eye strain with new monitor

[disruptor6]

I just bought a ViewSonic A90f+ and so far it's great. It's such a big improvement from my 8 year old 17" Sony that I really don't care for all the technical details. One thing does bother me, though. Light colors such as white appear to have lots and lots of tiny grids in them, which really hurts my eyes when looking at it. Is there anyway to mess with this?

 

[Teq]

On newer monitors the focus is often a lot sharper, letting you see the individual pixels of the display. The white backgound of windows will look granular in low or medium resolution modes. Short of defocusing the monitor there's not much you can do about it.

Another possibility is that you are seeing "moire" lines, which can usually be "cancelled" by a setting in the on screen menus.

Try different resolutions and refresh rates until you find the setup you like best on that monitor.



<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>

 

[disruptor6]

Thanks for the info. I'm currently using 1280x1024 resolution @ 85Hz. I've been using 75 for the last few days with the new monitor and all the time with my old monitor, and 75 feels comfortable. I want to use 85Hz, mostly because it seems to work fine and because I can... Anyways 85Hz feels a little weird, is it possible that my eyes will get used to this after a while? Or should I just stick with 75Hz?

 

[Teq]

In my experience once eyestrain starts, it only gets worse.

I'd say use the 75hz setting if it pleases your eye... the monitor will run cooler too.

A couple of other suggestions...

Check the brightness (black level) set it so that you see a barely noticeable haze on black backgrounds, then turn it down until the haze just disappears. (i.e. make sure you are seeing black, but not losing darker shades of colours)

Reduce the contrast. The ideal setting is one that is just bright enough to view comfortably. (i.e. probably about 50% of full brightness)

I don't even want to guess how many monitors I've worked on where the brightness and contrast were all the way up, and all I had to do to satisfy the customer was re-adjust them.

FWIW... a 15 inch monitor displaying white at full brightness and contrast, produces about the equivalent of a 40w lightbulb... bigger monitors produce even more light.



<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>

 

[bgates]

Sorry for bumping up such an old post, but I'd really like
to know how you're getting 85hz with 1280x1024. I have the
A90f+, and it doesn't list 85hz at that resolution, let
alone work if I force it to 85hz.