Monitor that is easier on the eyes for text?

partikl

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 10, 2017
Messages
144
I'm currently using a U2515H, and this thing fatigues my eyes really fast. Can someone recommend a display, based on experience, that is less fatiguing? I have adjusted this monitor and lighting in the room every which way I can think of. It is the monitor causing the issue. My laptop causes some fatigue after some hours of use, but the U2515H does it in less than an hour.

I like the amount of screen real eastate on the U2515H but text is a little small without at least 110% display scaling, so I'm probably looking for a monitor this is 32" 2560 x 1440.
 
Last edited:
Check your refresh rate. Make sure it isnt 60 (for the US or whatever the local power grid operates at elsewhere).

So long as the monitor can handle it higher the refresh the better for eye strain.

See an eye doctor this can also be a sign you need glasses (or new glasses).
 
Personally I've never experienced fatigue, except when the brightness was too high. The optimal setting for long term use is on the dim side.
 
Check your refresh rate. Make sure it isnt 60 (for the US or whatever the local power grid operates at elsewhere).

So long as the monitor can handle it higher the refresh the better for eye strain.

See an eye doctor this can also be a sign you need glasses (or new glasses).

That has no effect. We're not talking about CRTs.
 
Refresh rate does affect eye strain even on lcd screens.

While less of an issue not matching the power grid helps too.
 
Low brightness and warm color temperature. You may even further reduce the amount of blues in rgb sliders to make the picture even warmer and some monitors even come with "low blue light" preset for easy, less eye straining viewing.

And refresh rate has no effect on eye strain with lcds. The picture is like a postcard, constantly on. PWM backlights however will introduce flicker but monitor refresh rate has no effect on it. It flickers at constant rate set by the manufacturer and is affected by the backlight brightness slider. Get PWM-free monitor if possible.
 
I'm currently using a U2515H, and this thing fatigues my eyes really fast. Can someone recommend a display, based on experience, that is less fatiguing? I have adjusted this monitor and lighting in the room every which way I can think of. It is the monitor causing the issue. My laptop causes some fatigue after some hours of use, but the U2515H does it in less than an hour.

I like the amount of screen real eastate on the U2515H but text is a little small without at least 110% display scaling, so I'm probably looking for a monitor this is 32" 2560 x 1440.

I personally think a larger display with the same resolution won't help at all, and in fact (at the same text size) it may be worse. I'd look for a 4K display, as text at any size is going to be more legible with higher pixel density.
 
I'm currently using a U2515H, and this thing fatigues my eyes really fast. Can someone recommend a display, based on experience, that is less fatiguing? I have adjusted this monitor and lighting in the room every which way I can think of. It is the monitor causing the issue. My laptop causes some fatigue after some hours of use, but the U2515H does it in less than an hour.
I like the amount of screen real eastate on the U2515H but text is a little small without at least 110% display scaling, so I'm probably looking for a monitor this is 32" 2560 x 1440.
This monitor is only 25" for a 2560x1440 resolution, which is smaller than most. At almost 120 pixels per inch, you should find it much more comfortable to use with 125% scaling enabled.
Only Windows 10 does good DPI scaling. Custom scales like 110% scale everything badly, stick to the presets. (125/150/175 etc.)
Display size should be used to determine workspace, not resolution. Higher pixel density should be much easier on the eyes than lower pixel density (i.e. 32" 2560x1440) so long as you are using appropriate scaling.
Matte or "anti-glare" coatings can cause fatigue when reading text as well. Glossy displays are easier on the eyes.
 
I tried everything I that I could find to try with this monitor to reduce eye strain. I could never use it for longer than a day, and it has been sitting unused since.

I have been using an old LP2480ZX, which has been about the best monitor I have found for fighting eye strain. Unfortunately it acts flakey after putting it to sleep. I have to reach around the back and disconnect/reconnect the display cable when I want to bring it out of sleep, which is a pain. Also this thing has a cooling fan that can be annoying.
 
I have been using an old LP2480ZX, which has been about the best monitor I have found for fighting eye strain. Unfortunately it acts flakey after putting it to sleep. I have to reach around the back and disconnect/reconnect the display cable when I want to bring it out of sleep, which is a pain. Also this thing has a cooling fan that can be annoying.
HP "DreamColor" LP2480ZX is my favorite monitor of all time. I like it so much I have three units and two models of HP calibration probes.
Before it I had LG W2420R which uses the same panel and gave it away to my brother so it stayed in the family =)

My impression of this panel was that watching it causes eye relaxation and literally eye bliss. Normal monitors have unpleasant light and can somewhat tire eyes but this RGB-LED panel produces light that my eyes simply like to see.
This panel is packed with LCD technology found pretty much nowhere else, RGB, A-TW, can calibrate white and black point at once without loosing contrast ratio, have black and white uniformity correction and better sharpness in movies than other LCD panels.
Calibration to Rec.709 makes near black content adequately corrected so dark objects appear black.

Funnily enough it PWM flickers very strongly, even at 100% brightness so in theory it should be bad for eyes.
This flicker is however an advantage because it does however make motion looks sharper.

Did you know this monitor support 48 and 50Hz modes flawlessly if you add these modes?
I actually cannot force myself to watch movies on any other display. This is after all "the reference" :)

As for waking from sleep: I noticed this monitor does not like DisplayPort very much. It some times work over DP just fine but DVI works better in this regard. You cannot do 10bit over DVI but for normal usage it is not even necessary.
One thing to note: for whatever reason these monitors like to go pink if not calibrated at least once. My unit that I use have 14632 hours and 6173 since last calibration to Rec.709 (I pretty much only use this mode) and keep colors perfectly (validated it) despite when I got it it had very strong pink cast. Other two units had pink cast too and calibrarted perfectly. So HP calibration probe (unfortunatelly other probes cannot be used to do proper hardware calibration) is a must for this monitor. For me it is not a flaw because I got all three of these monitors so cheap because they were pink I could not get one Eizo CX240 for that money and this Eizo is inferior product compared to LP2480ZX
)
 
I agree that there is something about the backlighting that is comfortable with the LP2480ZX. I would prefer that it didn't flicker, but regardless, it is much more comfortable than any other monitor I have been able to try to date. Switching between the LP2480ZX and the U2515H are literally complete opposites in terms of eye comfort. The LP2480ZX feels soft on the eyes. The U2515H immediately feels hard on the eyes. I can tell right away that something is wrong when looking at the U2515H, but I can't put my finger on what is wrong and what makes it so straining. I even tried using sunglasses with it, and it still fatigued my eyes very quickly! And that happens even with the brightness set so low that the display looks much too dim.

I am thinking of picking up a graphics card for doing a little gaming, so I will definitely keep in mind the tip on using a DVI connection. I can deal with the fan noise from this monitor while I'm using it. The fan noise only bothered me because the monitor is in my bedroom, and I didn't want to turn the monitor off or put it to sleep (when I sleep), because of the hassle of getting it back up by having to disconnect/reconnect it every time.
 
Last edited:
The PWM on the old LP2480ZX is definitely fatiguing. I think I won't use it anymore. And the IPS glow on the U2515H is very fatiguing. I'm looking for an AMVA monitor.
 
The PWM on the old LP2480ZX is definitely fatiguing. I think I won't use it anymore. And the IPS glow on the U2515H is very fatiguing. I'm looking for an AMVA monitor.
The light output might not be the problem if your laptop's likely terrible screen isn't doing it. Try a Mac. Proper scaling does wonders.
 
The light output might not be the problem if your laptop's likely terrible screen isn't doing it. Try a Mac. Proper scaling does wonders.

I'm bouncing back and forth between two laptops. The old one that I mentioned here has a TN screen. Pretty much everything about it is bad, except that it doesn't require scaling and it is never too bright. But it is still the least fatiguing of multiple devices that I use.
 
The PWM on the old LP2480ZX is definitely fatiguing. I think I won't use it anymore. And the IPS glow on the U2515H is very fatiguing. I'm looking for an AMVA monitor.
At least use it to watch funny cat videos when working on another monitor. It have superb color and motion performance.

All monitors being fatiguing suggest you developed some issue with eyes.
General rule for seeing is that you do not even need to see sharply to see letters because brain can reconstruct shape using very little visual cues from eyes so eyes can be very relaxed most of the time when reading text. That is if you are not forcing eyes to actually see sharply with eyes and and just mostly use visual cortex image reconstruction and then see such reconstructed image instead.
I suggest reading this https://www.amazon.com/Method-Better-Eyesight-Without-Glasses/dp/0805002413
It helped me improve sight when I felt I might develop issues down the line. I had sharp sight but my eyes got tired a lot. I changed my seeing habits (to not say I completely changed way I use eyes because it is more hard to believe) and since then my eyes almost never get tired.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
This is a technology issue, not an eye issue. I don't have any problems when working with text on paper, and I had my eyes checked. No problems there. Also, on my horrible looking TN display of one of my laptops, I don't have the same issues that I have with those monitors. On the LP2480ZX while the appearance is soft and pleasant, I can feel my eyes get fatigued pretty quick when working with text or gaming. Text always appears to have a very subtle movement to it. And I can see the PWM lines on a dark background. On the U2515H, I can constantly see the backlight bleeding through badly no matter if the background is dark, and it fatigues my eyes quickly even at very dim settings. Also on the U2515H, I see what appears to be reflective colors in lighter shades such as white or grey.
 
Maybe you are having trouble with antiglare coatings suddenly if you are seeing shimmering text and sparkly stuff. Intangible factors related to eyesight might be the root cause, but you could try a glossy panel. I would get in a store and take a look.
 
Maybe you are having trouble with antiglare coatings suddenly if you are seeing shimmering text and sparkly stuff. Intangible factors related to eyesight might be the root cause, but you could try a glossy panel. I would get in a store and take a look.

I do think that glossy is a bit crisper, but not a major factor. My crappy TN display on my laptop is glossy, but it is still gives less sharp text than my U2515H that has antiglare. And glossy is horribly reflective for most practical situations.
 
A larger screen further away is definitely easier on the eyes.
Not too large/close that you have to move your eyes a lot, more distance is very nice.
 
A larger screen further away is definitely easier on the eyes.
Not too large/close that you have to move your eyes a lot, more distance is very nice.

What do you think is a good distance, size, and resolution for a desktop monitor? I can get around 36" max viewing distance on my desk (under a meter). And maybe I should look into some sort of boom arm for getting more distance, since my desk is not against a wall.
 
What do you think is a good distance, size, and resolution for a desktop monitor? I can get around 36" max viewing distance on my desk (under a meter). And maybe I should look into some sort of boom arm for getting more distance, since my desk is not against a wall.
tbh its down to what works best for you.

It might be worth putting a large display on a lower table at the rear of your desk to get it further away.
I did that with a TV and it was very convenient for dropping the screen lower to lose sight of the stand which also meant I didnt need to look up as much.
And there is SO much more desk space!
 
Back
Top