light from computer displays: hurt by brightness or flicker?

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antonblock
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25 Apr 2012, 9:10 am

hi there,

my eyes degraded a lot, I have very huge diopters now. I think its due to my computer displays. I just found out that I really get headaches and hurting eyes when I sit in front of my monitor. I really didn't realize this the last 20 years. :-(

I still use an old CRT monitor, and I realized that its better with a LCD display. However, I didn't so far realize the exact cause for it. What causes me headaches and burning eyes?

Is it the brightness? Some people say that it depends on the color temperature of the light. Cold temperatures are bad, because humans are not used to it.

Or is it the flicker? Some people say that the pulsing of the fluorescent light is a problem. LCDs are said to have no flicker, however almost all LCDs also have a different flicker, because they use Pulse width modulation for dimming the backlight (also in LED LCDs).

I would like to find the exact cause for my problems. Is it the flicker? Is it the brightness? Or something else?

Only if i know this, then I know how to take care for my eyes. Does anyone know how to find this out?


all suggestions are welcome,

thanks,

Anton



izzeme
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25 Apr 2012, 9:23 am

probarbly a combination of the two.

i make sure that my computer screens (i use a dual setup) are on low intensity while i am in a well lit room, and i also have a small lamp behind the screens to produce backlight, should i start to feel uncomfertable.
also, i have installed some mods that allow me to finetune the flicker rate, my, new-ish, main screen is on 66 hz, but the secondary, older one is tuned to 85 hz, since it indeed uses a large pulse width, which especially hurts in the corners of my eyes (or when i look at the main screen, which is most of the time)



TechnoDog
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25 Apr 2012, 9:29 am

I can't see this flicker.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVkytBtMw68[/youtube]

But I can see this one. Volume turns off it shows.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4BlSIhtrBU&feature=related[/youtube]

I can see this one. Volume peaks it shows.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VcSTGTEegQ&feature=related[/youtube]

Badly manufactured is my guess. Think it is the sound vibration that triggers it. Because that just looks nutz the silent one.


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Last edited by TechnoDog on 25 Apr 2012, 10:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

impulse94
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25 Apr 2012, 9:38 am

You should be able to change the brightness at will.

For an old CRT monitor, work with the Refresh rate. I once helped a friend with his computer and could not see how he could even work on it with a refresh rate of 60. Higher is better, it reduces the flickering.

Also, if you have a fan near the monitor it can affect the electron gun and cause flickering. Took me a while to figure that one out!



TechnoDog
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25 Apr 2012, 10:02 am

Well if it has just started hurting. Your either staring at the screen or you stopped blinking. Would be my guess.


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TheTigress
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25 Apr 2012, 2:17 pm

The flicking on old CRT monitors botheres me a lot, especially now that I'm so used to LCDs. I knew instantly when a CRT monitor was on a low refresh rate so I'd go and change it in the settings to something higher if possible. It seems like no one else notices the flicker but it drives me insane. LCD monitors don't bother me at all.



glider18
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28 Apr 2012, 9:52 pm

I think I can remember the flicker on those old monitors too. I don't use those very often at all now. What mainly bothers me is the brightness. When I wake up, my wife is usually already on her laptop or Kindle. She often askes me look at something on the screen, and I can't because of the brightness. It takes me awhile to allow my eyes to adjust to the screen after having been asleep. But even during the day, I often find certain things hurtfully bright---like glares off of cars and windows that don't seem to bother others. I get my glasses made with an anti-glare coating that helps somewhat. But I need to take my glasses off to work on the computer because of the way my eyes focus anymore.


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