Eye Protection

What can I use.

[fashezee]

Working long hours in front of my PC has my eyes really burnt out.

What can I do do reduce the strain of my eyes when working long hours?

[agerhart]

Take short breaks and look away. Use visine. Remember to blink.

[mole]

Sort out your ergonomics.

Make sure your monitor isn't flickering (refresh at least 70Hz and preferably more).

Get into a discipline of looking away from the screen for a least one minute every fifteen minutes. And preferably focus on distant objects. (Unfortunately, looking out of the window is the best way to do this, but it does mean you spend a lot of time explaining to colleagues and bosses why).

Get your eyes tested and tell the optician you use a computer screen. If you need them, get your glasses, contacts or whatever with the correct prescription.

[mat]

One - try a strip-light that sits on top of your monitor. Two - splash out on a bloody good monitor with high refresh rates. Since using an Iiyama I've not had any headache/sore-eye problems, even after some very long stints.
Also, get a utility such as Break Reminder that blacks out the screen at user-defined intervals, and forces you to look away/move/unlock.

[Iguana]

Start smoking - but only smoke outside the house/office. it gets you away from the PC for short breaks at regular intervals

[edit_g]

Shut your eyes when using the computer. ;)

[fashezee]

refresh at least 70Hz

How can I set me monitor to do this? And what is the point of having refresh at 70Hz?

Thanks for the tips; I was wondering if anyone had any insight on the screen shield
you can purchase; when placed on your screen it is suppose to reduce the glare?
Does this help with preventing burn out?

[edited by: fashezee at 2:09 pm (utc) on Aug. 12, 2003]

[agerhart]

>>>Start smoking

Haha.....trading one bodily harm for another. I'm a smoker, so I shouldn't say anything.....

[Macguru]

fashezee,

Is it a good quality screen?
Is the place you work in lit by fluorescent tubes?

Higher refresh rates will provide less flicker thus less eye fatigue.

[fashezee]

lit by fluorescent tubes

- affirmative.

is this not recommended?

[Drastic]

Don't crank the refresh higher than the monitor's max at a given resolution. You can trash it by doing so.

[Macguru]

Drastic is right. This why I asked about the monitor quality. Good ones will take higher refresh rates. Flicker is more noticable under fluorescent tubes because of the harmonic frequency.

Here a good page with more tips about it :

[computer-2tr.com...]

Dont forget to get the technical specs of your monitor before cranking up the screen refresh rate, this is done in 10 897 clicks (just kidding) from the advanced settings of monitor control panel in windows and in just one click on a Mac. ;)

[photon]

Or get an LCD flat panel; then flicker is no longer an issue.

[mcavic]

Make sure your monitor isn't flickering (refresh at least 70Hz and preferably more).

Great idea. For me, it takes 80Hz to stop the flicker. I know that theoretically, setting the refresh too high can damage the monitor, but the driver shouldn't let you do that, and I think modern monitors will just tell you if the rate is too high.

Sometimes I have to install updated video/monitor drivers to get it to let me select a higher refresh, but it's usually under Display Properties -> Settings -> Advanced -> Adapter.

[mcavic]

Start smoking

No, don't do that. Just drink water constantly so you need lots of bathroom breaks. :)

[marcs]

Used to have the same problem. Bought an Eclipse light (sits on top of the monitor, may the same one mat mentioned), don't have the problem anymore.

[wkitty42]

if you are in a place that's lit by fluorescent lighting, turn them off in your area if you can... incandescent is much better and doesn't seem to "enhance" the flickering of the monitor's scanrate... the advice about setting the monitor to 70hz or better (if it can handle it) is also advised... anything you can do to eliminate as much flicker and too bright light in the area is better all around... i've been beating on these things for some 25+ years and the best thing that i've found (and my father of 68+ years has adopted) is relatively low lighting with incandescent... we generally use 40watt bulbs to softlight the surrounding area and he likes to have one of those previously mentioned "personal" lights that is right there at the monitor... neither of us have used anything that sits above the monitor, though... my father wears glasses and has all his life... i've not ever had them...

jokingly, the smoking idea is ok... if you're in an environment where there are other smokers doing similar work, this "break time" also affords one the oppurtunity of "networking" with them to discuss situation related problems, solutions, and possible methods of doing something another way... if nothing else, it does get you away from the system for five to ten minutes where you can look at something else and distant... the drinking water idea is also good but i find that i'm hampered by too frequent restroom breaks and end up taking more time, over the period of a day, for them than if i just smoke :o:):)

the main thing is to find some way of making a few adjustments such that you are not straining at the monitor... i remember when those amber monochrome monitors came out... man! were thay a major relief compared to the green monochrome ones... the paperwhite screens were a step backwards, though...

HTH

[MonkeeSage]

wkitty42:

the paperwhite screens were a step backwards, though...

No doubt...another thing I find tremendously helps to avoid eyestrain beside refresh rate is brightness / gamma / contrast and windows colors. I use a very dull white color in windows colors in place of all white, and then make the contrast / brightness / gamma such that the screen get just ever so slightly less crisp. There isn't even really a notable difference, but when I'm setting here for hours on end, my eyes don't start randomly twitching and I don't have to lean in a squint as much. :)

Jordan

[satanclaus]

Paper bag

[fashezee]

Or get an LCD flat panel; then flicker is no longer an issue.

My neighbor has a Samsung 170s LCD, when he displays at 1280x1024 at 60 Mhz, it flickers?

What are the best brands for LCD that put the least amount of strain on my eye
but providing good quality?

[photon]

From arstechnica:

Flat-panel displays are brighter than CRT displays and many argue that they're sharper. And because they run at a slower refresh rate, the age-old CRT flicker problem is almost non-existent on LCDs. What, you say? Slower refresh rates battle the flicker problem? On flat-panels, yes. This is because the liquid crystal molecules have a dampening effect on flicker, and thus higher refresh rates aren't necessary. For those of you who spend hours upon hours in front of your monitor, this could mean a much less stressful viewing experience.

[dragonlady7]

Well, goody. I have an LCD at home. But at work I'm stuck with a CRT. I've found it helps me to force myself to sit far away from it. I have it set two feet back from me on a desk, so that I can't end up sitting too close to it and straining my eyes.
I get tired, but that's because i have to sit somewhat awkwardly to use the computer, because since my desk is so shallow I've had to put it at one end and I have to sit half-sideways at my desk.
Well, I'd rather have my back get a little wonky than my eyes become useless. They're bad enough as it is.

I'm starting to consider lasik surgery, which is kind of off-topic but does anyone have any insight into that stuff's effect into eyestrain?

[homegirl]

I second Photon's LCD. I made the change earlier this year and am using a Viewsonic, which has excellent quality. I used to get migraines on a regular basis with the 8+ hours daily on the CRT. Now, they've dropped off considerably (maybe once every few months). If you work at home or alone, it's often difficult to take the breaks you're supposed to... invest in an LCD if you can.