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my computer screen is killing my eyes!

post #1 of 27
5/4/10 at 11:53pm
Thread Starter 
I do all my work on a computer these days unfortunately, from photography to video to all the networking and business, etc. Recently, my eyes start burning really bad after just 20 minutes or so on the computer and I can't really work. I thought it was just a phase, but it's been a few weeks now. Eye drops seem to help, the optometrist just said it was dry eyes. I don't think it's allergies cause I've never had any allergies before. But it is that time of year.

But I'm worried it's the computer cause they aren't as bad when I'm not using the computer. If I walk away and do something else, they seem to get better.

Anyone else have this problem? do I need to find a different line of work?

I'm using an old apple display, and it's calibrated so brightness isn't up very high. Maybe there's something I can do to help.
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post #2 of 27
5/5/10 at 12:02am
Try a new or different monitor.

Or perhaps you've calibrated the brightness too low and your eyes are straining to see some things, causing them to overwork?
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post #3 of 27
5/5/10 at 12:15am
Thread Starter 
I don't think it's too low. It's an apple display, isn't that supposed to be the best kind of monitor for the eyes?
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post #4 of 27
5/5/10 at 12:56am
It could be as simple as forgetting to blink....

Yes, people focused on image editing and writing on a computer for long periods of time actually don' blink as often as they normally should which lubricates the eyes..
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post #5 of 27
5/5/10 at 1:03am
Maybe you could adjust the level of the back-lighting. When my screen is too bright (err... lit up?) I have to lower the back-light so my eyes don't start to water and what not.
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post #6 of 27
5/5/10 at 1:13am
Sounds like a refresh rate issue. Not sure, since I've not seen the display you're talking about. Is it LCD, Plasma, CRT, or LED?

In any case, set your refresh rate to as high as you possibly can - 60hz is standard on LCD monitor, and looks fine on them; however, due to the way that on CRT and Plasma monitors render their screens, 60hz is instantly noticeable to me and will give me a bad headache after just a few minutes.
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post #7 of 27
5/5/10 at 1:20am
try putting a light behind the monitor?
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post #8 of 27
5/5/10 at 1:36am
Is the monitor brightness level approximately equivalent with the ambient light level in your room?

Is your old @pple monitor an IPS panel? I find them to have a much less strain-inducing picture than TN or M/PVA panel screens. Or you could try using a 50" 1080P Plasma TV as your computer monitor
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post #9 of 27
5/5/10 at 1:36am
I would also suggest a light behind the monitor. I have a couple under cabinet lights mounted just under my desk. Brightens things up and it looks nice too.
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post #10 of 27
5/5/10 at 1:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhythmdevils View Post
I don't think it's too low. It's an apple display, isn't that supposed to be the best kind of monitor for the eyes?
Depends... Are we talking cinema display over 20"? If so they use IPS-based panels which offer the best color reproduction but have much slower response times. Do your eyes bother you while watching TV or perhaps even on another monitor?
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post #11 of 27
5/5/10 at 1:54am
+1 on light behind the monitor. eventually you'll get bad eyes if you just stare at your monitor in the dark too long. same with the tv. that's why i have horrible eyesight.
Also, maybe put a little sticky on the side of your monitor telling you to blink.
lol "STOP YOUR WORK AND BLINK 20 TIMES IN A ROW"
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post #12 of 27
5/5/10 at 1:56am
Thread Starter 
I keep one of those old school desk lights with the robot arms pointed up at the wall behind the monitor. I would think that would be enough light. My screen bothers me even during the day, when there's plenty of ambient light in the room.

The monitor is 19.5 inches across, one of apple's first flat screen displays, probably 8 years old or maybe even 10. You'd think the color would be way off, but once calibrated it's pretty good. Well, the edges are tinted magenta, but I just use the center I'm not sure what technology that means it uses. I inherited the thing.

Apple doesn't really give you much control, all you can control is the brightness to my knowledge. Calibrating the thing is a bit painful.

Could it be the monitor? I haven't used my macbook in a while, I could try that, but I think it's the same.
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post #13 of 27
5/5/10 at 2:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon7s View Post
Sounds like a refresh rate issue.
This sounds silly off the bat, but is incredibly true. Although I hate how movies look on 120-240hz, there is so much less strain on the eyes and as much as I love my new TV, I wish we had a 120Hz version at my store when I bought it.

But, this is a little bit of an issue for monitors as you don't usually find too many with refresh rates higher than 60Hz.
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post #14 of 27
5/5/10 at 2:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Landis View Post
This sounds silly off the bat, but is incredibly true. Although I hate how movies look on 120-240hz, there is so much less strain on the eyes and as much as I love my new TV, I wish we had a 120Hz version at my store when I bought it.

But, this is a little bit of an issue for monitors as you don't usually find too many with refresh rates higher than 60Hz.
Back when everyone used CRTs, I distinctly remember that most people used 60hz. For some reason though, most people never noticed all the crazy flickering their screen was doing. I guess their eye's just weren't as sensitive as mine. In any case though, every single time I used a computer like that I would have to change the refresh rate. Did it to all the library computers as well as my friends'.
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post #15 of 27
5/5/10 at 3:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhythmdevils View Post
I keep one of those old school desk lights with the robot arms pointed up at the wall behind the monitor. I would think that would be enough light. My screen bothers me even during the day, when there's plenty of ambient light in the room.

The monitor is 19.5 inches across, one of apple's first flat screen displays, probably 8 years old or maybe even 10. You'd think the color would be way off, but once calibrated it's pretty good. Well, the edges are tinted magenta, but I just use the center I'm not sure what technology that means it uses. I inherited the thing.

Apple doesn't really give you much control, all you can control is the brightness to my knowledge. Calibrating the thing is a bit painful.

Could it be the monitor? I haven't used my macbook in a while, I could try that, but I think it's the same.
Seeing that it is 8 years+ old, a non LED display might be quite a bit less bright than it initially was, so what Head Injury said might apply about the brightness being low.

But if it also happens in your Macbook then my best guess is that it is the effort that is required when you work, at least in my experience I've found that when I'm concentrated in something particularly visual (like editing photos, video, playing video games and to a lesser extent programming) the rate of blinking goes down, which causes drier eyes (which in my case makes my contact lenses blurry, it's kind of funny). OTOH the macbook might be more fatiguing, I've heard a couple persons complaining about them causing some discomforts.
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