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I just started wearing glasses exclusively for computer use. 20/20 vision and I have to wear glasses for eye strain. Too much working in the dark in front of 3 monitors, so now I have glasses and a whole lot of lighting (but still no glares). My opthamologist said it definitely can't hurt to get rid of CRT's in favor of LCDs also. Prio.com has lots of tips for needing to avoid using their products, and for finding a opthamologist who can get you glasses.

I've noticed that I'm suffering a lot less eye-strain since I switched

That might actually have something to do with switching to LCD from CRT. CRT's can cause eye strain because text displayed on them doesn't have the crisp definition compared to printed text, and it causes your eyes to lose focus and rest at a point further beyond the screen. It is referred to as Computer Vision Syndrome and they even have special computer glasses that are used to move this resting point to where the screen is. The flickering refresh rate of CRT's can cause eye strain as well. I think LCD's reduce the eye strain because of the crisp clarity of the pixels, as well as the fact that there is no refresh rate flicker.

I actually think that anti-aliasing fonts, ClearType, and Quartz text rendering on OS X may actually hinder some of the benefits of switching to LCD, because although they may eliminate the "jaggies" in text characters, they also reduce some of the crisp edges of fonts on LCD displays. But it is probably still better than text on CRT's. Horizontal lines in text using ClearType and Quartz text rendering still have the crisp edges of LCD pixels, so that probably helps keep eye focus.

It was a little weird for the first couple of days, but now I don't even notice the difference

I've noticed the same thing with Quartz rendering in OS X. When it first came out, a lot of people complained about it, saying it was a bad feature. I felt strange using it at first as well, but after a while I found I actually preferred it. Things that don't have it, like Java applets and the Console application, just don't look as good.

Lots of people posted in a previous Ask Slashdot that if you use a computer, PRIO vision could be for you.

From the FAQ:
"It's a new technology, and a method for testing and prescribing occupational glasses for patients who have symptoms of eyestrain when working at a computer."

PC Magazine's Jim Seymour has periodically advocated special PRIO computer eyeglasses. ("The Civil Workplace") Apparently eyestrain is due to standard eyeglasses being tuned for a printed page, which doesn't refresh like a CRT does. PRIO's explanatory page goes into further detail. I don't know personally how well this works, but it might be worth a shot.

PC Magazine's Jim Seymour has periodically advocated special PRIO computer eyeglasses. ("The Civil Workplace") Apparently eyestrain is due to standard eyeglasses being tuned for a printed page, which doesn't refresh like a CRT does. PRIO's explanatory page goes into further detail. I don't know personally how well this works, but it might be worth a shot.

The last time I saw an eye doctor in San Jose, he told me about the PRIO test, which calculates a prescription specifically for use when working with a computer -- if you already wear glasses, you wear the PRIO glasses instead; if you have contacts, you wear the PRIO glasses with your contacts.

The idea is that the computer glasses allow you to focus on the screen without having to strain your eyes -- according to PRIO, when you look at a computer screen, your eyes tend to focus beyond the screen, resulting in eyestrain as your eyes constantly try to focus closer in. That seems to fit with what I remember my doctor saying about the glasses encouraging underfocusing.

Alas, I never followed up on these, but there's a fair bit of stuff out there on the Web (look for ``PRIO''). Two articles on the Motion Picture Editors' Guild website might also be of interest:

• http://www.editorsguild.com/newsletter/eyes.html
• http://www.editorsguild.com/newsletter/eyes2.html

You might want to try some or all of the other suggestions people have made here first (replacing overhead fluorescent lighting with indirect lighting, increasing your system's refresh rate, lowering the resolution of your monitor so you have larger characters, adjusting the brightness and contrast, etc.), but if you're still having problems, you might want to look into these glasses. If you have a health plan that includes eyecare, these glasses might be covered, and you also might be able to get coverage under the new OSHA ergonomics regulations.

Needless to say, you should take anything that PRIO says with a grain of salt -- while their product may do wonders, they have a vested interest in people believing that it works. Your eye doctor may, too, especially if he or she is selling the glasses, too, and not just examining your eyes (at the very least, there's the cost of the test; if you decide to get PRIO glasses, you're talking about new lenses and frames, and fashionable frames tend to be very expensive). Do some research -- see what people on the 'Net have to say, and if you know people with these glasses, be sure to talk to them about their experiences!

The last time I saw an eye doctor in San Jose, he told me about the PRIO test, which calculates a prescription specifically for use when working with a computer -- if you already wear glasses, you wear the PRIO glasses instead; if you have contacts, you wear the PRIO glasses with your contacts.

The idea is that the computer glasses allow you to focus on the screen without having to strain your eyes -- according to PRIO, when you look at a computer screen, your eyes tend to focus beyond the screen, resulting in eyestrain as your eyes constantly try to focus closer in. That seems to fit with what I remember my doctor saying about the glasses encouraging underfocusing.

Alas, I never followed up on these, but there's a fair bit of stuff out there on the Web (look for ``PRIO''). Two articles on the Motion Picture Editors' Guild website might also be of interest:

• http://www.editorsguild.com/newsletter/eyes.html
• http://www.editorsguild.com/newsletter/eyes2.html

You might want to try some or all of the other suggestions people have made here first (replacing overhead fluorescent lighting with indirect lighting, increasing your system's refresh rate, lowering the resolution of your monitor so you have larger characters, adjusting the brightness and contrast, etc.), but if you're still having problems, you might want to look into these glasses. If you have a health plan that includes eyecare, these glasses might be covered, and you also might be able to get coverage under the new OSHA ergonomics regulations.

Needless to say, you should take anything that PRIO says with a grain of salt -- while their product may do wonders, they have a vested interest in people believing that it works. Your eye doctor may, too, especially if he or she is selling the glasses, too, and not just examining your eyes (at the very least, there's the cost of the test; if you decide to get PRIO glasses, you're talking about new lenses and frames, and fashionable frames tend to be very expensive). Do some research -- see what people on the 'Net have to say, and if you know people with these glasses, be sure to talk to them about their experiences!