I am in the market to replace my current monitor with one that may be better for my eyes, if there are such monitors?
I am an Architect and spend about 6 hours a day, 4.5 days a week working in front of it, mostly drawing in CAD. Having briefly read up on the topic, I see there are available ‘flicker free’ screens and wondered if that was something that required much consideration when considering eye care. I presume there are likely to be other technical considerations that one should take note and therefore, I thought the Forum would be a good resource for those with practical knowledge and experience on this matter.
The budget would very much be determined by any known ‘eye care’ benefits…if this is something that can be determined at all. Having said that, I really can’t see myself spending over £350 as a guideline, although if there are any recommendations over that price, do please suggest as it would be useful to know as part of the specific topic of, monitors that have ‘eye care’ specifications built in.
I’ve always used NEC screens that can be calibrated for my photography business, but considerably over your budget. But they are a solid manufacturer so might be a good place to start looking downline. You don’t say what you currently have or size.
However, firstly I would get your eye tested to see if you need glasses or if already wearing a different prescription for monitor work.
£350 doesn’t seem much to me, I spent more than this for my current monitor some years ago, which I use for photography. I think to get a good quality large monitor you will need to spend significantly more than this. Dell sells some good monitors and looking at their website would be a good place to start. Personally I would choose one with an IPS ( In Plane Switching) screen because the colour rendition is more accurate with this type of monitor.
My eyes were last tested about two years ago and I have a set of glasses for working at the monitor, but not specifically for that. So, do you mean that eye tests can be specific to monitor work?
Hmm, with regards to the price, even in the professional range, the price range is so vast. I am under the impression that one can expect to stop at a certain price point before It’s simply a matter of cost outweighing benefits.
£350 is the price I have generally paid for my monitors without getting too seduced. If there are indeed monitors that include some form of eye care technology, whatever that maybe, then perhaps I would pay it, but not for technology that simply enhances colour sharpness that would be imperceptible. For photography, for example I can see the point, but that’s not really something crucial in my work.
Depends on size and spec you are looking for but Benq have a range called eyecare. I’ve had a 27 inch for a few years and it doesn’t give me any problem as a glasses wearer.
Like you @JOF I spend far too many hours a day intently studying a computer monitor, including CAD working. I think that getting the largest and highest resolution screen you can afford can help but also that you get your eyes tested. Consider special ‘clerical or office glasses’ which can be optimised for reading paperwork and screen use.
I have a 34” curved hi res screen made by Dell, its the best the office would run to for me, in terms of productivity it’s the best IT thing the firm has invested in, but I think that an even bigger and higher res screen would be worth it, especially for CAD or when editing/working on multiple documents on screen at the same time.
I recently bought a 27” LG ultrafine 5K display to use with my MacBook Pro. It also has a camera etc built in for Zoom etc. It is very nice but it was nearly £1200…
Put bluntly, the idea that there is a product which can give you less eye strain is a nonsense. There is no such thing, albeit plenty of charlatans willing to tell you that there is.
If you want to reduce eye strain consider the location of your monitor and the length of time you spend on it without breaks. There are some fabulously convoluted explanations as to how flicker causes eye strain but literally zero medical evidence that it does.
Equally, whilst counter intuitive, there us a growing body of evidence that higher resolution screens and larger screens make a far larger contribution to eye strain than flicker etc.
My workplace pre pandemic was trying to foist 49” monitors on us. You cannot imagine my pleasure in presenting them with the preliminary outcomes of some eye research I’d taken part in which showed that larger screens expose our eyes to damaging quantities of extra light; cause physical issues and so on. Extra resolution is also a problem as it asks your eyes to digest an amount of information it generally isn’t used to and doesn’t need to. It can trigger temporary Nystagmus and multiple variants of optical illusions or impacts such as halos or golden sparkles etc.
If you want to reduce eye strain then it really is about nothing more than location and breaks. It’s important to remember that a break is not an opportunity to look at a different screen. Most eye researchers will tell you that the world is becoming more myopic (both metaphorically and literally perhaps) because the overwhelming majority of what we do involves focusing on things nearby. The value in walking outside; lifting your head up and focusing on clouds going by for 10 minutes is huge.
I wasn’t really a believer in high end screens until recently. I use them for at least 8 hours most days and have done so for the last 25 years. My eyes are not perfect but i don’t need glasses, so lucky me. Ive gone steadily up in size over the years and have found some screens better than others. Whilst some screens that claim low eye strain can be good and are better than others, the price and marketing has never really been a good indicator. Until now. I recently got 2x 32” Eizo pro 4K screens and wow, the difference is genuine and immediate. Sadly so is the hole in your pocket at about £1200 a piece…
I was initially wondering on, flicker free, adaptable low light technology and low blue light technology for screens and thinking how much scientific evidence there was to show these aspects help reduce monitor eye strain. The issue of ‘blue light’ is currently topical with reference to eye strain though.
With regards to size, I have never felt the need to buy big. It seems to me that size is really relative to distance, and on a standard desk width, there is a comfortable limit.
From my experience and from info I’ve gathered over the years, higher quality screens do reduce eye strain. Alot. The pixel count, definition of each pixel, contrast ratio, purity of the white, setting the optimum font size for the eye to screen distance, brightness of the screen, illumination of the room, glare from ambient light and the list rolls on.
Also from my experience, getting involved in advice to forums is usually a bad idea. There’s enough for you to be going on with, but £350 won’t get you anything useful.
Most modern decent LCD screens won’t suffer with flicker as they refresh differently to older screens.
Better screens have higher resolutions and wider colour gamuts that essentially (like good hifi) take the effort out of reaching the information, and so are easier on the eyes.
Larger means easier reading, more on the screen with less clutter, and higher resolution is clearer and easier to read. But a decent screen is likely to be close to four figures than you might be looking. As an architect its presumably vat free and pre-tax money so at least half the ticket price. I’d spend more and have an easier time, tbh.
I’m a glasses wearer and haven’t noticed my eyes feeling less strained due to any particular monitor technology per se. However, a few years ago I upgraded from a 17" (I think) to a 22" and the difference I felt to my eyes was immediate. I realised that I’d been squinting at the screen for years!
Then recently, I bought a new monitor stand which allows me to work standing up but most importantly, pull the screen closer to my face for spreadsheets or intricate graphic design work.
My advice, get as a big a monitor as you have room for and then stick it on a decent, fully adjustable stand.
Finally, Mrs McFaddons glasses are apparently made with lenses more suitable for screen work. She reckons they’re better than her last pair…
I have a pair of ‘working’ eyeglasses that are optimized for computer and reading distances (they are progressives but for near range) and those help. Blue light screen would be useless if you need to have something color correct, but not sure if that’s the case with CAD. Eizo and NEC are the go to’s for photography at the moment as they use LUT’s for calibration (also some Chinese brand I forget the name of and possibly a Dell model). But yeah, you are looking at four figures.
Thats right, the cost would be a company expense, and the company could afford a monitor at four figures, but is it really necessary? Need to be convinced that a professional monitor at 1000 pounds is that much better than one at 500 pounds as I guess the size factor increased the cost quite a lot when the technology remains the same. I think the technology spec would be weighted higher than overall size for me.
Its a shame one can’t home demo monitors, that would be ideal.
Just checked my current monitor, it is a Philips 22 inch. LED monitor, old model.
Ok, I see that most people would be horrified to see me working on such a small screen, but I dont find it an issue. But I am of course open to bringing the size up if that means that it would make my day to day viewing experience more comfortable on the eyes.
I guess there is always the possibility to return the product after 14 days, money back. Its probably worth the hassle once I choose two or three I have researched.
Well, the Forum advice part was more to garner the full spectrum of experience, like yours and Mikes above. As you can probably tell, my initial attitude towards monitor price is tinged with scepticism.
I have worked in Architectural offices and my experience tells me that standard architectural workstations from Dell, for example, are bundled with standard workstation monitors.
But then that may be the issue with me, as I have never really experienced high end monitors, I cant judge whether the huge cost outlay is justified or is just simply marketing ‘artisan monitors’.
Would love to see this “info” as my understanding from the research I took part in during 2019 is that every single pseudo claim for benefits is now easy to formally refute. If you want less eye strain then rest your eyes.
