Computer Monitors and Eyes Strain/Headaches

NeoTesseract

Of the grey Stone City of Ib
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I've considered this for a while, though I cannot come to a definite conclusion, but my personal experience tells me that the bigger your monitor is the more likely you are to suffer from headaches or eyestrain. Lot's of factors are to be considered however; the distance between yourself and the monitor, contrast, resolution, refresh rate etc....

However , I would like to hear personal experiences from those who have tried a great variety of monitors of varying sizes and resolutions. Have you felt more comfortable using monitors of a certain size? resolution? Refresh rate? Backlighting? over others?

Please let me know.

(Currently downgraded to a Dell E170S "17 monitor @ 75hz because my Acer GD235HZ "23 monitor @120hz was giving me headaches)
 
I used to have terrible eye strain when using computers and TVs...thank goodness for modern technology! On my experimental PC I use a CRT that runs at 1800x1440 100hz and the high frequency doesn't bother me, but granted I don't use that monitor for extended periods of time very often. Mostly I use a Dell E207WFP 1680x1050 60hz monitor and while it is comfortable to look at, the lower frequency sometimes causes retina burn.

In my experience though, HD resolutions and progressive refresh rates in the 60-100hz range don't bother me so long as I'm a few feet away from the screen and I keep brightness and contrast both set around 50-60.

Probably the thing that has made the biggest difference for me though is something that I would never have thought of without someone telling me about it, and that is color temperature. You actually really need your monitor to adjust to different color temperatures to fit the time of day/amount of light in the room, else you can strain your eyes really bad. F.lux is a small program that can do this for you; it's terrific. Works on Windows, Mac, Linux and even iOS if you're jailbroken. I use my PC a lot at night and the difference F.lux makes is phenomenal. You might think your screen looks weird at first, but you get used to it, and the benefit is worth the adjustment.
 
When i first bought my 42'' tv a few years back it took about a week for me my eyes to adjust to it. I couldnt play games for long before my eyes would really start to hurt. Im about 10-12 ft away when i play games or watch dvds. Funnily enough DVDs and tv never hurt my eyes, it was only gaming that made them sore. If im on the laptop too long i can get pretty bad headaches so usually i have the brightness turned all the way down whenever i turn it on. That lets me stay on the laptop without getting that behind the eyes headache. Some games always tell you to take a 15 minute break every hour you play. Now no gamer i know is ever gunna do that. your too into the game to stop every hour but resting your eyes once in a while does help. Playing a game with a sore head is a right pain.
 
I have a 10 inch screen and a 18 inch screen and I honestly get headaches from both. so I don't think the bigger the screen or the smaller the screen really has any determining factor in the whole matter. :huh:

If im on the laptop too long i can get pretty bad headaches so usually i have the brightness turned all the way down whenever i turn it on. That lets me stay on the laptop without getting that behind the eyes headache. Some games always tell you to take a 15 minute break every hour you play. Now no gamer i know is ever gunna do that. your too into the game to stop every hour but resting your eyes once in a while does help. Playing a game with a sore head is a right pain.
Same. I'm prone for getting migraines anyway so I'm always careful about the brightness of my laptop screen. If it's too bright I get that "behind the eyes headache" and it lasts for hours. So turning my laptop screen really really dull does help some.

I've never heard about the taking a break every 15 minutes though, I can definitely do that method to avoid headaches so I'll keep it in mind :lew:
 
It was mentioned in old ps1 games and more recently from what i remember during the loading screens in metal gear solid 4. Also i watched the mummy 1 and 2 yesterday hahaha. How strange you have evi in your sig :lew: Its a shame the third film sucked so bad :(
 
It was mentioned in old ps1 games and more recently from what i remember during the loading screens in metal gear solid 4. Also i watched the mummy 1 and 2 yesterday hahaha. How strange you have evi in your sig :lew: Its a shame the third film sucked so bad :(
Really? I never saw that in any games I played :lew: i probably just didn't care to pay attention for it tbh :wacky:

omgosh someone else who likes the mummy :ohoho: yeah, the third film was really bad :sad: but the first two were great as far as im concerned :ohoho:
 
When i first bought my 42'' tv a few years back it took about a week for me my eyes to adjust to it. I couldnt play games for long before my eyes would really start to hurt. Im about 10-12 ft away when i play games or watch dvds. Funnily enough DVDs and tv never hurt my eyes, it was only gaming that made them sore.


Funny you should mention that. I have always had a huge problem with FPS. I could play stereoscopic 2D and 3D games fine without any headaches or eyestrain. However, whenever I attempt at playing a FPS
I start feeling dizzy after 15 minutes of gameplay. I noticed that if I avoid sharp or sudden turns in-game I can play for around 20-30 minutes max without wanting to barf. However, I can go ahead and play something like Silent Hill or Final Fantasy for hours (if I had the time) and not experience this malady.

Am I the only one?
 
At the time it was actually call of duty MW2 i was playing which was giving me the real bad eyes and headache. So you might be onto something there.

Also i seem to remember mitsuki saying she felt sick and dizzy whenever she played FPS games so you might not be the only one.
 
lol I have my sensitivity at 7 when playing COD and no problems whatsoever. I get headaches occasionally and eye sore but thats probably because I smoke in my room. I can play hours straight and no problems. As for computers, laptops and tv no problem.

Ive come to learn tht most headaches are caused because your brain has insufficient fluids circulating. I tend to drink way more now when gaming etc. I used to get caught up in Final Fantasy I rarely took breaks and ate or drank.

Breaks are important though and dont get too close to the screens. I get eye sore now when I watch 3d on my tv. I never use it.
 
I find screens at bigger resloutions give me bad eyestrain, I personally run my pc on a 720p tv at 1366x768 and I bearly get headaches, but when using my mum pc 'which is 1080p at the same size 'both screens are 22 inch screens' I get terrible headaches using my mum's pc even with my glasses on, so you could try using a screen at a small resloution :)
 
At the time it was actually call of duty MW2 i was playing which was giving me the real bad eyes and headache. So you might be onto something there.

Also i seem to remember mitsuki saying she felt sick and dizzy whenever she played FPS games so you might not be the only one.


So a quick search on google reveals similar reports in regard to FPS and ailments.

Seems people do suffer certain symptoms similar to what some of us here have experienced, though the acuteness
of them varies from person to person. I've only had a chance to peek at them (different threads online), but from what I can gather from personal
experience I formulated a conjecture; though rustic it may be...

The headaches caused by FPS are similar to the headaches caused when reading during a car ride. I remember
reading somewhere online that the reason why you might get a headache when you are riding a car and reading at the same time is
caused by a confusion in your brain. Your body is stationary, and so is your gaze, however your brain also processes movement
during turns and acceleration but that doesn't add up because letters and a piece of paper don't behave that way. So the carsickness
is your brain working hard and trying to assimilate what is going on (Some say that we would suffer a similar sickness if we wandered
into a 4th physical dimension, though that is mere speculation). Similar to this, when you play FPS, the sickness one may
experience is caused by the sudden movements in first person onscreen and the lack of movement from your body. The sickness is
your brain trying assimilate what is going on.

I think.
 
I think sickness/dizziness is different from headaches. Cause motion sickness has more to do with your balance organ which is in your ears.

Im not sure though but about the brain it causes headaches and eye sore but the balance organ has bigger part with motion sickness.

Im glad I am used to fast images and frames, it seems a lot of ppl have problems when gaming a FPS. That sucks. I even had to increase my sensitivity to play normal. It was just too slow for me on default.
 
I think sickness/dizziness is different from headaches. Cause motion sickness has more to do with your balance organ which is in your ears.

Im not sure though but about the brain it causes headaches and eye sore but the balance organ has bigger part with motion sickness.

Im glad I am used to fast images and frames, it seems a lot of ppl have problems when gaming a FPS. That sucks. I even had to increase my sensitivity to play normal. It was just too slow for me on default.


Mmmmm. here is an interesting blog entry I found, titled:

"Simulation Sickness: Game Sickness, Dizziness, Vertigo, Nausea and Epilepsy"

Here's a quote I found interesting, it is relating to sickness experienced in FPS:

"When I was young, the first game I picked up to play on my old 286 system was Duke Nukem. I was 8 years old and I played that game for 10 minutes with a friend. That game made me sick and I vomited shortly after. My gaming career is too long to detail here but I can list down games that have made me sick over these years, and most of them are FPS games. I avoid playing FPS games or games with a dodgy camera, which is one of the reasons for this feeling. I must also say that this feeling has started to climb down in the recent years, not because of my age but because of the advance in technology and how the games are made.

The patterns in video games that trigger this feeling may differ from one person to the other and that is entirely on how a person perceives or processes the information in front of him. Let me explain this through an example:

One knows that when a pilot controls an aero plane, he pulls the control lever downwards to make the plane go upwards. Now when you play games that simulate flight behaviors, they give you the same controls. If you press down on your controller d-pad, the plane should go up. But if those controls do not respond the way, your mind thinks they should, you will feel uncomfortable and might say that it is unrealistic. So whenever you play a game, the information you engulf with your eyes is readily processed by your brain and if your brain evaluates the information to be wrong or “not the way it wants it to be”, it will cause this feeling. Thus, this feeling can differ from one person to the other. Your brother can keep playing a game for hours and not feel dizzy but you might get sick looking at him play, in 5 minutes."


http://blog.tabinda.net/misc/game-sickness-dizziness-vertigo-nausea-and-epilepsy/


I truly believe that further studies should be conducted by academics, for certain type of games could be potentially hazardous to the health of certain people. Although realistically, if a game is making you sick the wise thing to do is to stop playing. It would still make for an interesting study.
 
I never get headaches from electronics. I get headaches more from the people I'm surrounded by on a daily basis. We've had 3 different Laptops, and nothing. A tablet, nothing. Our small phone screens, nothing.

We even had this giant TV (no lie, this thing was fudging massive) and I could watch it no problem.

So there. People cause my headaches.
 
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