TR Forums

Hi there,

I have recently found it very difficult to read anything on my computer monitor for any length of time without having to squint out of sheer fact that the screen feels way to "digital" (might not be the best word). I should add that I don't have any problems reading any solid print material or any eye problems at all for that matter looking at real world objects.

I am using a 19" wide Acer LCD monitor at a 1440x900 resolution, with - 60Hz refresh rate. The specific monitor will not run at a higher refresh rate on the 1440x900 native resolution, and I am wondering if this is where the problem lies. It feels like looking at a CRT with 60Hz refresh rate, although I know LCDs differ in the manner in which they refresh.

At any rate, does anyone have any good recommendations as to where I should go from here so that reading on my computer monitor would be a more enjoyable experience? Should I look into finding a monitor that will do 75Hz on the native resolution, or perhaps a different brand would offer other features that would help ease the eye strain? Could it even have something to do with my graphics card?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. much thanks!

The first thing I would do is turn the brightness down if you havent already. For me light text on a dark background is a lot more readable than the opposite is. The light colored theme on TR will give me a headache in 10 minutes flat but the blue theme doesnt bother me at all. Other than that I dont really have any ideas for you .

I agree with Hance.

It also helps me to be in a well-lit room on my computer.

Since switching to LCD ive had no eyestrain issues personally, and as has already been said brightness is the main culprit for any irritation with LCDs. I may be wrong but I don't think refresh rate is a problem for LCDs (at least for viewing text, it may be more noticable where panning in movies or gaming)

Is the text sharp enough? May be you are using VGA output and the text is getting blurry on the monitor? The monitor may not be good to begin with too. Also trying ClearType may help.

If it's a sudden thing, I would see an ophthalmologist too.

Every LCD I've had was running in torch mode upon starting it up for the fist time. Turn down the brightness and the contrast. It's a good idea to have some ambient light in the room (at night), since viewing an LCD in the dark causes the blacks to look more grayish and can cause eye strain. I use a desk lamp and have it placed near the side of my monitor and slightly back.

Yeah, I can't stress enough how much easier it is to stare at a computer screen all day when the screen is similar brightness to your surroundings.

Flying Fox wrote:

Also trying ClearType may help.

definitely do that if you haven't already. it makes it look more crt-like, and less "digital".

Actually I think I've been sitting to far from my monitor... *blonde moment*

I randomly leaned into my monitor to read an article last night and noticed that I didn't have to squint nearly as much and in fact was quite comfortable reading the entire text. Thanks for all the suggestions though, I'm sure they will all help as well!