Eye strain

[agentbad]

I just got a new monitor acer AL2216WBD which is my first LCD and works great for gaming. However, it kills my eyes after a little while even after I have turned down the contrast to 20 and brightness to 5. Am I doing something wrong or should I blame the monitor.

[tom10167]

Is it killing your eyes in gaming or in text reading etc.?

Either way you can probably stand to turn the brightness down a little more when not gaming. If it's when browsing you can try increasing font size in Windows as well as well as your browser, that helps a LOT.

Also, a good habit to get in to is when you're dead/waiting/bored/whatever just close your eyes for a few seconds, 5-10 is usually enough if you're doing it frequently. Hope that helps!

[Cyrix_2k]

I'm going to go with "you're doing something wrong." Try what Tom said. If your old monitor had larger text, that could be it. Also, if you're using it in a dark room, LCDs are brighter than CRTs, so try turning on some lights.

:edit: not to give you bad ideas, but I have heard of some people being affected by LCDs' backlights. Some of them have a flicker you can't really see, but that is present just like fluorescent lights. Maybe your monitor is like this in which case it would be the monitor's fault.

[Diddyu]

The monitor I have has a setting called DCR or dynamic contrast. Basically it adjusts the light output based on how white or black the average screen is. It can go either way, making light pages darker and dark pages lighter, easing on eyestrain. The other way, making light pages lighter and dark pages darker helps maintain contrast and can be helpful in some games.

[Sarsbaby]

Do you have it on the correct refresh rate? Silly question, but who knows....

I'm used to seeing people, with either CRT's or LCD's, who can't tell the difference between 60hz and 100hz. It does make a difference. Whether you can see it or not, your brain knows. Most LCD's are 60-75hz. Most CRT's are 75-120hz.

I find my ViewSonic VG2230wm to be a saint on my eyes. Especialy when comapred to any CRT. Turn your brightness and contrast down. If you find there is a color drain, turn up the gamma or saturation.

[Cyrix_2k]

Do you have it on the correct refresh rate? Silly question, but who knows....

I'm used to seeing people, with either CRT's or LCD's, who can't tell the difference between 60hz and 100hz. It does make a difference. Whether you can see it or not, your brain knows. Most LCD's are 60-75hz. Most CRT's are 75-120hz.

I find my ViewSonic VG2230wm to be a saint on my eyes. Especialy when comapred to any CRT. Turn your brightness and contrast down. If you find there is a color drain, turn up the gamma or saturation.
To the best of my knowledge, the refresh rate on an LCD doesn't actually affect anything since it's defined as how many times the pixel is redrawn; on LCDs the pixel remains constant until it is changed and does not need to be redrawn.

[Sarsbaby]

To the best of my knowledge, the refresh rate on an LCD doesn't actually affect anything since it's defined as how many times the pixel is redrawn; on LCDs the pixel remains constant until it is changed and does not need to be redrawn.

Ok. I was just taking a guess. I know it mattered on CRT's alot, but I guess not on LCD's.

Agentbad, are you prone to headaches, migraines or motion sickness?

[juane414]

Newer LCDs are a lot brighter and sharper than older ones. If you're used to an older LCD your eyes are probably used to lower contrast, lower brightness, and duller colors. I'd give it a few more days before you do something crazy.

[agentbad]

Migraines possibly but nothing else that I know off. I had the brightness down pretty low on my CRT as well but this thing is far brighter. I wear glass too but my prescription has been constant for about 2 years now. The specs of the acer are very close to the specs of the ViewSonic VG2230wm. I was looking at the HP W2207H as maybe an alternative to this one if I can't get my eyes straight.

[Jotosuds]

i just switched to a 22" 220WM LCD from a 21" trinitron crt @ 1024x768 and i'm experiencing the same thing, although today is a little better than yesterday (which was excruciating)

i turned up all the fonts in windows and firefox and have contrast @ 80 and brightness @ 20 and it's better, but still it feels like looking at a lightbulb when the screen is white and my eyes do feel more strained than my previous monitor

i think you just have to get used to it, after a few days of adjustments and tweaking i think i should be ok.