Reducing eye strain from computer use

legokill101

Junior Member
Oct 5, 2013
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I Use my laptop a lot at school and for homework and as a result often find my eyes quite tired, i was hoping to get some advice on some ideas i had to reduce it, one of them was to replace the current 20 inch 1600*900 monitor im using when im at home with a 27 inch 1080p monitor and then downscale the resolution to make icons and text bigger as well as getting some bias lighting and was wondering
how effective these ideas were and if you guys have any other sugestions
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
23,049
12,717
136
I second this Q. Had lasik a year ago and anything bright/white is attacking my eyes hard. (have to walk away from the TV sometimes while having "quality time" with the fam.)
 

TheSlamma

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
7,625
5
81
Third the Q

I don't know what it is, but I can look at my 120hz BenQ all day at home and my eyes never get tired, I get into work and look at my Dell 2407WFP's and within the hour my eyes need a break. I've tried using that f.lux software, lamps and no florescent bulbs over me, changed the temp of the bulbs in my cube.. nothing. I've turned the brightness all the way up on the monitor then controlled it with software only (read that on some UK monitor site)

Nothing so far seems to help, was actually going to bring my monitor into work here soon and test it and see if it is really just that. Very interested in the feedback you get in this thread though.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
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1. Don't stare at it all day. Take a break.

2. Avoid most LED monitors. Some are good, but many are harsh cool white LEDs, and/or neutral white with plenty of spectral gaps (there is no way to fix this after the fact). It sucks, but I'm sticking with old crap for a little while longer, until better LED backlighting, and/or true LED monitors (OLED, w/ no backlight), get cheap and plentiful. Don't be so quick to toss out those old 1280x1024 IPS monitors for the new 1080P hotness :).

3. Avoid Lattitudes, and mainstream Inspirons, IMO. Most have been coming with very poor quality displays, lately. Be careful when choosing a display. Glossy = bad. Like hot women with all that make-up on, it looks good as a quick distraction, but it's not what you want to see day in and day out. IMO, B&M notebooks are not even worth looking at, because of that.

4. Increase your DPI! Don't make everything fuzzy by using a non-native res. Instead, make things bigger in your native res.
4A. Apple is way ahead of Microsoft on this.

5. You can't tell who uses slow PWM and who doesn't, unfortunately, but PWM can be discerned, and have negative effects, up to a few kHz. You don't "see" it, because it's not detected around the center of your vision, but rather, your periphery. CCFL PWM dimming resulted in a gradual bright/dim cycle, much like incandescent bulbs. Not so for LEDs. The annoying bit is that it can cause fatigue, but be fast enough to not be consciously perceived.

6. Prescription glasses are made with a focal point. Your glasses can't change angle, like contacts can, so you are not looking out of the ideal area when looking just a few feet away. I'm near-sighted, and not too bad, so I can get away with not wearing mine in front of a computer, but that's not an option for many, and probably won't be for me in 10-20 years (though, I expect to have corrective surgery by then, and only need minor correction via glasses :)). You can get a pair made for up-close use, and even get added anti-UV, anti-glare, and blue reduction, for dealing with fluorescent lighting and computer monitors.

And...that's all I got.
 

Wall Street

Senior member
Mar 28, 2012
691
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Make sure your room is well lit and your monitor isn't too bright. If your room is dark your pupils will open, then when you stare at a bright monitor you will get eyestrain. Having bias lighting that throws light behind your display helps a lot with eyestrain but of course isn't nearly as good as a well lit room. Replacing cheap 60W equivant bulbs with brighter 100W equivalents can also help. Of course computing in the dark causes a ton of eyestrain as does too high monitor brightness.
 
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Micrornd

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2013
1,278
178
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6. Prescription glasses are made with a focal point. Your glasses can't change angle, like contacts can, so you are not looking out of the ideal area when looking just a few feet away. I'm near-sighted, and not too bad, so I can get away with not wearing mine in front of a computer, but that's not an option for many, and probably won't be for me in 10-20 years (though, I expect to have corrective surgery by then, and only need minor correction via glasses :)). You can get a pair made for up-close use, and even get added anti-UV, anti-glare, and blue reduction, for dealing with fluorescent lighting and computer monitors.

And...that's all I got.

I wear bi-focals and had a pair made specifically for the focal lengths of my keyboard and monitors and it does help, BUT it is not in and of itself a solution.
They just give me more time before I must stop for a few hours.
(I probably wait too long before taking a break :$ )
I think refresh rates and cutting reflected glare are probably the answer.
 

hawtdawg

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2005
1,223
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there is a program called Flux that allows you to change the color temperature. It's great for use at night. The overly bright screens of today tend to keep your brain from releasing melatonin when it's supposed to.
 
Jan 20, 2013
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I don't know if you wear prescription glasses but Kodak makes an anti-glare coating that's $150 but it works wonders on screens.
 

24601

Golden Member
Jun 10, 2007
1,683
39
86
Make sure your room is well lit and your monitor isn't too bright. If your room is dark your pupils will open, then when you stare at a bright monitor you will get eyestrain. Having bias lighting that throws light behind your display helps a lot with eyestrain but of course isn't nearly as good as a well lit room. Replacing cheap 60W equivant bulbs with brighter 100W equivalents can also help. Of course computing in the dark causes a ton of eyestrain as does too high monitor brightness.

I use these.

http://www.amazon.com/ALZO-Digital-F...dp/B00198U6U6/

And have reduced my eyestrain to a point where I can use my computer over 18 hour periods without noticeable eyestrain.
 

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
"Increase your DPI!"

lol as if it is that simple? doing that just creates more problem than it fixes.
 

rgallant

Golden Member
Apr 14, 2007
1,361
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I wear bi-focals and had a pair made specifically for the focal lengths of my keyboard and monitors and it does help, BUT it is not in and of itself a solution.
They just give me more time before I must stop for a few hours.
(I probably wait too long before taking a break :$ )
I think refresh rates and cutting reflected glare are probably the answer.
the glasses I have now are tuned to computers , monitors,even though I'm a field tech.
I spend a lot up time playing pc games,lurking on the web.
back story for years would not buy the expensive glasses from my eye doctors store ,after semi expensive junk some I could not wear for 8 hrs take them back many times . this last pair said I didn't care had enough junk[$300.00], went for a eye check ,after sat down with the eye glass fitter for what seem to be 2hrs ,came down to what ratio of computer viewing to night driving 90 vs 10%[ might have to tilt head forward a bit if for long night driving]. and NiKon lenses said ok.
-first time in 45 years I could say I could see everything normal again ,best $800.00 I have ever spent on my self.
out take, both eye's do not work always together 6" -1km to focus see a GOOD pro fk the cost for eyes.
 
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Z15CAM

Platinum Member
Nov 20, 2010
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Where is the scientific reason for that?
I take it you don't ware glasses or maybe you need glasses - LOL.

I wear glasses as I've a Positive and Negative eye. That is: one is Near Sghted and the other is Far Sighted - Talk about eye strain without neutralizing them without glasses for every day crap. I don't need glasses for anything with in an arms reach or looking at a distance but I loose 3D.

I don't require Glasses for using a PC or shooting gun but should wear them when driving. Without them I get Eye Strain and Headaches when I depend on them - but IF I don't wear them I don't notice it simply because I'm half blind - GO FIGURE ;o)
 
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know of fence

Senior member
May 28, 2009
555
2
71
Make sure your room is well lit and your monitor isn't too bright. If your room is dark your pupils will open, then when you stare at a bright monitor you will get eyestrain. Having bias lighting that throws light behind your display helps a lot with eyestrain but of course isn't nearly as good as a well lit room. Replacing cheap 60W equivant bulbs with brighter 100W equivalents can also help. Of course computing in the dark causes a ton of eyestrain as does too high monitor brightness.

Partially disagree with the first premise, the well lit room. We seem in agreement the problem with dark rooms in that, when the monitor switches between bright and dark the iris has to adjust, which is tiring and a sudden switch to white screen can also be overwhelming, briefly blinding for the eye. A lit room avoids that by reducing the size of the pupil but it also may lead a person to increasing the glaring brightness of the monitor. So there is an optimisation problem here, darkness is bad but brighter lights aren't always better, there needs to be a certain - twilight - brightness of both ambient light and monitor. I too, use a dim light behind the monitor.

There are some common mistakes that can be avoided. People put their desks into bright rooms, in front of windows, where light and monitor either compete or even reflect on the monitor.
- Windows to the north create the smoothest lighting conditions.
- Put your desk into the middle of the room, with the monitor perpendicular (90°) to the window to avoid reflection and competing lighting.
- External keyboard/mouse and monitor is a must have accessory for any notebook, and they've never been cheaper.
 

24601

Golden Member
Jun 10, 2007
1,683
39
86
Partially disagree with the first premise, the well lit room. We seem in agreement the problem with dark rooms in that, when the monitor switches between bright and dark the iris has to adjust, which is tiring and a sudden switch to white screen can also be overwhelming, briefly blinding for the eye. A lit room avoids that by reducing the size of the pupil but it also may lead a person to increasing the glaring brightness of the monitor. So there is an optimisation problem here, darkness is bad but brighter lights aren't always better, there needs to be a certain - twilight - brightness of both ambient light and monitor. I too, use a dim light behind the monitor.

There are some common mistakes that can be avoided. People put their desks into bright rooms, in front of windows, where light and monitor either compete or even reflect on the monitor.
- Windows to the north create the smoothest lighting conditions.
- Put your desk into the middle of the room, with the monitor perpendicular (90°) to the window to avoid reflection and competing lighting.
- External keyboard/mouse and monitor is a must have accessory for any notebook, and they've never been cheaper.

Never mix light sources.
It's always better to have only a single, controlled light source.
Cut off outside light sources to negligible amounts.

Easy. I use a single ALZO 45w full spectrum 5500k bulb as close to the ceiling as I can get it, but without it being in front of or behind me.
I would use an ALZO 85w full spectrum 5500k bulb if the room was bigger.
 

tolis626

Senior member
Aug 25, 2013
399
0
76
Being 19 years old with perfect(-ish?) eyesight may make my opinion on the matter kinda wrong,but I would suggest a big monitor that sits as far away from your face as possible.I had been using my HP notebook for 3 years without an external monitor,and when I had to study or when I was doing stuff on the internet for long periods of time,my eyes would almost start tearing and that was the sign that I translated as "Stop it you idiot!".It's been a year since I bought my Philips HDTV (40") and I've been using it as a PC monitor and as a screen for my PS3 ever since.I have to say,I'd never used a PC for as many hours as I do now,and my eyes don't get tired at all.I'm just sitting at about 2.5 meters away from the screen.Only thing is that small text can get hard to read sometimes,but I don't mind and can always magnify.Also,I use it in the dark almost daily,using no other light but the screen.At this distance I'm ok.Any closer than 2 meters and it gets bad.Brightness is controlled automatically by the TV itself,but doesn't fluctuate much.It's always above 50% and usually close to maximum (When it is at maximum brightness,I can easily read a book in the same room without using lights.The room isn't the biggest,but the screen is very bright).
 

KingFatty

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2010
3,034
1
81
I would like to 2nd the idea of using an older monitor with a backlight that is not LED.
 

bystander36

Diamond Member
Apr 1, 2013
5,154
132
106
BenQ's new 144hz monitors also have a new feature called ZeroFlicker. I'm not sure how it achieves its feature, but it could also help a bit.
 

Sheep221

Golden Member
Oct 28, 2012
1,843
27
81
The utter most in reducing the eye strain is to have good ambient lighting in the room, don't work in complete dark and only screen on. Put some lamp behind the screen.
Some monitors have very sharp contrast transitions, this can be changed with pixel focus and pixel clock functions in the OSD.
Decrease brightness and contrast.
Have regular breaks and don't work in stress(stress is making your computer actual killer for the eyes).
 
Nov 19, 2011
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Best way to reduce eye strain is once you feel the fatigue or once every hour look at a far away object in your room and stair at it for 1 min and then proceed to what you where doing before.
 

Subyman

Moderator <br> VC&G Forum
Mar 18, 2005
7,876
32
86
A lot of great suggestions. I struggled with this issue when I started programming full-time. I made these adjustments and it eliminated eye strain and head aches:

1: I bought a quality monitor without PWM dimming. It is VERY hard to find specs for PWM dimming, but most LED monitors use PWM to quickly flicker the screen to dim it. You need to find one with either a very high frequency or that uses some other method. I found that the Viewsonic VP2770-LED does not use PWM and I have been very pleased with the monitor since I bought it.

2: Ambiant light. No dark room, hollywood hacker sessions. I use natural light during the day and incandescent light at night. It should light the entire room.

3: Look for an anti-glare monitor. The VP2770-LED fits this.

4: I spoke with my ophthalmologist about eye strain and she recommended either taking a break or at the very least, spend a few minutes every hour focusing on something far away. Every 15-30 minutes, I'll look out the window. This helps because your optical muscles must contract when viewing something close and relax when focusing far away. Giving them a break is a must.

5: Adjust your database/writing/coding program to use a darker background with light text or a yellowish background with medium-dark text. Play with the colors to find what best works for you. I tend to like dark navy blue with yellow text. A white background with dark text is a lot of light to be staring at for hours.

I hope these help. They worked for me. Lastly, if you are going to be doing a lot of work at a computer be sure to invest in a good chair. I bought a Steelcase Leap and totally eliminated back pain. Sometimes I stay in front of the computer too long because its so comfortable haha.
 

beginner99

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2009
5,208
1,580
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- turn down the brightness

- placement

Do not place the display so that you look outdoors because it will be to bright and result it constant eye strain. Look towards a dark area hence the brightness can be a lot lower. No directly sunlight on the display.

And yeah, too high PPI is an issue, especially something like 1080p on 15" laptop screens. I don't get that, at least in Windows where DPI scaling sucks. (Should supposedly change with 8.1).

IMHO the display brightness is the issue and with correct placement and a matte display you can greatly lower that.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
5: Adjust your database/writing/coding program to use a darker background with light text or a yellowish background with medium-dark text. Play with the colors to find what best works for you. I tend to like dark navy blue with yellow text. A white background with dark text is a lot of light to be staring at for hours.
Another good one. I typically use something like Zenburn, but with a darker BG color, or Obsidian.

And ugh, I do need a new chair. Mine was good for me when I got it, but it was already old, and now that it's had a 230lb man sitting in it for almost 10 years, instead of probably a <100lb secretary, it's toast :).
 

fixbsod

Senior member
Jan 25, 2012
415
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0
Cannot stress the importance of reg breaks every 30-45 mins. I also use eyedrops when they are feeling dry. My pref is refreshe tears.