If you already have good, adjustable ambient lighting in your workspace, you won't need a monitor light bar. If you don't, the best monitor light bars are definitely worth buying, especially if you spend long hours at a screen.

The benefit you get from the extra brightness is the reduction in contrast between a bright monitor and a dim room, which is what tends to cause eye strain and fatigue over a working day. Once you're used to having one, going back to overhead lighting, or no lighting at all, feels worse on the eyes.

A monitor light bar is also useful for anything else you do at a desk, from reading and hobby crafts to video calls, since the light is angled to illuminate the desk rather than your face or the screen.