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LCD Eye Strain

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Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 22, 2003
Messages
119
Been using 21" CRTs @ 100hz for like 10 years. Have used LCDS for short periods (ie laptop, wifes computer) Just bought a Samsung 20 LCD to use as my 2ndary to new West 37 on its way.

Now have about 8 hours use on the Samsung and my eyes are burning. Ive tried adjusting brightness / contrast levels, I think i have it now better than when i started but is there a procedure i should be following? I look next to me and have 21" 1280x1024 @100hz running and everyhging looks fine, come back to the LCD it looks VERY Bright and on pages with white backgrounds txt looks a bit blurry.

Samsung 206BW 1680x1050 @ 60hz

Any insight would be appreciated.
 
You should use DVI if you aren't already. Try turning the brightness and contrast all the way down and adjusting the color temperature. I think most people use 6500K. LCDs are meant to be used in bright rooms. It's hard moving from CRTs to LCDs because of the pixellation of text but you'll eventually get use to it. Your manual will suggest a viewing distance to reduce the effect of pixellation.
 
am using dvi, have adjusted it some, couldnt find any information on pixellation in the manual.
 
right click desktop, properties, appearance, change font size to arial. That should help some.
 
Regarding "pixelation" he was roughly implying the manual will suggest a comfortable sitting distance to use the monitor "optimally". I doubt it will get into detail of what he was talking about... ...which was more or less saying that if you are too close to see the actual pixels, you're too close. I believe that's what that was all about.

I am no expert on LCD eye strain and what have you but I use to own a 19" Hyundai L90D+ LCD monitor, coming from a CRT, and was perfectly fine. Now that I have moved from my Hyundai to a Samsung 226BW I slowly get headaches from long periods of time, which I never got before. I would also get the "AHH MY EYES 'R BURN'N" feeling too. Long story short I always have my room nice and lit now so I can adjust to the different brightness and the way the monitor draws the screen. Eventually I expect my eyes will fizzle enough to where I can go back to the nice bat cave experience at nights.

It's just something your eyes will adapt over time. Do you wear glasses or ever put someone elses on? Your eyes tell your brain, "Hey uh, this isn't right." and the pain slowly ensues. But, over time, you adjust and adapt to them and you soon forget they are even on your nose.

A LCD monitor draws the screen differently than a CRT, obviously. A CRT refreshes the screen, "line by line", over and over again, 100 times a second (in your case). Now you're going to a completely different way the screen is drawn and your eyes are sensitive enough to know this and is telling your brain, "Wait a second Doc..."

There are ways to lesson this by changing your brightness / contrast which you have already done... but I recommend sitting in your room with it lit to where the screen is burning a hole into your eyes immediately and let yourself adjust to it.

$0.02
 
Funny, I have the exact opposite of the OP.

My eyes burn like no tomorrow on CRTs. I cannot stand them, I have to work on them sometimes and it just sucks. LCDs are so much easier on my eyes at least. I guess you get used to one or the other, but CRTs I always see flickr or just general strain and yes I have used all sorts, all sizes, etc. Not to mention the fact that everything seems blurry on CRTs to me, thats what you get for using LCDs mainly day in and day out I guess :p
 
I've also had a problem with eyestrain on recently purchased lcds. But I used laptops and a Silicon Graphics 1600SW for years with little or no problem. That suggests one factor may be lcd dot pitch.

Reducing brightness may help some - most lcds seem to be a lot brighter than necessary by default. I think anti-glare coating may be another factor. I really dislike the murkiness and shimmering effect of some displays. Sitting farther away makes this less obvious.

I'm beginning to wonder if some people are bothered by the 60 hz lcd refresh. Later this year we may begin to see 100 hz displays, though I guess they'll be expensive.

Good luck! Let us know if you find something that helps.
 
Has anyone noticed different eye-strain levels with different panel types? (PVA vs MVA vs TN vs SIPS, etc...)

I have had the same problem on a Sceptre 20" that I think is an MVA or PVA... If I knew that something like a SIPS panel would reduce the eye strain, I'd shell out the extra cash to get one.

:confused:
 
Its either A: you dont have your image sharpness turned up, or B: your sitting to close to the monitor. The closer to the monitor you sit you need to turn the sharpness up. I sit about 1 1/2 feet away from my monitor and when i first got it my eyes straned pretty bad, then i turned up the image sharpness its been awesome ever since. And LCD is alot different from CRT, just give your eyes time to get used to the new screen.
 
I always had the same problem as the OP, but switching to a brighter, glossy LCD has helped me a little bit. I haven't gotten too deep into configuring it, though.
 
If you have ClearType on, try turning it off. Some people are bothered by it.
 
Grentz said:
Funny, I have the exact opposite of the OP.

My eyes burn like no tomorrow on CRTs. I cannot stand them, I have to work on them sometimes and it just sucks. LCDs are so much easier on my eyes at least. I guess you get used to one or the other, but CRTs I always see flickr or just general strain and yes I have used all sorts, all sizes, etc. Not to mention the fact that everything seems blurry on CRTs to me, thats what you get for using LCDs mainly day in and day out I guess :p
Click to expand...

QFT, same here.
 
omega-x said:
most flourecent backlights flicker at 60hz.
Click to expand...

This is true and if your backlight is messed up then it can give you really bad eye strain, otherwise you won't notice any flicker if it is working properly.

I like many others have a much better time with LCD screens than I do with CRTs, but it does take time to adjust to using a different monitor.

Most LCDs come with the backlight set to retina scorching bright. Try lowering the backlight a little and see if that helps.
 
That's true about backlight flicker being abnormal. Most inverters drive them in the 10kHz range
 
Turn Cleartype on
Increase font size in Windows, and in your web browser
Lower the brightness and contrast levels on your monitor

Lcd eye strain is caused by the screen being too bright and text that is too small.
 
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