Eye strain while gaming fatigue PWM

I have a major problem and want some feedback from the beloved [H] family.

I can no longer play computer games without major eye strain.

Over the past 20 years I have had my fair share of time spent fragging. As time has gone on I have continued to upgrade my equipment to stay competitive. I noticed about 10 years ago that lcd monitors that used pulse width modulation (PWM) would cause dizziness/fatigue AFTER an hour session of gaming. I would literally have to lay down to avoid getting a pounding headache. I didn’t get sick while playing, only after. I also didn’t get sick in normal desktop applications. Since then I have specifically purchased monitors that advertised not using PWM and are considered “flicker free”. I could game without getting dizzy.

Fast forward to 2019 and I cannot game without major eye strain. Further it doesn’t matter the game. From Fortnite to Overwatch and Minion Masters, when I play my eyes get blood shot and I cannot sleep at night. If I play during the day then I become a tired zombie that evening. If I play in the evening then I lay awake in bed for hours and once I finally fall asleep it isn’t REM sleep. It is not uncommon in nights that I play that I wake up a dozen times in the middle of the night more or less wide awake. Needless to say I have quit gaming until I find a solution because sleep is too important.

I have tried:
Changing from a 240hz 1ms monitor to a 144hz monitor. Both are PWM free.
Changing from 144hz to 120hz also flicker free.
Changing contrast and brightness.
Only game while wearing Gunnar optics glasses.
Tried gaming during day instead of at night.
Tried different games also admittedly games I enjoy/try are fast paced.
10 minute breaks every 30 min of play.
Read physical book at night before bed after gaming.

None of the above has even helped with the fatigue and inability to sleep well.

Within 30 to 40 minutes I can see, visually, in the mirror, the beginning of some bloodshot eyes. Even when I game for 2 hours straight my eyes are not completely blood shot or anything, there is usually just one dark red line from the center of nose area to the eye.

it may help to note that I am on the computer during the day in desktop applications and I have even tested using some of these “gaming monitors” for work and i am totally fine. It is the actual gaming causing the fatigue.

Please help me figure this out. I have concluded it may just be age but I don’t want to give up gaming at such a young age!

The only thing I can say about the fatigue issue, is to make sure you don't consume more than 150mg of caffeine per day. Secondly, take up working out heavily. I'm a massive insomniac and that puts me out. Even after a year of solid training, as long as you keep up the intensity, it still works. When your muscles are all fatigued, your body won't let you continue to stay awake.

Are you blinking enough? that is the biggest cause of eye strain for all of us sitting in front of screens. Could be as well from being at work all day in front of a screen and then coming home, your pushing your eyes too far.

FYI any "blue coating" glasses are a sham and do nothing, there is zero scientific proof backing the whole "blue light damages your eyes!"

^^ Like he said. Blink.

Sounds retarded and assholish but the fact remains that when somebody is engrossed into the game they forget to blink and the rest is history.

It sounds obvious and simple, but it's important also to stay hydrated with water, not tea or soda or energy drinks. It's amazing how many people manage to function on the edge of dehydration and wonder why they feel like crap.

DrLobotomy said:

^^ Like he said. Blink.

Sounds retarded and assholish but the fact remains that when somebody is engrossed into the game they forget to blink and the rest is history.

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Yep, I have fallen into that trap before too. I had to manually remind myself to blink a lot at times.

As has been said, blink. And yes, taking a break after an hour (or more realistically, two) does actually help.

Comixbooks said:

Use a Massage pillow a flexible one on the sides of your temple back of the neck connected to the skull and around the eyes.I took away my overhead Incandesant lamp but I think that did more harm than good.So I'm back using my lamp that is about 2 5. feet above the desk. I get eyestrain worse than all of you because of the lighting at Walmart suffered for 22 years. a massage pillow really works to loosen up the eye muscles. I spent the night on my back at work getting like 100 cans of soda from under the shelves they were all mixed up and leaking all over the place with glass and beer cans were even mixed in with 2 liter bottles.

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I’m not following what you are recommending.

I haven’t thought about the blinking as a potential cause. I’ll try that.

If you live in a cold climate winter is punishingly dry and causes eye irritation through dryness compounded by not blinking.
A humidifier helps a bit but the other advice also applies .
I would also break eyesight from the screen very frequently- 15 minutes of staring at the screen straight with a fixed focal distance after you cross ~35 is very fatiguing. Look around take a break before getting back to it.

You suspect PWM but did you ever had eye strain when playing games on CRT? Those are like worst PWM-like offenders out there but also have virtually no motion blur.
Motion blur can cause eye strain when you try to overcompensate by straining your eye muscles to refocus and see sharp image. I would even say that all eye strain is caused by people trying to see image sharper than can be seen. Just move window around desktop and try to still read text and you will experience eye strain. Do the same on strobed display that have strobing pulses synchronized to refresh rate and you will be easily able to read everything with no eye strain. On monitors with very strong PWM but not synchronized (eg. strobed display when framerate does not match PWM refresh) text will be very hard to read but eye will still be able to at least find and focus on sharp images.

If that is the case then one solution would be to use strobed monitor like eg. with ULMB tech and run game at the same frame rate as refresh rate v-synced. There will be even variable refresh rate monitors with strobing which is something I am excited about.

Other would be to unlearn focusing on moving images. Simply put when you move eyes across the screen completely stop any attempt at seeing anything. Virtually disable sight. This will stop you from trying to focus. Eyes will still pick up light and see but won't try to focus. It is not like this will cause more blurry image because it is already blurry as hell on sample and hold display. It will just make what you see more in line with what is expected when not focusing. It will also give eye muscles a moment to relax. I operate my sight this way and I never experience any eye strain. When you do not try to see moving images eyes will still pick up where something is moving across your whole field of vision so nothing is lost.

I would disagree, unless playing on an interlaced or sub-60hz CRT. A progressive scan line display (CRT) is pretty easy on the eyes at 60hz due to the way it 'wipes' each frame psycho-visually. A TV, on the other hand is interlaced and slightly more prone to perceivable flicker.
Also I suspect your eyes were younger when you used a CRT. You get more visual fatigue as you get older for a variety of reasons.

Buy a monitor that has a blue light filter for night use. Blue light can interrupt your circadian rhythm even if there's no evidence it causes harm. Stop using the PC 2-3 hours before bed time and take breaks every 20 minutes for half a minute.

5150Joker said:

Buy a monitor that has a blue light filter for night use. Blue light can interrupt your circadian rhythm even if there's no evidence it causes harm. Stop using the PC 2-3 hours before bed time and take breaks every 20 minutes for half a minute.

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That is true, blue light is shown to effect your sleep pattern.

I know I'm an archaeologist digging up this topic, but did you somehow manage to solve this problem?I've had the same problem for some time (about a year) and I can't find anything that would help me

I use two monitors 60hz led 21.5 on very low brightness and my Oled 27 inch lg for gaming with vesa stand eye level with Adaptive sync off.
Adaptive Sync just gives me strain for some reason.

I use a ice pack over my entire head sometimes after work they sell them on amazon that works wonders. Don't buy a eyeball massager like Renpo causes blindness or in my case vision was blurry. Tossed it in the garbage.

I've been spending more time on my PC the last 3 days found that eyestrain at work Drastically has gone done from using my Cellphone as a crutch.
Along with my using Yoga routine and supplements.

Pum909 said:

I know I'm an archaeologist digging up this topic, but did you somehow manage to solve this problem?I've had the same problem for some time (about a year) and I can't find anything that would help me

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bias lighting is supposed to help, ie light behind the tv/monitor

Getting glasses helped me with my eye strain. I didnt even think i needed glasses but apparently i squinted alot and it caused eye strain.

I can't use Monitors or TVs with VA panels. My eyes hurt within about 20 minutes of using them. I have confirmed this on a few different TVs and monitors, confirmed with VA panels.

I can look at IPS all day.

I have an OLED on the way. We will see how that goes!

motqalden said:

Getting glasses helped me with my eye strain. I didnt even think i needed glasses but apparently i squinted alot and it caused eye strain.

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This is the first thing you should try. Pretty much everyone needs glasses eventually. You might have perfect vision until you're 40 or 50 or whatever, but if you don't die young eventually your eyes are going to get old and you'll need glasses. Or you might need them at 30 or 25. I'm 47 and don't need them for the computer yet (unless I'm building a rig), but I got prescription glasses for driving 5 years ago. My medium range vision is still sharp, like 20/20 from 2' to 20', but longer range and very short range is not so good. Street sign a block away? I can't read it without my glasses. 43" 4k monitor? I can see individual pixels at 2' or so. Closer than that and my eyes can't focus. At some point I'm going to need glasses for the computer, and it's probably not far off.