Coping With Computer Related Eye Strain? 30
Dimus asks: "There were several very useful discussions on Slashdot about curing and preventing problems with wrists and fingers. But what about your eyes? How can you prevent eye deterioration? Do you have any tricks, exercises to fight eye pain, fatigue, and other problems? What monitors are better for eyes? Big ones? Smaller ones? TFT or CRT? What company do you think makes monitors that are better for your eyes?"
Another solution (Score:1)
This solved the nauseous feeling I when I didn't take a short break from staring at my monitor every hour.
Sony Trinitron monitors and no florescent lights (Score:3)
and properly adjusted monitors.
Teach everyone how to adjust there monitors
because there isnt any one setting that is best for everyone.
With monitors mostly you get what you pay for go high end.
Most of all no florescent lights!!!!
Re:Sony Trinitron monitors and no florescent light (Score:1)
Some thoughts (Score:3)
2) Higher refresh rates obviously help.
3) It seems to me that TFT displays would be better on your eyes than CRT displays, because they don't generate their own light so much as filter other light (from the room, or from the cold cathode backlights, which run at very high frequencies IIRC).
4) Take breaks, for crying out loud! Go do something that doesn't involve focusing your eyes at close range.
Based on this, the Apple Cinema Display [apple.com] would be the perfect monitor. Mmmm, 24 inch LCD...
Reduce glare (Score:1)
The idea behind this particular one is that you can turn off the flourescents in your office, put this lamp on top of your monitor, and be on your merry, eyestrain-reduced way.
I found one product review here [builtonline.com].
Re:Wrists? (Score:2)
I've found the best wrist rests are these:
http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10
http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10
They are much nicer than the other gel filled rests that others have. Last longer, and aren't too soft. I now use a Logitech Marble+ trackball at home and work. The new Microsoft trackballs are good too..but either way go optical. It takes a little while to get used to a trackball but now I'm just as fast and accurate with it as I was with a mouse, even in games.
PRIO Glasses (Score:4)
The last time I saw an eye doctor in San Jose, he told me about the PRIO [prio.com] test, which calculates a prescription specifically for use when working with a computer -- if you already wear glasses, you wear the PRIO glasses instead; if you have contacts, you wear the PRIO glasses with your contacts.
The idea is that the computer glasses allow you to focus on the screen without having to strain your eyes -- according to PRIO [prio.com], when you look at a computer screen, your eyes tend to focus beyond the screen, resulting in eyestrain as your eyes constantly try to focus closer in. That seems to fit with what I remember my doctor saying about the glasses encouraging underfocusing.
Alas, I never followed up on these, but there's a fair bit of stuff out there on the Web (look for ``PRIO''). Two articles on the Motion Picture Editors' Guild website might also be of interest:
You might want to try some or all of the other suggestions people have made here first (replacing overhead fluorescent lighting with indirect lighting, increasing your system's refresh rate, lowering the resolution of your monitor so you have larger characters, adjusting the brightness and contrast, etc.), but if you're still having problems, you might want to look into these glasses. If you have a health plan that includes eyecare, these glasses might be covered, and you also might be able to get coverage under the new OSHA ergonomics regulations.
Needless to say, you should take anything that PRIO says with a grain of salt -- while their product may do wonders, they have a vested interest in people believing that it works. Your eye doctor may, too, especially if he or she is selling the glasses, too, and not just examining your eyes (at the very least, there's the cost of the test; if you decide to get PRIO glasses, you're talking about new lenses and frames, and fashionable frames tend to be very expensive). Do some research -- see what people on the 'Net have to say, and if you know people with these glasses, be sure to talk to them about their experiences!
LCDs are better because... (Score:1)
I also read a while back that they have special glasses for computer use (or anything else that uses a crt like a TV), which will help eliminate this problem, but i dont' remember where
Most monitors are far too bright. (Score:3)
Wrists? (Score:1)
How to adjust a monitor (Score:1)
Luminance should be set relative to the ambient brightness of the room you are in. Also, make sure that you don't have any light-sources positioned as to cause specular high-lights on the monitor screen.
By the way, Feng Shue recommends that you should not have any bright light-source at the side of your dominant hand at your work-place. This recommendation is for all office workers - not just those working with computers.
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LCD screens (Score:1)
If you are stuck with a CRT monitor then adjusting refresh rate and brightness levels will probably help somewhat.
Anti-Glare coating on glasses (Score:1)
When you talk to people about the coatings, be sure you talk to people who got their anti-glare coatings in the last 6-9 months. The technology is changing fast and the older coatings had serious problems. (Like peeling off and scratching up...)
If you go this route be prepared to get and use one of the microfibre cleaning rags and a special cleaning formula, no more rinse with water and paper towel routine with these. The coating will degrade and scratch. (It's better than it was, not perfect...)
The coating ain't cheap (I think it added $80US to the price) but I tend to think my eyes are worth it. Before I would get serious eye fatigue after 4-5 hours, even with breaks. Now I can go 12-15 hours, with breaks and my eyes aren't sore or tired.
YMMV.
Chris
Re:Sony Trinitron monitors and no florescent light (Score:1)
take breaks... (Score:3)
Peacock blue? (Score:1)
I've used dark blue on light yellow with great success, but improvements are always welcome.
Oh, and rolling your head around on your neck is terrible for your spine. Back and forth, and side-to-side is fine, just don't roll.
eye drops (fake tears) (Score:2)
More Options to Reduce Eye Strain (Score:2)
The placement of your computer monitor is also an issue. It should be about 20 degrees below eye level and 20-26" away from your eyes. Copies should be at the same height and distance. Room illumination should be three times brighter than the screen background. Natural lighting is best, but for those of you without windows in your office, non-flourescent bulbs do fine. As for eye dryness, air conditioning or fans can help keep your eyes moist, as well as eye drops.
There are several exercizes you can do to strengthen and relax your eyes (thanks to Marc Grossman, OD):
1) Try rubbing your plams together until they're warm and then placing them over your eyes for one or two minutes.
2) Hold up a pencil about 6 inches from your eyes. Focus on the pencil, and then on something further away. Repeat about 15 times.
3) Scan your eyes from right to left and then back again across the room.
4) Roll your head around on your neck every once in a while. This reduces tension in your neck, shoulder, and scalp muscles.
Re:Sony Trinitron monitors and no florescent light (Score:1)
as far as rf goes i find allot of the time improving the ground will help allot. Just beacause the socket has provisions for 3 pins doesnt mean it is actualy grounded to anything an ac volt meter will tell you if it is,,,,
My situation... (Score:2)
He checked my eyes, did the lens-flippy thing, and said I had astigmatism in one eye (my left), that wasn't being corrected by my glasses. So, he gave me a toric lens prescript for my left eye (very expensive).
You know what? Pain and itching are now gone!
So, the moral is, if you wear glasses or contacts, make sure they are the right prescription - or if you are having problems, see the eye doctor - you may need a new prescription, or you might find out it is something else...
Worldcom [worldcom.com] - Generation Duh!
Get Your Eyes Checked! (Score:1)
Esophoria and exophoria (where the eyes tend to point outward) are becoming more common... and near-vision stress may aggravate the conditions. Esophoria can be treated with a mild or moderate magnifying prescription (mine is made just for the distance between me and my monitor) and eye therapy (aka exercises). Exophoria is usually treated with exercises. Frequent breaks help, too!
If you've been having eye problems, and fixing glare, resolution, brightness, lighting, etc. doesn't solve all your problems, I really suggest going to see a professional.
Settings that work for me (Score:1)
For my monitor, I have the brightness at 20% and the contrast around 85%. You can also lower your colour temperatures, but I don't like the brownish tones this produces.
With a setup like this I never get eye fatigue, even after hours of staring at a monitor (although of course, breaks are still a good idea).
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Good monitor adjustment (Score:1)
1. Start by cranking the brightness to nothing.
2. Adjust contrast until text becomes crisp and clear.
3. Turn up brightness until the border around the image that's still on the tube is black under normal lighting conditions.
If the resulting image is hard to read, adjust contrast or try bumping up the brightness slightly. A little goes a long way.
If its washed out, blurry, or you can see a grey border around the image, you're varying degrees of much too bright.
Running a monitor much too bright will eventually make the blurriness permanent for the monitor, and possibly for your eyes.
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What about UV, etc? (Score:1)
I sit in front of an old VAXstation with a 20" on it that's probably as old as I am -- we have rumors going around that these things kick out some large amount of rads.
What, if any, effect does this have on eyeballs?
Anyone?
Re:Wrists? (Score:2)
I used to have problems with my wrists, even when using those gel rests. Then I remembered how my teachers in grade 10 typing were trying to get us to type without resting our wrists. I tried it, and it worked wonders. Of course, I have large hands, so sometimes I will rest the heels of my hands on the edge of the desk, and still be able to type, but never my wrists.
I have not yet found a comfortable position for mousing which keeps my wrist off the desk. Any suggestions?
Artificial Tears (Score:1)
change text defaults if possible (Score:3)
Wherever it's possible to set the appearance defaults of a program or environment, it's a good idea to use light text on a dark background. I find I need far fewer "eye breaks" if I set my editor, terminal, browser, etc, to use light text on a black background.
Apparently this also makes computers easier (or possible) to use for people with some sorts of visual handicaps.
Re:Wrists? (Score:1)
www.buymeaferrari.com [buymeaferrari.com]
Play Around with the Code Editor Settings... (Score:1)
Re:Wrists? (Score:1)