laptop eye strain
July 11, 2008 2:06 AM Subscribe
how can i lessen the strain on my eyes from my laptop?
I am a journalism student and writer. I spend far too much of my life in front of a computer. Just how bad is it that I stare at this screen for 4-6 hours a day or more? Are there screen covers that you can buy to take some of the glare out? Or something like that??
Thanks
I am a journalism student and writer. I spend far too much of my life in front of a computer. Just how bad is it that I stare at this screen for 4-6 hours a day or more? Are there screen covers that you can buy to take some of the glare out? Or something like that??
Thanks
If your machine(s) are Windows based, and use LCD displays (or laptop), have you enabled and "tuned" ClearType?
posted by paulsc at 2:37 AM on July 11, 2008
posted by paulsc at 2:37 AM on July 11, 2008
Are there screen covers that you can buy to take some of the glare out?
There are anti-glare filters available, such as these from 3M.
posted by hellopanda at 2:59 AM on July 11, 2008
There are anti-glare filters available, such as these from 3M.
posted by hellopanda at 2:59 AM on July 11, 2008
Have you thought about using a high contrast theme? Usulay white text on a black background. It worked for me when I worked nights.
posted by gergtreble at 3:32 AM on July 11, 2008
posted by gergtreble at 3:32 AM on July 11, 2008
Just how bad is it that I stare at this screen for 4-6 hours a day or more?
This article talks about Computer Vision Syndrome, and it says that no one has proven that it can cause any kind of permanent damage. It does have a few very annoying short term symptoms though, so it's worth trying to avoid.
how can i lessen the strain on my eyes
I second the ClearType suggestion and the dark high-contrast suggestion. I work as a programmer and I spend most of my working day staring at code. When I used to use black text on a white background, at the end of the day it would hurt to stare at the screen and I'd get a kind of "burned in" feeling from the white background. Now that I use white on black and ClearType, there is much less strain.
Also, don't do 4-6 hours straight with no breaks. At least once an hour get up and look out a window or something so that you can focus on far away objects rather than close up objects. That will let your eyes relax because there is less strain when focusing on distant objects.
posted by burnmp3s at 5:59 AM on July 11, 2008
This article talks about Computer Vision Syndrome, and it says that no one has proven that it can cause any kind of permanent damage. It does have a few very annoying short term symptoms though, so it's worth trying to avoid.
how can i lessen the strain on my eyes
I second the ClearType suggestion and the dark high-contrast suggestion. I work as a programmer and I spend most of my working day staring at code. When I used to use black text on a white background, at the end of the day it would hurt to stare at the screen and I'd get a kind of "burned in" feeling from the white background. Now that I use white on black and ClearType, there is much less strain.
Also, don't do 4-6 hours straight with no breaks. At least once an hour get up and look out a window or something so that you can focus on far away objects rather than close up objects. That will let your eyes relax because there is less strain when focusing on distant objects.
posted by burnmp3s at 5:59 AM on July 11, 2008
nthing the suggestions to switch to a dark background and light-colored text. a friend once commented that staring into a screen with a white background and dark text is essentially like staring into a lightbulb. word and adobe acrobat have options to make the background dark with light text.
posted by puritycontrol at 6:32 AM on July 11, 2008
posted by puritycontrol at 6:32 AM on July 11, 2008
If you have a Mac, or are running OS X, simply hit Ctrl+Option+Command+8 and your display will invert. I swap the display back and for like this about once an hour when spending a lot of time in front of the computer.
posted by self at 7:07 AM on July 11, 2008 [6 favorites]
posted by self at 7:07 AM on July 11, 2008 [6 favorites]
Clear type is an excellent technology. Also the light text on a dark background, and I find that choosing a grayish background with type that's as dark as I can take. Use color for contrast, not brightness.
Ambient lighting is also important- I find I get less eyestrain when the light is such that the screen's brightness is about equal to the rest of the light in the room. So when I close my eyes there isn't a square shaped residual image.
The most important thing is to look up and focus on things farther away so that my eye's focusing muscles don't get "cramped" focusing on one thing.
posted by gjc at 7:22 AM on July 11, 2008
Ambient lighting is also important- I find I get less eyestrain when the light is such that the screen's brightness is about equal to the rest of the light in the room. So when I close my eyes there isn't a square shaped residual image.
The most important thing is to look up and focus on things farther away so that my eye's focusing muscles don't get "cramped" focusing on one thing.
posted by gjc at 7:22 AM on July 11, 2008
Also when you see your eye doctor mention that you use the computer a lot. I know in my case the doc could have made my prescription a little stronger for far away work, but since I do so much close up all the time (and I have really bad eyes) it made sense not to tweak it up a notch.
Keeping the monitor at a good height (laptop stand and external keyboard or external monitor if you can afford it) may also help some since then your eyes aren't so close to the screen. (I tend to hunch over very close to the screen when just using the laptop).
posted by ejaned8 at 9:01 AM on July 11, 2008
Keeping the monitor at a good height (laptop stand and external keyboard or external monitor if you can afford it) may also help some since then your eyes aren't so close to the screen. (I tend to hunch over very close to the screen when just using the laptop).
posted by ejaned8 at 9:01 AM on July 11, 2008
You should try workrave (http://workrave.com). It helps me a lot. You don't mention if you actually are having pain though; if not, 4-6 hours doesn't seem too bad compared to a lot of office jobs.
posted by Post-it Goat at 10:29 AM on July 11, 2008
posted by Post-it Goat at 10:29 AM on July 11, 2008
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Also, taking a break here and there is a good idea.
posted by clearly at 2:16 AM on July 11, 2008