Eyestrain - Crt vs Lcd

Dundhoone

My eyes are toast and have been for teh past two weeks
Gritty, sore, hot and tired and the Optrex aint helping!

Both of the Crts I use Are set at 85hz and I am wondering has anyone found lcd's to be easier on the eyes. I had a laptop about four years ago that used to wreck my eyes as well - but lcd has come a long way since then.

I'd invest if it would mean less of the sore eyes.

Any suggestions appreciated - obviously i've had to cut down on my outside work computer use and if i dont improve soon i'll end up knitting or some other equally dodgy hobby

seamus

All I use now are LCDs. Definitely increases the time you can go. I don't really get eystrain, though after 6o or so hours on an LCD, I have trouble keeping focus.

jozi

regular breaks away from your monitor should help some.
I'm using a crt at home and on the family pc there's a tft (dell) i can start at my screen for hours but not the tft 30mins and i start getting sore eyes.
It's a 2yr old tft and more than likely not a great one i dont know how much it differs from a good quality one.

Jozi

EDIT: just seen someone replied before me, its just the tft here at home like i taught

blorg

Definately LCD for me, it was probably the no. 1 reason that I first got a laptop five or six years ago. ClearText in XP is also phenomenal on an LCD, I couldn't imagine going back to pixelated text...

Dundhoone

yeah thats why I posted - lots of Crt vs Lcd articles claim that Lcd is easier on the eyes but that wasnt my experience with my Laptop. Just want to get some opinions!
I'd say thats one for, one against!

Im doing all the breaks from the screen , bring the contrast up , no glare stuff - and im not using my home pc at all

Khannie

LCD is supposed to be easier on the eyes, but at 85Hz, a CRT should be OK.

You sure it's non-interlaced?

I'm very sensetive to refresh rates. My eyes water at anything below 85Hz (currently at 100Hz). Check if your monitor can do 100 or 120Hz at lower resolutions. It's definitely very nice on the eyes compared to lower refresh rates.

the_syco

Lighting is very important.

Is there a bright light behind you, bouncing off the screen, to your eyes? This can cause headaches.

jesus_thats_gre

I used to always have headaches when using a CRT all day in work and college.

I noticed a massive improvement when I started using a laptop in college and when the CRTs in work were finally swapped out for LCDs, the headaches totally went away

Giblet

I use 100hz on the monitor at 1280x960. Does fine for me. LCD's I find uncomfortable to look at for long periods.

The Bollox

I used to have a CRT, and it did my head in, it gave me huge eye-strain, and now I have a LCD and its a LOT better, even tho the colors are more vibrant, its still a lot easier on the eyes

pickarooney

I switched to a LCD recently and had sorer eyes for a few days, after which it improved. When they took back the LCD and I started using a CRT again I had a similar problem the first day.

monkeyfudge

Be careful with laptops though. As you'll generally have them at a much lower height than your head. It can increase strain on your neck and eyes if they have to look down at an angle for a long time...

Esel

Eye strain can be a result of reduced frequency of blinking. Try to increase your rate of blinking and see if it makes a difference.

Dundhoone

yup blinking like a madman

didnt expect such a difference in opinion, I guess its down to personal preference more than anything

Just re -read Seamus's post up top - 60 hours on the your LCD!?!?! must have been a mad gaming session (or an unreasonable deadline!)

I was half thinking about getting a decent Lcd anyway so maybe I'll try it and see how it goes, I can always go back to the CRT if its worse!

I reckon if you change from Lcd to crt (or vice versa) in a situation where your using it a lot you will have headaches/eyestrain for a few days until your eyes adjust - as happened with pickarooney.

seamus

Dundhoone wrote:

Just re -read Seamus's post up top - 60 hours on the your LCD!?!?! must have been a mad gaming session (or an unreasonable deadline!)

Heh, 6 hours. Dunno how that o crept in there.

I have contacts too, which severly reduces the amount of time one can look at a bright screen.

Hobbes

Go get your eyes checked.

Incidently in regards to optrex, do not use the "Clear Eyes" version if you have sore/tired eyes. It restricts the blood vessels and can cause damage to your eyes. Its more for cosmetic purposes only.

OfflerCrocGod

LCD is better I find, used to have headaches all the time with CRT since using LCDs they have just gone away

CyberGhost

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

I used to always have headaches when using a CRT all day in work and college.

I noticed a massive improvement when I started using a laptop in college and when the CRTs in work were finally swapped out for LCDs, the headaches totally went away

oh yes! I used to have those headaches too, not like headaches but more like dizziness or something uncertain, well it sucked

switching to lcd was a bliss, but still when I play a lot I sometimes have eyestrain

Fenster

Anecdotal, mayhap, but I can't look at CRTs for more than a few minutes as I find the screens flickery compared to LCDs. Its really hard on my eyes.

bibibobo

My new TFT is definitely easier on the eye. Eyestrain people are finding with TFT/LCD's may be due to the luminance from the screen. I have measured max luminance (white) on a series of typical CRT's at ~130Cd/m^2 whereas LCD's are up at 200Cd/m^2 so try reducing the brightness of the LCD, particularly if using it in a darkened room.

savemejebus

tft all the way, was in the same boat as you at xmas and decided that the least my eyesight was worth 300 odd quid, so picked up a lovely lcd. took a little getting used to (2 days) but no computer related headaches in 3 months means i'm happy with my decision.

leeroybrown

LCD's are generally kinder on the eye so long as the brightness and contrast are set correctly. I find that a badly set LCD can be usable while still having a very bright/tiring glare off it.

My eyes are quite sensitive to light and I can generally visually percieve the difference between 60Hz, 72Hz, 75Hz, 85Hz and on a very bad day 100Hz but I generally have no problems using a CRT as long as it is at 85Hz or higher. The problem a lot of people have with CRT's is that they don't realise the importance of refresh rate and visually don't notice the flicker (unlike me). Whenever people at work who use CRT's complain about eye strain or tiredness it's generally because they have set their refresh to 60Hz.

I use a good quality 19" Flat CRT but will probably upgrade to a good TFT at some stage.

The test of flicker I find best is to you look at the screen then look upwards without moving your head. The flicker will be very obvious in your peripheral vision and if you notice it your refresh is probably too low.

bibibobo

use this test pattern to ensure monitor brightness and contrast are setup correctly. you should be able to equally visualise the 0-5% and 95-100% contrast details at the opposite ends of the greyscale spectrum.


http://brighamrad.harvard.edu/research/topics/vispercep/smpte/smpte.jpg

Infini

LCD is the best way to go. No strain at all from using them.

CyberGhost

Infini wrote:

LCD is the best way to go. No strain at all from using them.

Yep, now if they fixed the damn dead pixel problem....