Eye Strain

[prwilson]

I'm looking around for a new monitor after my old one recently went to the great LAN party in the sky.

I'm concerned about eye strain. I see quite few of the newer panels have ultra low blue light features or similar, which I like, but I'm also wondering whether to go for a 4K monitor or a high refresh rate one (144Hz) and if one is easier on the eyes that the other. Opinions?

Thanks.

[spacein_vader]

I'm looking around for a new monitor after my old one recently went to the great LAN party in the sky.

I'm concerned about eye strain. I see quite few of the newer panels have ultra low blue light features or similar, which I like, but I'm also wondering whether to go for a 4K monitor or a high refresh rate one (144Hz) and if one is easier on the eyes that the other. Opinions?

Thanks.

In principle high refresh rates may help that but only if your eyes can tell the difference, not everyone can. Worth trying one out if you can.

4k in the short term might actually make eye strain worse. Not through any fault in the tech or manufacturing but because Windows (assuming you're using Windows?) UI scaling is... Inconsistent at best.

[virtuo]

Is the strain just a general concern, or something you have had problems with in the past?

[scaryjim]

... because Windows (assuming you're using Windows?) UI scaling is... Inconsistent at best.

I'd've agreed with this a couple of iterations ago, but Win 10 scaling is actually excellent. The issue is with a small number of applications that - for legacy or whatever reasons - ignore the OS scaling factor completely. I regularly use a 9" 1080p Windows 10 tablet and have yet to find a program that has any issues.

[EndlessWaves]

The blue light filter modes are for evening use to make you tired (the eye has sensors for a specific frequency of blue light that determine time of day related alertness). They're not particularly eye strain related.

The biggest cause of eye strain is if you've got the brightness turned up too high. If you use the screen in the dark then you may want to get one with a low minimum brightness - or just get a dim light source.

The other issue is that some people are sensitive to backlight flickering at lower frequencies. If you're one of them then you may want to get a monitor with an non-PWM backlight or one that operates at very high frequencies. They range from one or two hundred hertz up to several thousand.

You probably also want to pick a monitor with a DPI that's appropriate to your viewing distance. If you want a 2560x1440 screen for example but have the screen 1m away then a 25" diagonal is going to be rather small and require you to squint, a 32" screen would be a much more comfortable size for that resolution and viewing distance.

3840x2160 at sizes smaller than ~40" is designed to be used as a HiDPI screen with a sizing factor other than 100%. It looks best at 200% sizing which is the same sizing as a 1920x1080 screen but 150% gives 2560x1440 sizing which some people may prefer on 28" and 32" screens.

[Dashers]

I'd avoid 4K for eye-strain, don't want to be squinting at apps that can't handle scaling.

Go for high-refresh, with a good quality panel (gives better viewing angles and static contrast). Then calibrate it the best you can to 6500°K, with an emphasis on keeping the brightness as low as possible before the blacks merge and the contrast as high as possible before the whites merge.

[scaryjim]

I'd avoid 4K for eye-strain, don't want to be squinting at apps that can't handle scaling. ...

That's, of course, only relevant if the apps the OP uses can't handle scaling

OP - you can always test this by turning on scaling on your current computer and seeing if there are any apps you use that ignore it. Stick scaling to 200% and it should be really obvious if anything isn't scaling properly (for one thing it'l actually be usable instead of having half the UI hidden off-screen due to the scaling!)...

[prwilson]

Cheers for all the replies.

I'd noticed that after extended sessions at the computer my eyes feel really tired, and that different monitors seem to have larger or small effect.

At the moment I'm leaning towards giving a 144Hz monitor a go - as well as the eye thing I'm using an original Titan for graphics at the moment and that should cope a bit better with maybe 1440p than anything 4K as well.

[imadaily]

I run 1440p on a 25" monitor with 100% scaling, I think for many people this would be a little bit smaller than ideal
I imagine that 1440p at 27" would be a good size

[Saracen]

Cheers for all the replies.

I'd noticed that after extended sessions at the computer my eyes feel really tired, and that different monitors seem to have larger or small effect.

.....

I know this might seem obvious, but .... had an eye test recently?

Personally, I'd recommend avoiding "extended" continuous sessions. Tske a break every so often, even if it's only a couple of minutes, make a cuppa, take a leak, whatever.

But also, fairly minor eye conditions can make eyes tired, watety, etc especially if having trouble focussing. Believe me, I speak from experience.

[prwilson]

I am making a concerted effort to try and reduce screen time and break it up a bit, quite often lose track of time though. I also find doing various eye-exercises helps as well.

[prwilson]

I run 1440p on a 25" monitor with 100% scaling, I think for many people this would be a little bit smaller than ideal
I imagine that 1440p at 27" would be a good size

Funnily enough, I have narrowed it down to a couple of 27" 1440p monitors - thread here: http://forums.hexus.net/displays-mon...r-xf270hu.html

[Dashers]

It's also worth making sure the environment you're in is setup correctly. Make sure there is no glare coming from external light source on your screen. That the monitor is positioned close enough to you for the resolution and that your eyes are in-line with the top portion of the screen so you're looking slightly down onto the display.

The lighting in my office and the settings I've got on my screen basically make my display no different from using paper. This goes with the good quality screen tech though, these are Dell Ultrasharps which do a really good job of looking good at any brightness - many cheaper monitors wash out when not on their optimal brightness settings.

[prwilson]

Cheers. I do have a height adjustable desk, so I can get the monitor at a good height and been in a good seating position. I'll have to have a play with the settings when I get a new monitor.

[AlphaA1]

This is always a major problem especially for people working in IT. Imagine staring at the computer 5 days a week to do your job. When gaming I try to take breaks every couple of hours to reduce strain and relax my eyes a bit but addictive sessions can quickly make me forget

[prwilson]

Some decent tips for setting up your monitor to reduce eye strain here:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dark-windows-tips/