Best Panel Type for Extensive Reading & Working ( Eye fatige)

Hi guys

I guess a lot of people are like me, facing the monitor for more than 6 hours per day.

Any studies or research or even personal feelings that which panel type are most easy on eyes?

I use to own a Dell 2407 PVA. I can say this one hurts my eyes.
I feel it's hard for my eyes to focus on the exact point where it should be.
I guess too many layers on top of the actual display film, and there are tiny small dots on the mat finish.

Any suggestions?

----------------------- Summary of Discussion ----------------------------------------

Budget suggestions:

Dell P2414H -
16:9, e-IPS, NO PWM, Height adjustable, USB 3.0 hub
Cons:glow and some BLB , 6bit

Benq BL2411PT
16:10, H-IPS, NO PWM, Height adjustable
Cons: No USB hub, 6bit

Benq BL2400PT
16:9, A-MVA, perfect for text, not good for graphics

Premium suggestions:

Dell UP2414Q
4K, NO PWM


Other suggestions:

Antec 6 Bias light kit that helped a lot with the crushing of a single light source from the monitor

Read on Non-Pentile Super AMOLED Plus tablet or phone

no one interested?

It's subjective...best advice

1-Avoid monitors which use LED PWM Dimming (Read about the side effects here)
2-Do not crank the brightness
3-Avoid monitors which use grainy matte coatings
4-Control the room lighting

You probably won't want to use a TN panel since they have have poor viewing angles. Recommendations are pointless without knowing the budget.

I'd say that the least eye fatiguing monitor I have ever used is my current desktop monitor, the Dell UP2414Q 24" 4K.

It is zero PWM IPS, has a wide range of brightness, it's AR film isn't grainy/sparkly, and it's 185 PPI makes for tremendous, high-end magazine like clarity and viewing pleasure at normal sitting distances. An absolute steal at it's current price of one grand. I paid $1,400 on release.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=860-BBCD

NCX said:

You probably won't want to use a TN panel since they have have poor viewing angles.

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My experience is that TN panels actually produce the crispest text. Text on the other two types of panels can have sort of an analog appearance due to the shape of the sub-pixels. VA panels are the worst in that regard I think, and are really more suited for videos and gaming.

I got the Dell P2414H and I'm very pleased with the way the text looks.
It's crystal clear, no convergence-like effect, no blur.

Here's a preview taken with an iphone4s:


Big photo here http://imgur.com/c3MCZiC

I'm on the similar boat. I was looking for pwm-free, easy to work on / eyes display for my kids. This morning I pulled the trigger (pending PM approval) on Benq BL2411PT (based on NCX recommendation, thanks for your help). I didn't want to deal with Dell in case of a problem. I'm not sure if the AG coating used on P/U2414H is better or not. Maybe someone can comment... From my understanding IPS PWM-FREE is the way to go for office/reading type of work.

The only screen i have ever been able to read on 100% comfortably is my 7.7" OLED samsung tablet.
I have read 100+ books on it, and it is better than paper. Always perfect lightning, no extra lightsource needed.
I often read in darkness with black background/green text.

Computer monitors - none so far.

Mike63 said:

My experience is that TN panels actually produce the crispest text. Text on the other two types of panels can have sort of an analog appearance due to the shape of the sub-pixels. VA panels are the worst in that regard I think, and are really more suited for videos and gaming.

Click to expand...

I agree

TN panels are good for text, but bad for color and viewing angle

Morkai said:

The only screen i have ever been able to read on 100% comfortably is my 7.7" OLED samsung tablet.
I have read 100+ books on it, and it is better than paper. Always perfect lightning, no extra lightsource needed.
I often read in darkness with black background/green text.

Computer monitors - none so far.

Click to expand...

might be subjective, but AMOLED are really reported to be really bad for reading.

especially pentile display

P2414H is amazing after some calibration. Zero eye fatigue with brightness below 40.

Murzilka said:

P2414H is amazing after some calibration. Zero eye fatigue with brightness below 40.

Click to expand...

I will second that. I spend at least 5 hours / day in front of the P2414H and I don't need my glasses anymore.

Sure it has a minus or two (glow and some BLB), but the pluses are many for a low budget IPS.

Get a Antec 6 Bias light kit that helped a lot with the crushing of a single light source from the monitor they really work plugs in USB.


http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Halo-LE...e=UTF8&qid=1392819864&sr=8-1&keywords=antec+6

Reduce sharpness setting on the monitor so everything is all jagged...

If you don't have a designated graphics card get a Nvidia card

Adjust the desktop setting with the card bright the brightness and and Contrast down to at least 35 percent along with the gamma.

I use all smaller 21.5 Asus monitors for everything PC wise anything bigger too much light comes in at a short distance.

Get a bigger desk like a drafting table that has a long Length by Width so you can place the monitor like 2 feet away from you or more.

http://www.draftingsteals.com/craft-tables.html


My last four monitors are all Asus and I had no problems with any of them I haven't tried a Dell since 2005 but I'm sure the quality has improved since then.

tetete said:

might be subjective, but AMOLED are really reported to be really bad for reading.

especially pentile display

Click to expand...

It does not use a pentile display, afaik. It is 100% perfect for reading in all lightning conditions.
It uses super amoled+ (they only used it in the limited production run of the original 7.7" (also has brushed metal body) i think, then changed to some IPS trash on the newer - was probably an experiment in ramping up production or something).

"From Samsung Mobile Display were quick to note that this move brought a 50% increase in subpixel count, making the images, and especially text on Super AMOLED Plus screens much more distinct. In fact, they just replaced the PenTile matrix with a normal RGB stripe one, and called it Real Stripe."

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Supe...AMOLED-to-the-PenTile-matrix-and-back_id18700

CYB34 said:

I will second that. I spend at least 5 hours / day in front of the P2414H and I don't need my glasses anymore.

Sure it has a minus or two (glow and some BLB), but the pluses are many for a low budget IPS.

Click to expand...

Exactly, yes. I could probably add that it is the most comfortable display for eyes I have ever used.

Thanks guys for suggesting on P2414H

Is there any other model from Dell are 1920x1200 with the same type of panel?

THX

Vega said:

I'd say that the least eye fatiguing monitor I have ever used is my current desktop monitor, the Dell UP2414Q 24" 4K.

It is zero PWM IPS, has a wide range of brightness, it's AR film isn't grainy/sparkly, and it's 185 PPI makes for tremendous, high-end magazine like clarity and viewing pleasure at normal sitting distances. An absolute steal at it's current price of one grand. I paid $1,400 on release.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=860-BBCD

Click to expand...

for Win8.1

DPI support is still not perfect.
I would wait, but this is the future.

The Dell P & U series have grainy coatings compared to PWM free models like the Eizo EV2336 and all of the 27" 2560x1440 PLS panels. The AH-IPS panels with semi-glossy (grain free matte) coatings tend to suffer from cross-hatching and models like the U2413H and PA249Q are a waste of money since they are meant for those who need wide gamut support.

NCX said:

The Dell P & U series have grainy coatings compared to PWM free models like the Eizo EV2336 and all of the 27" 2560x1440 PLS panels. The AH-IPS panels with semi-glossy (grain free matte) coatings tend to suffer from cross-hatching and models like the U2413H and PA249Q are a waste of money since they are meant for those who need wide gamut support.

Click to expand...

So, you mean if money is not a issue, U2413H and PA249Q are very good choice for both PWM free, grain free, and good color range ?

Extended color spaces (wide gamut) are useless for reading. If money is not an issue you should buy a BenQ BL2710PT or Viewsonic VP2770 since both are PWM free and use grain free semi-glossy coatings and are not that much more expensive than the wide gamut, semi-glossy 1920x1200 monitors

Threads like this are pointless unless you provide a budget. Many people make similar threads and say money isn't a problem but buy the cheapest initial pick anyway after wasting peoples time asking about more expensive monitors they couldn't be bothered to Google.

NCX said:

Extended color spaces (wide gamut) are useless for reading. If money is not an issue you should buy a BenQ BL2710PT or Viewsonic VP2770 since both are PWM free and use grain free semi-glossy coatings and are not that much more expensive than the wide gamut, semi-glossy 1920x1200 monitors

Threads like this are pointless unless you provide a budget. Many people make similar threads and say money isn't a problem but buy the cheapest initial pick anyway after wasting peoples time asking about more expensive monitors they couldn't be bothered to Google.

Click to expand...

I started this thread mainly to gathering information for people that have concern about long term monitor usage.

I personally will get the BenQ BL2411PT

Whoever says that IPS is good for reading really needs to use a AMA-VA panel from benq.

IPS is the panel with less trasnparent interface, hence the panel taht requires stronger backlight.
stronger backlight equals eyeblazing whites and poor contrast.
poor contrast equals eye fatigue.

About glossy/matte: glossy is great if you can control the ambient light and avoid reflections on screen, otherwise the refelctions will amke reading even harder.
heavy grainy matte cots in below 1440p displays are a no-no as the thread starter claims. Semi-gloss or semi-matte screens are a compromise that usually pays off. I gravitate towards minimal/no reflection screens and as most persons, i prefer higher contrast over higher brightness when reading.

The perrfect reading monitor would be a semi-glossy AMA-VA panel with a presence sensor to remember you to rest your eyes time and again. The BenQ BL2400PT on my signature was hijacked by my wife for her master degree thesis and will now face another 3 years on her doctorade, and no, we will never use an IPS panel for reading.

Once in a while she borrows my seiki 4k 39", but the reflections on screen kind of defeat the the bigger desktop area for working and the low PPI does not makes the reading experience essentially better than on the BL2400PT.

tetete said:

I guess a lot of people are like me, facing the monitor for more than 6 hours per day.

Click to expand...

Make sure you take a break of at least 5 minutes every hour. Not a break from work but a break from staring at the screen. Maybe you can make tea for the team or maybe you can do some filing, but you should do something to change the distance at which your eyes focus. And don't work over lunch.

geok1ng said:

Whoever says that IPS is good for reading really needs to use a AMA-VA panel from benq.

IPS is the panel with less trasnparent interface, hence the panel taht requires stronger backlight.
stronger backlight equals eyeblazing whites and poor contrast.
poor contrast equals eye fatigue.

About glossy/matte: glossy is great if you can control the ambient light and avoid reflections on screen, otherwise the refelctions will amke reading even harder.
heavy grainy matte cots in below 1440p displays are a no-no as the thread starter claims. Semi-gloss or semi-matte screens are a compromise that usually pays off. I gravitate towards minimal/no reflection screens and as most persons, i prefer higher contrast over higher brightness when reading.

The perrfect reading monitor would be a semi-glossy AMA-VA panel with a presence sensor to remember you to rest your eyes time and again. The BenQ BL2400PT on my signature was hijacked by my wife for her master degree thesis and will now face another 3 years on her doctorade, and no, we will never use an IPS panel for reading.

Once in a while she borrows my seiki 4k 39", but the reflections on screen kind of defeat the the bigger desktop area for working and the low PPI does not makes the reading experience essentially better than on the BL2400PT.

Click to expand...

WTF is AMA-VA? You mean A-MVA?
Text rendering has more to do with the pixel alignment, rather than the black level of the screen.

CYB34 said:

Text rendering has more to do with the pixel alignment, rather than the black level of the screen.

Click to expand...

feel free to read white text over light gray if that turns you on , most people like reading white text over true black or true black text over white. As far as pixel alignment goes, a 30s setup of a cleartype config utility would help on the rare non-RGB panels. NONE of the monitors mentioned here use a pixel order other than RGB, AFAIK, but it is usual to change the debate to irrelevant points when you do not feel like conceding an argument.

As XKCD said, dear god i would like to file a bug report.

Mike63 said:

My experience is that TN panels actually produce the crispest text. Text on the other two types of panels can have sort of an analog appearance due to the shape of the sub-pixels. VA panels are the worst in that regard I think, and are really more suited for videos and gaming.

Click to expand...

I tried va panels, nice black levels but too much gamma shift, I hated the no shadow detail, and they were 1080p. viewsonic is a great option vp2770 2560 x 1440 res, confirmed no pwm used

The best monitors I have come across for reading text are the NEC medical-grade LCDs. Visit your friendly neighbourhood radiology department and take a look at one of those. I wanted to buy the 21" grayscale model after working with one - only to find out that it costs $14,000.

geok1ng said:

Whoever says that IPS is good for reading really needs to use a AMA-VA panel from benq.

Click to expand...

I have a BenQ GW2255, and I don't find it all that satisfactory for reading. It has a very obvious viewing cone, which isn't mitigated by the low black level. I also have a Dell S2440L, which has a somewhat less obvious viewing cone, but text on it looks fairly blurry. This is due I would guess to the panel type combined with the large screen size. Text on both has a decidedly analog appearance, and I actually prefer reading on my old HP 2338h. Admittedly, TN panels are bad for everything EXCEPT reading and maybe twitch games.

geok1ng said:

feel free to read white text over light gray if that turns you on , most people like reading white text over true black or true black text over white. As far as pixel alignment goes, a 30s setup of a cleartype config utility would help on the rare non-RGB panels. NONE of the monitors mentioned here use a pixel order other than RGB, AFAIK, but it is usual to change the debate to irrelevant points when you do not feel like conceding an argument.

As XKCD said, dear god i would like to file a bug report.

Click to expand...

You might want to file that bug report and get yourself informed on pixel alignment and reported fuzzyness of text on most VA panels.



"Most people like..." what kind of argument is that?

CYB34 said:

You might want to file that bug report and get yourself informed on pixel alignment and reported fuzzyness of text on most VA panels.

Click to expand...

please compare apple to apples, not grainy anti reflective coating vs glossy. Too bad for your argument that i happen to have in home quite a few panel types: a high grade IPS, a LED TN, an LCD VA, 2 high grade LED VAs and a plasma, so no amount of trolling would make any sane person choose an eyeblazing+low contrast IPS over a perfect black+ high contrast VA

Just put a modern VA panel side by side to a TN or IPS and ask people to choose one for reading.
Black crushing is a non-issue for reading. Horizontal gamma shifting is a non-issue for reading. Modern VAs do less gamma shifting, we are in 2014, samsung gave up on the crappy low cost VAs and AU optronics left PVA behing for AMVA. Even back in 2007 my old Acer 26" VA was better for reading than the Apple 30". The Bl2400PT is neck and shoulders above competition among "working" monitors.

I was once a IPS fanboy. Thanks to the market forces my complains were heard and now we have VA panels with better response times and less black crushing. Outside professional photography, VA panels rule:

best all-around monitor: Seiki 39" 4k- 12bit panel, 4k resolution for working, true 120hz 1080p gaming.
best working monitor: Benq BL2400PT: true 2500:1 static contrast + presence sensor to force the worker to rest the eyes.
best gaming monitor: Eizo Foris FG2421: 120hz VA with strobe backlight.

haters will hate, Smart people will order one of these, test and return if not happy. For me IPS can go the way of the dodo.

I think VA vs IPS is pointless... everyone is different and has different eye sensitivity.
I'm IPS fanboy and I never had any issues reading on IPS based displays....

None of the technologies are perfect...

IMHO the key is to lower brightness, take often breaks and have PWM free (for thoese sentivite) display...

tetete said:

I use to own a Dell 2407 PVA. I can say this one hurts my eyes.
I feel it's hard for my eyes to focus on the exact point where it should be.

Click to expand...

I have the same experience with AMVA panels. Focus problems. On the other hand it doesent hurt my eyes or tire my eyes. Its like the focus point ends up behind the screen. I think its similar to what happens when I (used to) view CRTs. So it works for me.

IPS and TN are fairly equal when it comes to focusing, but TNs have alot more gamma shifting going on whenever your head moves which makes it a litte more annoying for reading.

Some would say that 8-bit panels are better than 6-bit for text stability, but I cant really tell the difference myself. I've had some issues with inversion on certain older TN panels that hurt my eyes, though.

CYB34 said:

Click to expand...

Previous AMVA generation had no pixel layout problems like that. Latest AMVA are cut in half at lower brightness but they're still not as bad as shown in that image. However, one can still see some issues with rounded edges and such when truetype is on. Not sure if it affects eye-fatigue or not, though.

Edit: By "truetype" I obviously mean cleartype. Although you have to use a truetype font for cleartype to work, I guess.

geok1ng said:

best all-around monitor: Seiki 39" 4k- 12bit panel, 4k resolution for working, true 120hz 1080p gaming.
best working monitor: Benq BL2400PT: true 2500:1 static contrast + presence sensor to force the worker to rest the eyes.
best gaming monitor: Eizo Foris FG2421: 120hz VA with strobe backlight.

Click to expand...

WOW, SE39UY04 is only $599, is it that nice?

for BL2400PT, does it has a newer version or 1200p version? it' hard to find anywhere

I do a lot of text work and like my
Samsung S27A850D

I brought the BL2411PT today.

reason being it's easy to find at the place I live, relatively low in price, and more all around in functions.

The only problem so far is, the stand can't go as low as the Dell stand....

The top edge of the monitor is noticeably higher than my eye

I might brought a Arm for it later.

tetete said:

WOW, SE39UY04 is only $599, is it that nice?

for BL2400PT, does it has a newer version or 1200p version? it' hard to find anywhere

Click to expand...

The BL2400PT was a corporate monitor, not easy to find on retailers.Its true sucessor was the 2410, NOT the 2411 ( low contrast IPS). They still sell the 2410 in North America

Home users can get a similar panel on the Benq GW 2x50 / GW2x60 (HM). There is a whole thread here on these Monitors. But you will lose the pivoting-to-portrait stand and sensor presence of the BL2410PT.