LCD monitors and eye damage

[dirtydog]

Could someone reassure me that this article is nonsense? Or is it correct?

It is a myth that LCDs are better for your eyes. The reason why many people have problems with eyestrain on their CRTs is mainly because the refresh rate is lower than 100 Hertz.

LCDs actually create another problem. LCDs usually have a fluorescent backlight. Fluorescent lights both emit UV rays and HEV (high energy violet) rays.

If say you put a glass monitor filter over your LCD, it may help to absorb some of this UV, as glass has the property to absorb UV rays.

As for HEV, which is also known as "blue light," there is technology now used for sunglasses that is called melanin. This is the same pigment found in your eyes that protects you from "blue light," but which decreases with age and children have not fully developed their eyes, so it may be a good idea that manufacturers should start coating all their LCDs aimed at young kids and aging adults with a melanin coating. LCDs are used in iMacs, iPods, digital cameras and cell phones.

There is a convincing body of research that shows that blue light does damage the eyes and nowadays we are exposing ourselves to very high amounts of blue light, which significantly accounts for the increase in macular denegeration.

This is a very serious issue that manufacturers of LCD-based products need to consider very seriously.

Reference Reading: http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?type=article&article_id=218392616

http://interface.blog.com/LCDs+and+Eye+Damage/

Do LCD monitors emit UV radiation? I tried to find mention of UV radiation in the TCO 99 specifications but it didn't seem to mention it.

 

[dirtydog]

Its not the technology itself thats the problem, stare at anything bright for a long period of time and its bound to cause problems.

At least an lcd is only like stareing at a set of cathodes, rather than firing particles at your face like a crt.

It isn't the brightness that is the problem per se, it's the radiation apparently - at least on LCDs without a glass screen which is most of them. If it does emit UV light then in theory it would lead to cataracts in later life, just as cumulative exposure to sunlight does. Also as fluorescent lights do, but you don't sit staring at them for hours a day, from one foot away...

CRT monitors do not emit the same sort of radiation.

 

[dirtydog]

I just hope that these monitors aren't like cigarettes used to be. ie. they were considered safe at the time but decades later we recognise them as a health hazard. I guess we won't know for many years, probably decades because any damage will take that long to become apparent.

 

[dirtydog]

if there was something wrong like fags we would know because this is 2006 not 1950 lol

I'm not sure I quite share your confidence about that The point is that any ill effects would take many years to become apparent. Like with smoking or in more recent times, BSE and CJD (which we still don't know the full impact of because not enough time has passed yet).