

Ask YC: Comfortable Monitors - Prrometheus

I recently splurged a few hundred bucks on a nice 21" widescreen monitor. The problem is, it hurts my eyes. I can't tell whether the problem occurs because the screen is glossy, the screen is unusually bright, or if it's something inherent in the widescreen itself. I have never had problems with monitors before, even very low-end ones.<p>My question is: have you discovered that certain monitors are comfortable or uncomfortable for your eyes? What characteristics cause the difference for you? Is there any monitor that you would particularly recommend?
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dkokelley
The glossy ones are a lot of hype with very little substance. I have a glossy
screen for my laptop, but if I had the chance to do it again I would opt for
the regular one. The glossy screens reflect a lot of ambient light. If you're
in an office environment, near a window, or even in a light area, your eyes
might have to strain to make out the information through the reflection. If
this is the case then it could certainly explain the hurting eyes.

If your monitor supports this, try dimming the screen's brightness and see if
that helps. The reflection/glare will be intensified, but it won't be as
bright. This way you can test to see if it's one or the other. If your eyes
hurt more, it's probably the glare. If they hurt less, or just the same, it
could be the brightness.

In either case, try a non-glossy screen so that you can really compare the
differences and see which one is easier on your eyes.

As for the wide screen, I don't think it will bother you any more or less.

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euccastro
_The glossy ones are a lot of hype with very little substance._

What surprises me in this sentence is that glossiness is even marketed as a
feature? I reckon it's been a while since I last shopped for a monitor or a
laptop, but this leaves me perplexed. What are the supposed benefits?

The only explanation I can find is that it's a matter of fashion, started by
OS X GUI theme and continued by Vista?

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dkokelley
Glossiness increases the contrast between lights and darks so that movies and
other things look crisper. You find it mostly on media-centered systems. On a
lot of laptops it is either the only option or available for about $25 more.

I don't think OSX and Vista have too much to do with it. My brother's Macbook
doesn't have a glossy screen and I'm not sure they even offer it. I'm not sure
about the other models though. Vista is only software, since MSFT doesn't make
the hardware on PCs, so I don't see how that contributes to glossy screens.

The reason I would give for it is that it is a way to add a feature to a
product that differentiates it from other products. It doesn't matter that the
glossy screens have enough negative effects to counter the 1 advantage.
Company A came out with it to sell more computers, so companies B, C, and D
all had to develop their own version to compete. Consumers can be silly that
way. I was.

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silencio
Actually, MacBooks only come with glossy displays, you have no choice over it.
The MacBook Pros come with glossy or matte, you choose.

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dkokelley
I think Apple might have a different process for making their screens, because
my brother's macbook doesn't look reflective at all. They probably just do a
better job with their glossy screens.

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iamelgringo
Have you had your vision checked recently? You might need glasses.

Another issue is that you need frequent breaks from looking at a screen. At
least every 5-15 minutes, you should take a break and look at something
further away and let your eyes focus on it.

I also have an Ergotron adjustable stand for my central monitor. That way, I
can move the monitor backwards and forwards every so often to let my eyes
adjust to different focal lengths throughout the day. And, I can change
position in my chair.

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mechanical_fish
+1, Ergotron. Much more useful than you would actually think. You can change
the monitor's position and angle to _anything you want_ , multiple times per
day.

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bbb
I discovered that newer LCDs hurt my eyes due to their intense brightness. I
causes me to squint, and if I do that for a whole day I get intense headaches.

My solution:

1) turn down the brightness

2) change your editor to a black background

Especially step 2 did wonders for me.

~~~
vikram
Definitely black background.

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mrtron
It could be the brightness.

I am going to go with a random guess here: You have large pupils. I have large
pupils myself and it was actually a slight risk for laser eye surgery and my
night vision is a bit blurred (not from the laser eye, from the large pupils).
I find most new LCDs too bright and it hurts my eyes. I am forced to turn down
my new HDTV to 50% brightness!

So, turn down the brightness and be careful with laser eye to ensure the
equipment is suitable for large pupils (most newer lasers do a much larger
radius than the first ones).

Or, I am way off and its something else :)

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vlad
I got a laptop with a glossy screen because it makes things much more
interesting when you show other people, but connect it to a matte display for
development.

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sayhello
Characteristics that make a difference, in no particular order: a) Diagonal
length & resolution b) Sharpness c) Brightness

I do not game much, if you do, response time may be a sticking point. I
recommend reading up on TFT-LCD technologies:
<http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm>

This article may be of interest as well:
<http://www.pureoverclock.com/article641.html>

I own a 20" Viewsonic Vx2025wm hooked up to my desktop linux and sometimes
windows machine and a 24" BenQ FP241VW running in tandem with my MacbookPro.

I recommend the BenQ monitor.

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ojbyrne
I'll chime in with "Turn down the brightness." Monitors seem to come with it
turned up too high by default - probably because it looks better on display in
a store.

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watmough
I find that my Dell laptop bothers me when uncalibrated.

The Pantone Huey is what I use to calibrate my Macs and PCs, and it makes a
huge difference, with my Dell Precision Laptop being much much easier to work
with after calibration.

[http://www.amazon.com/Pantone-Monitor-Color-Calibrator-
MEU10...](http://www.amazon.com/Pantone-Monitor-Color-Calibrator-
MEU101/dp/B000CR78C4)

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ivank
Non-glossy, non-TN (MVA/PVA/S-IPS only), low brightness, no buzzing/high-
pitched noises. Then adjust monitor distance from your head. Check hardforum's
Displays section - good widescreen monitors start at $700 (since most of the
21-22" panels are TN)

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mattmaroon
<http://www.poynton.com/notes/reducing_eyestrain/index.html>

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miroux
You probably got a TN panel.

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pibefision
i'm developing using and iMac 20", it's great, and I've added another monitor
where I run consoles and log viewers all the time (20").

The iMac LCD is amazing.

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volida
how can we have an opinion if we don't experience looking at your monitor?

