns or has owned pretty much every model (especially digital) I am qualified to answer this problem.

I own a ZMF-II clock with the red display. I bought the red over the other colors for a specific and actually scientific reason.

The red color has the longest wavelength of all the other colors and affects or bleaches out the cones of the eye the least. There are rods and cones. The cones are responsible for the “20/20” and predominantly central vision while the rods are peripheral vision nerve cells that cannot see as sharply but perform better in the dark.

Red lights are used in situations where people want to see to read in the dark and not have their vision bleached out momentarily. For instance it has been used for many years in the military that red lights allow someone to read and then function in the dark.

The blue lights are the worst for bleaching out the vision and if you stare at the blue ZMF-II display for too long you will notice blur and haziness.

The white is the more neutral but the red is still the best.

Thanks for weighing in Ron. Your knowledge might be helpful here I’m sure, but the optometry portion of your post does not address the problem. Nobody said anything about being blinded by the opponent’s clock. There is no “bleaching.” We’re just talking about being led to look away from the board too often, which would mess with thought processes and such. I’m not saying it happens to everyone either. But it is something to consider.

[Ron_Suarez]

@nolan

Ron, have you heard of any players having problems with reading digital clocks due to color blindness?

Actually this shouldn’t be a problem. Most of the digital clocks are LCD with black on a whitish background, so there would be no problem with color discrimination.

Color blindness most often manifests as being able to not distinguish between shades. For instance not being able to tell brown from black (brown has red in it). Most color blind situations are of the red/green variety.

In the case of the ZMF clocks, the red display would still be seen by a person with a color deficiency but he (the vast majority of hereditary color problems are in males) might not see it as a true red color, but he would still see it. The same with the green display.

Now being able to distinguish which color is which would be a problem, but that isn’t applicable in these situations. Those problems are in electricians being able to differentiate different wire colors and pilots knowing what runway lights are what color.

Actually Tom, my statements are significant to the problem you describe you have with these clocks.

For instance, the red color would have less of a negative affect on your vision at the board than the blue one would.

The Chronos and Excalibur clock displays are at least as big as the colored ones, and those displays can also change quickly, as the Chronos has the option for tenth of a seconds display.

The problem you seem to be having is with the LED light output versus the LCD one. The LED display has a brighter or higher light output than the LCD. And from what I have read of your complaint is this brighter light and its changing bothers you while you are at the board.

You also claim that these brighter and flashier displays distract one from the board and focus on the pieces and position. You also mention that the ambient light in a lot of the playing areas is more dimly lit making the light contrast greater with these LED displays creating more of a visual distraction.

All I am saying is that the red light will be less of a visual distraction than the blue. And I mentioned that I know a fellow that has one of these blue displayed clocks and he has not had any problems in play that I am aware of.

I also agree that the more people play with clocks like these the more accustomed they will become to the things and the less problems they will have with them.

Perhaps you should buy one, I suggest red display, and play chess using it. I bet you would become inured to it in a short time and it would no longer be a problem. And I say this as a vision specialist.

[brennanprice]

@tduncan

A summary of the beginning of this thread so we may continue: The ZMF is very bright, especially is tournament spaces (which are usually a little dark). It’s hard not to look at it. Our brains look to light automatically, even more so when that light is moving, as in the case of a chess clock counting down. When the ZMF goes under one minute, it starts counting tenths, which isn’t a problem on other clocks. Why is it a problem with the ZMF? Because it’s so darn bright. It keeps pulling the eye away from the board at the worst possible moments.

If you come to me with these complaints at an event I’m working, I’m telling you to stop whining and play chess. Then I’m walking away.

[tzs]

@Ron Suarez

The Chronos and Excalibur clock displays are at least as big as the colored ones, and those displays can also change quickly, as the Chronos has the option for tenth of a seconds display.

I think the Chronos ability to display tenths of a second is a bit exaggerated. From what I can see in the manual, only mode CH-F3 has tenths of a second display. CH-F3 is a casual chess mode that only supports G/n d0 time controls. It does not support changing the time once a game starts, and has the quick reset feature, and so would not be used in a G/n d0 tournament.

Tenths display sounds like a bad idea to me during a tournament game, because the clock is in peripheral vision where motion sensitivity is greater. If there were some benefit of displaying tenths of a second while the clock is counting down, then we could discuss whether they outweigh the drawbacks, but I cannot think of nor have heard anyone offer any benefits. I can see a benefit of having tenths show when the clock is NOT counting down, but while you are actually on the move it is changing to make use of.

[Smythe_Dakota]

Funny that everybody is mentioning red or blue when discussing the ZMF clocks. When I looked at the ZMF website, they had red, blue, and green. Of the three, I preferred the green. It’s the most relaxing, I think.

Of course, it’s hard to tell from a catalog picture which one I’d actually prefer in a “live” clock.

Bill Smythe

[Ron_Suarez]

@Smythe Dakota

Funny that everybody is mentioning red or blue when discussing the ZMF clocks. When I looked at the ZMF website, they had red, blue, and green. Of the three, I preferred the green. It’s the most relaxing, I think.

Of course, it’s hard to tell from a catalog picture which one I’d actually prefer in a “live” clock.

Bill Smythe

If the room, ambient lighting is bright enough I agree that the green is relaxing much like the green and buff chess board colors.

If we are looking at the green being a projected light in a more dim environment, the green would be a bit more visually stressful to the eyes.

Think of it like a TV screen. With the room lights up, the light emitting from the screen is simply part of the scene. In a dark room the screen becomes a light source equivalent to something like a 150 watt light bulb. Or look at a 150 watt light bulb in a fully lit area or even outside on a sunny day and compare that same light bulb effect on the eyes if it is in a dark room and you are looking at it.

In a dimly lit room the red light is much less stressful to the eyes than the white, green and blue in that order of best to worst.

Remember these are LED displays emitting light whereas all the other clocks are LCD displays emitting no light on their own.

[William_H_Stokes]

@tduncan

As the one who started this thread, I have to point out that you all have strayed very far from the original topic. Someone should move all these posts to a new thread. If you have anything to say about features of a clock that pull a player’s attention off the board, that would be on point.

A summary of the beginning of this thread so we may continue: The ZMF is very bright, especially is tournament spaces (which are usually a little dark). It’s hard not to look at it. Our brains look to light automatically, even more so when that light is moving, as in the case of a chess clock counting down. When the ZMF goes under one minute, it starts counting tenths, which isn’t a problem on other clocks. Why is it a problem with the ZMF? Because it’s so darn bright. It keeps pulling the eye away from the board at the worst possible moments.

Your original post stated that the problem was specific to you “bright lights” I added an example of digital countdown that turned out to be at least as equally distracting to another individual. I would suggest that you ask several players if they are distracted by the brightness of the clock display.

If several players complain about the same feature, there may be cause to relegate this clock to a lesser-preferred status. Other posters have given excellent practical advice about this situation. Good luck and skill.