LCD monitors are making me blind!!

cumulusjames

cumulusjames

cumulusjames

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I have been using LCD monitors for just over 5 years and my vision gets significantly worse year on year. My optitian told me it was due to spending so much time at the computer screen. But I have just gotten a beter monitor than the one I had and though the picture is good it REALLY hurts my eyes and gives me a headache.

Does anyone else have a hard time with LCD monitors? Even if they are good ones?
 
As above, it's most likely the brightness that's hurting your eyes so tone it down and try and sit further from the screen. How much time do you spend in front of the monitor roughly?
 
I've only had this with my TV, but that was in the evenings and in the dark, which is pretty obvious really/ What I did was buy some ambient backlighting, so there's no glare on the screen but the overall environment is brighter (improves perceived contrast and black levels too!). I guess with LCDs you want to have well lit surroundings, don't forget to blink and remember some of them are waaaaaay too bright and need to be dimmed a bit.
 
Another vote for turn the brightness down and perhaps sit a little further back. Try taking some breaks too rather than sat there for hours.
 
I've also noticed my vision began to deteriorate quickly after switching to an lcd screen a few years ago. I just assumed it was old age creeping up on me but i do remember getting sore eyes at first.
 
FishPolice said:
I've also noticed my vision began to deteriorate quickly after switching to an lcd screen a few years ago. I just assumed it was old age creeping up on me but i do remember getting sore eyes at first.
Click to expand...

See its not just me! The optician was right. Powereful jedi she is.

It seems to me to get a monitor that is easy on the eyes when using the web and great when watching films or viewing photos and graphics is a tall order. You need a brightness whith other media. I think websites should stop haveing pure white backrounds which would help.

Didant they used to make anti glare filter things? I remeber them years ago but I have not seen anything like that recently.
 
They were anti-radiation filters. Most LCD monitors have anti-glare filters built in (a 'matte screen' as it is commonly called). I'm not saying she's wrong, but it is easy to jump to the wrong conclusion here. Vision can deteriorate for a whole host of reasons - most of which are beyond your control and not related to lifestyle factors. Whilst I'm sure it is important for you to do everything in your power to prevent further deterioration just remember not to blame yourself or your lifestyle as that's just the easy thing to do. Most ophthalmologists will agree though that it is good to take breaks from your computer every now and then and don't sit too close to the screen if possible (over 45cm should be ok for most monitors). Even if it's just a 10-15 minute break every couple of hours it really can help. This applies to any screen and non-emitting devices too. Even frequently staring at a book for too long or staying outside in bright broad daylight is just as likely to 'damage' your eyes. These activities are all more likely to 'tire' the eyes rather than cause any physical damage - this is something that can be alleviated by 'taking a break' and is not a permanent thing.
 
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If you use your PC in the evening or at night, then I thoroughly recommend this little program called F.lux, I'm sure it's been mentioned on this forum before:
http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/.
When I first installed it, I suddenly felt all the muscles around my eyes relax, amazing!

Also a good routine to remember is the 20-20-20 rule.
Every 20 minutes of staring at your monitor, look away for 20 seconds, at something at least 20 feet away.
Since I started doing that, my eyesight seems to have stabilized.
I use a program called Egg Timer Plus to alert me every 20 minutes :P
http://www.sardinesoftware.com/eggtimerplus.php

This is what you are experiencing if you weren't aware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_vision_syndrome


Hope some of that is helpful :)
 
Even on my new CCFL monitor I have the brightness at about half. I've been staring at LCDs for years and my vision isn't as perfect as it was, but it's not bad at all. No need for glasses or anything yet. I figured I was just getting old.

These new LED monitors are so crazy bright, you have to be careful, especially in a dark room.
 
well my desk is by the door that opens into the kitchen, the kitchen has a window with stuff going on outside. My tv is right over the other side of the room to my left, I do not like the quiet. The window on my right is where the cats come in and out of. So I have plenty of places to look and I look away from teh screen lots.

What bought on this thread is that I bought a new monitor - ProLite E2208hds and though it has a great picture it has really given me gipp. I kinda noticed a strain on my eyes with the old one but only over a long time. 5 ins on this thing my eyes are streest and i have a headache. Yet is has such a good picture!

But when the trade off is that you'll be blind with a brain tumour in 6 months lol.....
 
Drum2 said:
If you use your PC in the evening or at night, then I thoroughly recommend this little program called F.lux, I'm sure it's been mentioned on this forum before:
http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/.
When I first installed it, I suddenly felt all the muscles around my eyes relax, amazing!

Also a good routine to remember is the 20-20-20 rule.
Every 20 minutes of staring at your monitor, look away for 20 seconds, at something at least 20 feet away.
Since I started doing that, my eyesight seems to have stabilized.
I use a program called Egg Timer Plus to alert me every 20 minutes :P
http://www.sardinesoftware.com/eggtimerplus.php

This is what you are experiencing if you weren't aware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_vision_syndrome


Hope some of that is helpful :)
Click to expand...


Yeah. I use Flux on my Mac. Brightness on lowest is still too bright for me.
 
MikeHunt79 said:
Strange, maybe the newer screens don't dim as much as the older screens, maybe because of the LED backlight?
Click to expand...

It's only still too bright late at night when the room is dark. Normally it's at 3 or 4 maybe a bit more if the room is brighter -- the screen goes to insanely bright levels when maxed.

I have an X31 IBM and that dims quite a bit lower than the mac does.
 
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