Screens at work

mrk said:
16:9? No. That's an aspect ratio ideal for watching TV and movies on, not doing office work on. At the least a 16:10 screen is needed and not a cheap TN panel one either which a lot of IT departments will buy because they're cheap.

Doesn't have to be 75Hz either, 60Hz is just fine but screens should be properly configured with optimal brightness and colour settings in relation to the office lighting they're used in to avoid fatigue or worse.
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I meant 16.9 as in Widescreen to simplify things, most people refer to 16.9 as Widescreen without bogged down with technical specifics, point being he needs bigger more up to date monitors for constantly working every day :)
 
If one is all that's needed then that's ok. Too much light can also cause headaches.

Fluorescent lights I think have a similar effect to the refresh rate on monitors in that the flicker is perceivable by some people and headaches have been reported.

Your monitors are setup to take up most of your front-facing field of view. You may not be spending enough time focusing on things that are further away.
 
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I can get a glimpse of all 11 lights in the office from where I'm sitting. And then also a 27" monitor which is blasting a green circle on a white background facing directly at me, as well as light coming from outside.


Do you think light is the issue here combined with the crappy aspect ratio of the monitors?
 
BoonMonkey said:
Every light in the office consists of 1 fluorescent tube (Instead of the 2 they take), does that often cause issues?
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Some people can see the flicker and don't like the style of light they give off, monitor glare is also a major cause.

Few years back i was getting migraines at work, i moved all reflective objects, i.e. turn phone over so light can't bounce off into my eyes and got work to change some bulbs for soft light philips ones.

So far so good.
 
I've had various H&S ergonomic assessments over the years and even now I get headaches but much better than they used to be. Things I found that have worked for me are:

- drink plenty of water (sounds silly in relation to staring at a screen but it does help)
- check posture and position of monitor/keyboard/mouse. You shouldn't have to tilt your head down to view the screen.
- chair, just make sure you have a good chair and even one of those foot rests which helps take the pressure off your neck/back
- regular breaks and go outside for an hour at lunch if you can, go for a walk or just 10 minutes in the fresh air.

I would absolutely ask your work to arrange an ergonomic assessment as there is nothing worse than suffering physically at work.

We have 24" widescreens at work (helps when I can decide what we buy!) and really made a difference. At least there are no CRT's at my work now, those were absolutely terrible for me - in my peripheral vision I felt so ill with them flickering away.

I sympathise with you OP, hope you get it sorted but don't ignore it.
 
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In relation to drinking water... It does in fact seem to be that it has gotten a LOT worse since I've been drinking less water. I used to sit right next to the cooler so drank it all the time, and then I moved half way across the room and drank it less. I now sit at the completely opposite side of the room to the cooler and drink water much much less. I'll bear that in mind.


I'll also try and go out as often as I can at lunch time. :)
 
BoonMonkey said:
In relation to drinking water... It does in fact seem to be that it has gotten a LOT worse since I've been drinking less water. I used to sit right next to the cooler so drank it all the time, and then I moved half way across the room and drank it less. I now sit at the completely opposite side of the room to the cooler and drink water much much less. I'll bear that in mind.
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My chiropractor told me that dehydration makes a huge difference when sat in an office all day. I'm terrible for drinking water (just have 6-7 cups of tea a day) but really notice a difference when I'm better hydrated.

A colleague used to have a 1.5L bottle of water on her desk and she made herself drink it all throughout the day and it helped her headaches and backache no end.
 
BoonMonkey said:
I'm 19, I best not be a knackered old goat! :(


Yeah, staring at a screen for 8 hours a day at work and then up to another 7 when I get home. However when I'm at home my eyes don't hurt in the slightest.

Optician said my eyes are perfect, both vision wise and health wise. Nothing to worry about at all.
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You can get Nikon lenses (without prescription if not needed) that are designed to filter light in a certain way to reduce VDU fatigue. Might be worth looking into those?
 
BoonMonkey said:
I can get a glimpse of all 11 lights in the office from where I'm sitting. And then also a 27" monitor which is blasting a green circle on a white background facing directly at me, as well as light coming from outside.


Do you think light is the issue here combined with the crappy aspect ratio of the monitors?
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the monitor aspect ratio is completely irrelevant. old crappy monitors get blurry and your eyes try to compensate, giving you a headache. just get new monitors and it'll be fine.

also, another couple of items to check:
1. ensure the monitors are actually securely plugged in
2. ensure that they're running at their native resolution

B@
 
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Seeing as you're not actually using CRTs then it's not going to be the refresh rate and prolly nothing to do with either monitor.

More likely to be the glare from the window coupled with the overhead lighting. You might want to re-position yourself/desk so you're facing away from the window or something.

Last office I worked in had crap lighting AND no A/C! My head was always bouncing by the end of the day.
 
Right! So just an update on this if anyones interested.


I swapped monitors and the problem still persisted and even got worse. Started getting it bad at home as well. One of my friends suggested f.lux, which helped to an extent but I was still getting it quite bad.

Mentioned that it was not getting any better to my manager at work and showed them the Gunnar glasses, said I thought it was a bit of a gimmick really but could help. They agreed to purchase some for me.

Went for the PPK edition in onyx/mercury and they actually really do help. Been using them at home and at work and I've not had blurry vision or headaches at all. My eyes do not feel strained in the slightest. They've really been a great help!

Just need to get used to the feel of glasses as it's currently an alien feeling to me!
 
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