Big monitor, big monitor, talk about eyestrain, my girl's got 'er

November 4, 2009 8:17 AM

We're a Mac office, and we rotate the computers around when we get new ones. So imagine my delight when I got my weird 15" G4 monitor magically replaced with my boss' 24" iMac! w00t!... except that the giant size really spaces me out. Help!

I've seen this question, but I don't think that's the same thing.

The computer is in the corner of my L-shaped desk. I did place it farther back on the desk (it's maybe 18" away now), and that helps, but I still seem to be squinting at it. Which is weird, because it's perfectly clear and I have no problems with high resolutions. I think I just don't really know what to focus on.

I'm mildly nearsighted but still need to wear glasses; with glasses, I'm pretty acute.

I do enjoy having the space to keep multiple windows open. For reference, when I work I typically have maybe two or three Word or Excel windows open with an expanded Firefox window on the side and other stuff minimized or in the background.

Adding to all this is the fact that I have absolutely awful desk posture, and sometimes I end up slumping reeeeeeally far down. I've found myself doing this a lot since I've gotten the new monitor, for whatever reason.

So. What kinds of things should I be doing with this thing? Lower the brightness? Lower the resolution just for kicks? Move it back so it's a full yard from my head? Sit fully upright at all times at the highest level of my chair's extension? Get tinted glasses (are they expensive? do I leave them at work?) Any and all ideas, however wacky, are welcome.

Thanks!

posted by Madamina to computers & internet (13 comments total)

I think there are settings in Appearance to blow up the size of the interface, but I'll let someone else tackle the details of that (or leave you to Google ;). However, the thing that sticks out for me is that you gotta fix your body.

You don't say what kind of chair you have, but the basic routine for me is: feet flat on the floor, raise or lower your chair until the angle at your knees is 90 degrees. If you have tilt, you want to make it so the front edge of the chair is not digging into the underside of your thighs. Straighten the back up so that you are sitting erect. The top of the screen should be at eye-level from here, and the keyboard should be low enough that you don't have to rest your forearms and your elbows are 90deg as well.
posted by rhizome at 8:30 AM on November 4, 2009

IME you get used to it. When I replaced my 17" with a 22" widescreen I found myself hunched over and squinting at it (or leaning back squinting at it trying to fit it all in my view at the same time, depending on what I was doing). I've had it for a few months now and its fine, no more hunching or squinting. I don't know how long it took me to get used to it, I honestly hadn't noticed that I had until you posted this question
posted by missmagenta at 8:31 AM on November 4, 2009

I recently changed my monitor from 17 to 22inch and found (still find) the exact same.
The best advice I could give to help is whack down the brightness and contrast to bare minmum.

As soon as you do that, not only is it better for your eyes so they don't end up drawing in incadescent light rays (as long as you are not straining, books and forest scenery don't have harsh backlights and we love looking at those) but it is a lot more "organic" feeling.

The main problem of changing to a large monitor is that your eyes expect your Peripheral vision to be constant eg: not moving. And by having such a large screen you take that anchor away from your eyes so everything you are taking in is has a lot more glare and is more powerful.

To stop this, brightness and contrast down - have the MOST serene and easy backdrop you can (avoid blocks of white and black at all costs) something that is primarily made of 2/3 colours that fade into eachother is perfect.

Also, when working on projects: I would reccomend still only "using" a small portion of the screen. For example restore down your windows and keep them at a managable size, that way the windows that you do use are essentialy the same as they used to be and the rest of the screen is trying to be as "unnoticable" as possible.

Hope this helps :)
posted by Cogentesque at 8:41 AM on November 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

What's the actual problem? You've made vague references to eyestrain, being "spaced out", "not knowing what to focus on", find yourself squinting at it — what is the actual bad effect you're trying to get help with? Things are too small to see well? Sorry if this was obvious to other commenters, but I'm totally spaced out by your post.
posted by floam at 8:48 AM on November 4, 2009 [2 favorites]

Well, at this point, they're all kind of the actual problem. I know neither on what I should focus, screenwise (having much more visible on my screen than I am used to) nor what issue -- ergonomics, brightness, etc. -- to tackle first in hopes of lessening the impact of other problems. So, yeah, I'm a bit confused, ergo the "spaced out."

Does that make more sense?
posted by Madamina at 9:10 AM on November 4, 2009

The main difference for me was that I was used to maximizing every window. Once I stopped doing that on my 23" it was much easier to read. It sounds like you're doing that, but maybe you still have the information you're reading too big to take in? Windows 7 has a neat feature where you drag a window to one side and it automatically takes up half the screen on that side. I find myself using it all the time on my new monitor, maybe Macs have something similar?
posted by IanMorr at 9:17 AM on November 4, 2009

FWIW, I had all of the same problems you're talking about when my work computer switched to a really wide-screen monitor. I've had it for about a year now though, and I eventually got completely used to it. Now any sort of smaller screen just looks tiny and awkward to me.
posted by booknerd at 9:18 AM on November 4, 2009

My pro-tip: Move back away from the screen a bit. I used to sit about 1 1/2ft away from my computer, now I have a 24" + 20" and I sit 2-3 feet back.
posted by jedrek at 9:56 AM on November 4, 2009

What Cogentesque said. You also might find Think useful for dealing with all those apps fighting for focus. I use it to keep my main app frontmost, then load and hide the other apps as needed.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 11:04 AM on November 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

Time is your friend.

I went from a 17 inch monitor to a 21 inch, and I thought I was in hell because it felt so different than what I was used to. I found myself constantly searching across the screen for things and getting frustrated by it. Now, years later, I love this monitor.

Think about it: your desk is the same.
Your office is the same.
Your chair is the same.
You're even working with the same software!
And yet, everything feels so different.

You'll get used to it. And, when it comes time to change monitors again, you get to be frustrated all over again until you get used to the new change.

Best of luck!
posted by 2oh1 at 11:34 AM on November 4, 2009

I recently learned (from this question) that "command +" will biggify the font.
posted by Ochre,Hugh at 7:26 PM on November 4, 2009

Best viewing tip I got for home was to light up the wall behind the monitor. I have a desk lamp that shines on the wall creating a diffuse light. Somehow this helps immensely.
posted by chairface at 9:56 PM on November 5, 2009

I know neither on what I should focus, screenwise (having much more visible on my screen than I am used to) nor what issue -- ergonomics, brightness, etc. -- to tackle first in hopes of lessening the impact of other problems.

Your body comes first. The monitor is the second most important part of this setup, and #1 is the chair. Therefore, adjust your chair appropriately, then fit the iMac into that. Depending on how much your environment allows you to adjust the iMac's position, you will adjust the actual screen font/element sizes to finish things off.
posted by rhizome at 1:25 PM on November 6, 2009