I'm quite happy with the performance of my new Hitachi CML174 aside from one thing:
It hasn't alleviated the red eyes I get from staring at a computer screen for many hours every day.
I've done some searching around the net, but found very little in the way of definitive answers on what could be responsible for my bloodshoot monitor eyes. I'm positive it's related to the monitor as my eyes return to normal as soon as I go a day without looking at one.
Is anyone else experiencing similar red eyes or headaches from using LCDs -- despite the general concensus that LCDs alleviate all the eye/headache problems associated with CRTs?
I found a site that seems to bring into question some of the popular assumptions about LCDs and more specifically their CCFL fluorescent backlights. Here's the link:
http://cloanto.com/users/mcb/19960719lcd.html
Anyway, another site I read mentioned that fluorescent office lights actually refresh at 120Hz... not sure how or if that applies to CCFLs, but that would probably eliminate refresh rate as a major source of eye fatigue. Really, the only causes I can come up with are:
1. The artificial spectral distribution of fluorescent lights is somehow irritating to the eye. Not sure whether there's any empirical evidence to back that up though, and even if there was, not much I can do to change it.
2. Viewing conditions -- the dryness of winter/office air along with the extended periods in front of a monitor combined with a natural tendency to blink less when staring at a monitor contribute to overall dry, irritated eyes. This can be partially alleviated by blinking more, taking frequent breaks, getting eye drops, and/or using a humidifier.
3. High brightness -- this seems to come up time and again as a major cause of eye fatigue.
So, as a start I've just taken action to reduce brightness on my CML174. First, I ran the brightness down to 0. I can't beleive how bright this monitor still is at its minimum -- so to follow that up, I went into the video card's advanced color settings and took the brightness down another notch or two in software -- better! Next, i changed the Windows default text background from bright white to a mid-level gray. That works great for word processing, but since most websites define their own background colors, it won't work on them. Fortunately, a handy ad removal program called proxomitron that I've used for several years now actually allows you to replace web backgrounds with any tiled image you choose. So I created a gray one pixel gif image and I now have gray backgrounds for every website I surf!
Combined, these steps should filter a lot of the CCFL light that's coming through the screen without negatively impacting readability. We'll see whether any of this really makes a difference in a few days.
Well, that's where I stand right now, hopefully this is useful to someone. I'd be curious to know others' take on the whole issue.
--Gordo
It hasn't alleviated the red eyes I get from staring at a computer screen for many hours every day.
I've done some searching around the net, but found very little in the way of definitive answers on what could be responsible for my bloodshoot monitor eyes. I'm positive it's related to the monitor as my eyes return to normal as soon as I go a day without looking at one.
Is anyone else experiencing similar red eyes or headaches from using LCDs -- despite the general concensus that LCDs alleviate all the eye/headache problems associated with CRTs?
I found a site that seems to bring into question some of the popular assumptions about LCDs and more specifically their CCFL fluorescent backlights. Here's the link:
http://cloanto.com/users/mcb/19960719lcd.html
Anyway, another site I read mentioned that fluorescent office lights actually refresh at 120Hz... not sure how or if that applies to CCFLs, but that would probably eliminate refresh rate as a major source of eye fatigue. Really, the only causes I can come up with are:
1. The artificial spectral distribution of fluorescent lights is somehow irritating to the eye. Not sure whether there's any empirical evidence to back that up though, and even if there was, not much I can do to change it.
2. Viewing conditions -- the dryness of winter/office air along with the extended periods in front of a monitor combined with a natural tendency to blink less when staring at a monitor contribute to overall dry, irritated eyes. This can be partially alleviated by blinking more, taking frequent breaks, getting eye drops, and/or using a humidifier.
3. High brightness -- this seems to come up time and again as a major cause of eye fatigue.
So, as a start I've just taken action to reduce brightness on my CML174. First, I ran the brightness down to 0. I can't beleive how bright this monitor still is at its minimum -- so to follow that up, I went into the video card's advanced color settings and took the brightness down another notch or two in software -- better! Next, i changed the Windows default text background from bright white to a mid-level gray. That works great for word processing, but since most websites define their own background colors, it won't work on them. Fortunately, a handy ad removal program called proxomitron that I've used for several years now actually allows you to replace web backgrounds with any tiled image you choose. So I created a gray one pixel gif image and I now have gray backgrounds for every website I surf!
Combined, these steps should filter a lot of the CCFL light that's coming through the screen without negatively impacting readability. We'll see whether any of this really makes a difference in a few days.
Well, that's where I stand right now, hopefully this is useful to someone. I'd be curious to know others' take on the whole issue.
--Gordo
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