Severe eye strain, tried everything

TobyC1995

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Feb 8, 2016
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Hi guys,

My new BenQ XL2114Z monitor is fantastic. I play all my games at 144Hz and gaming has never been more enjoyable. After adjusting the settings, the picture quality is flawless, despite it being a TN panel.

However, since having the monitor, the back of my eyes are aching/ feel fatigued the day after a evening of gaming. One day I was even feeling slightly dizzy and the sides of head felt achey too.

Below are the adjustments I have made to try and ease the eye strain, but has not helped much:-

- Brightness is now at 0, it is still as bright as my old samsung monitor
- Blue light has been reduced 50% using its blue light reduction feature
- My eyes are level with the top of the monitor (as online sources suggest to)
- My eyes are 20-25" away from the screen (as online sources suggest to)
- Contrast has been adjusted as per instructions online for optimal picture quality
- I play in a well lit room, and there is no glare on the monitor

Any advice on what to do next? My eyes dont feel dry, only fatigued at the back. Will my eye muscles eventually adjust?

I never ever had any form of eye strain with my old TV's/ Monitors, despite spending 12 hour days of gaming at the same distance.

Thanks

Toby
 

Mohan69

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Mar 25, 2015
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Those are some nice adjustments you made. There is a great free soft called F.lux.
It changes the brightness of your screen automatically according to the time of the day. It gives a nice warm color to the screen.
 

TobyC1995

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Feb 8, 2016
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Reading up online, the BenQ XL2114Z apparently belongs to a new range of "flicker free" panels. I understand flicker comes from the backlight.

Can you turn off the backlight or reduce it? Or is it simply brightness?
 

TobyC1995

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Feb 8, 2016
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Did you read the bullet points?

- My brightness is at 0 out of 100
- My monitor is 2 ft away from eyes

Hue is already at default, and I've just lowered the contrast from 50 to 30 out of 100

 

TobyC1995

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Feb 8, 2016
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I have an eye check up once a year, last year my sight and eye health was great.

The monitor has not effected my vision in anyway, just the symptoms I have the described
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


OK, just checking.
 
How bright is your monitor compared to the rest of your room/environment? If it's too dark, eye strain, too bright eye strain.

Do you see text as having a small shadow in high contrast images?

Have you tried Theatre/Cinema/Movie mode? It's a picture preset.



I personally don't believe in PWM causes headaches, I've used one for a really long time. I have yet to see actual evidence of this, and not just an explanation that looks sciency to convince people. The same people that are saying this are also saying that 1 ms is better than 5 ms response time, so even less reason to trust them...
 

TobyC1995

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Feb 8, 2016
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There is a movie picture preset, however, the standard preset is heavily recommended for picture quality
 

TobyC1995

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Feb 8, 2016
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Yes, I read about it and so have never turned it on
 

Daylloween

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Oct 24, 2016
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I think it is because your eyes are getting dry. I am an IT professional in Toronto and spend nearly 12 hours in front of the computer. I had dry eye symptoms ( http://www.herzig-eye.com/eye-conditions/dry-eye/ ), my eyes turn red and sometimes a burning sensation. Sometimes I could even feel the dryness.