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Monitors for People with Poor Eyesight?
tuxbeej writes "Just recently I've been told that I may be developing keratoconus, a non-inflammatory eye condition in which the normally round dome-shaped cornea progressively thins causing a cone-like bulge to develop (thanks, NKCF!). As a result, my eyesight will get worse and it's getting harder to see on a 15" monitor. Being 22 years old and studying MIS, I've been hoping to keep my eyesight for a long, long time. Anyway, I was in the market for a new monitor and I was curious to know if anyone has done shopping for a monitor intended for someone with bad eyesight? Are there any recommended sizes, features, brands? It seems like a generic question, but I'm curious to know if certain technologies have any advantages over another or if there is a site out there that handles info like this." We had an older article about CRT's vs. LCD's.
Yeah, it's 1024x768, but it covers the whole wall. Nice contrast, no flicker... hard to see how there'd be any eye strain with that if you have it set up right (proper distance from projector to wall, and between you and wall.)
Of course, the things make a racket.
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
A large LCD would probably be the easiest on the eyes, if not on the wallet. If you can afford a large lcd monitor, I would go for it. Otherwise a large CRT would have to do. That said, any flat screen large monitor is kewl.
It's not just the monitor, but the environment the moniter is used in. I'm 23, and if it weren't for corrective lenses, I'd be legally blind. Now, what works best for me is a nice, flat, 21" monitor.
The flatness of the monitor works very well, since it cuts down on glare. And the nice size of the monitor lets you put some distance between you and it. If you run that big bugger in 1280x1024, you'll be doing fine.
Make sure you don't use the monitor in a darkened room often, that'll cause you problems, and if you wear glasses, it has a pretty good chance of giving you a headache. And if you sit near a window, you might want to get an anti-glare screen. Having bright spots, (either the monitor in a dark room, or glare on the screen) can cost you some vision, given enough time.
Do not be tempted to just run your video at low resolution. I would instead suggest running at a higher resolution, and use better fonts at a larger scale to read; this way they won't look so ragged. Also, anti-aliased fonts might be easier to look at as well.
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I thought this was what Xmag and magnifier was for.
Despite whatever nonsense the latest women's rag is spouting off...
BIGGER IS BETTER.
go for at least 19" and use 1280x1024 res... 21" would probably be better if you can afford it. I seem to be able to read better off my laptop if the text is antialiased properly (a big "if" on linux, unfortunately--the new kde is awesome for this), but i haven't had the chance to compare to a flat-panel monitor that was worth a shit. I think part of the laptop's appeal (aside from portability) is that the screen is much easier to tilt and has a wider range.
I beleive the ultimate solution is to talk to an optometrist about your situation.
:)
I was visiting one just a few months ago and I saw various information on computers and bad eyesight. They might be able to give you information of what you should look for and maybe they might have something that will help you use your computer.
I wouldn't mind a monitor that would fix my slight colour-blindness.
I have definately noticed that an LCD screen is much easier on the eyes. Less strain - more relaxing. Not sure if that would have anything to do with bad eyesight but with an LCD screen you can sit closer to it more comfortably and look at it for longer periods of time.
And bigger is always better...except for dot pitch...small is better there.
On another note with respect to bad eyesight...does anyone really use the high-contrast theme that comes with windows (the white on balck theme)?
Don't think of it as bad vision, think of it as bio-hardware-accelerated antialiasing.
So spend that money that you would have spent on a GeForce 4 and buy a large, flatscreen monitor.
Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
Go for the special foriegn language monitor for english tourists... it will help buy just SHOUTING what you want SLOWLY and CAREFULLY in the hope you finally UNDERSTAND ;)
I first tried hard contacts (to try to flatten the cornea) but just couldn't handle them, so I've stuck to glasses. I'm going to get a new perscription after I move (next month), after 4 years I definately need them. In my case at least having a lot of light helps.
I find that my eyes are less fatigued if I can be farther away from the monitor. That's hard to do in most office situations, and in my small apartment. Ideally I'd like to have a table behind my main desk, to hold the monitor, about 4 feet away from me (and just use a slightly bigger font so I can still read everything).
One thing I did was to get a short-depth monitor. I have a Viewsonic PS790, it's a 19" monitor but the front-to-back size is about that of a 15" monitor, so I can push it farther back on the table. Unfortunately they're not making them any more. Anyone know of a similar monitor still being made? (Eventually I'll go with an LCD, which I'll be able to push way back.)
due to my foolishness, i'm in a simlar situation (but mine is man-made - i underwent a controversial eye surgery in the late 1980's and messed up my vision pretty bad)
i have found the website http://www.surgicaleyes.org to be a good (although somewhat scary) source of info for all sorts of visually-impaired folks - ranging from surgically-induced blindness to keratoconus to corneal transplants.
check out the site - and the bulletin board - and dig around for some links on keratoconus sites and PK (corneal transplant) information.
there is a consensus that keratoconus can be put-off with a good pair of Rigid Gas-Permeable Contacts for quite some time.
also keep in mind you will bump into information about up-and-coming treatments for keratoconus - things like Keraform (an enzyme being developed to re-shape the myopic cornea) and other strange stuff.
anyhow, check it out (and dig around on their message board for strings like 'keratoconus' as well)
good luck!
(and by the way, i'm using RGP contacts to help read a 21" monitor set to about 1280x1024 - so don't rule out the well-fitted contact lens solution!)
I use excel and word at work (don't come after me with the anti-m$ stick, i just downloaded OpenOffice and I'm switching over) and when I've been staring at the screen all day, I end up viewing documents at 150%, then 200% as my eyes get increasingly tired. Sure, it's kind of a pain to judge the format of a page when you can only see 1/8th of it at a time, but it's much easier on the eyes.
This page provides a demo of a font designed to be easy to read on TFT screens. I haven't used it extensively, but the demo seems to be a pretty clear improvement over arial 12-point.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
Six years ago I was diagnosed with Kerataconus, when I was 21. It degenerated rapidly in one eye and I was required to get a cornea transplant - the symptoms in the other eye seemed to slow their degradation.
Anyway, since the transplant I have had to make adjustments to my computer using environment in order to keep my eyes sane - the single biggest improvement is using really, really big fonts that are anti-aliased. For some reason, I've also found that varying the hue of things (dark green text against beige backgrounds, etc) seems to make things easier to read. Also, though I'm sure this won't be an entirely popular suggestion, ever since I switched to Mac OSX from Linux, my eyes have improved dramatically. I have attributed it to the entirely antialiased environment, but it could easily be coincidence.
Good luck.
PS. The good news is that cornea transplants are among the most successful of transplant operations, with an average success rate of 92%. (should you need one).
It's sort of a pet-peeve of mine, but it also relates to monitor clarity.
I can't stand when people crank the brightness control up all the way on their monitors, thinking "brighter is better".
To get the maximum clarity and contrast possible with a given monitor, I recommend turning up the contrast control to around 100%. (Some monitors will draw small fonts a bit too thick or blocky like this. If so, back it off to 95% or even 90%, but probably not any lower than that.)
Then, when you have an image on your screen, you want to turn down the brightness control just far enough so the border around the image appears to be black/not lit up at all.
This combination should be much easier on the eyes. (Especially important when you're at the command line on a full screen text mode, where there's lots of black background.)
Back in 1990-91, I had a co-worker who had no central vision whatsoever. He had a special setup: a special card that magnified the image on his monitor. The output of a CGA card (remember this is 1990) went into the magnifier card, and the output of the magnifier card went to the monitor. The system included a document camera, which could display a magnified image of whatever document was placed under it, on the monitor.
He used two mice on the computer - one for the normal use of a mouse, and another mouse to control the magnification and panning of the hardware card. (Configuring the IRQs for the two mice, serial port, parallel printer, and two video cards was a bitch. Even more so to get Windows 3.0 to run in CGA!)
Today, of course, this system would need to be modernized - a minimum of 1024x768 is required for business, and any magnifier card would need to cope with the increased video bandwidth.
I can't remember what the system was called. Being over 10 years old, it's likely no longer in production in a usable form anyway. However, similar systems may exist. I would do a web search for speciality computer equipment for the visually impaired.
I started becoming nearsighted about 11 years ago when I started working at a computer company. It was worse after spending a lot of time in front of the computer. I was going to get glasses to correct it, but someone suggested I see a particular doctor, I think he called her a "behavioral optometrist".
Often when you get corrective lenses, they compensate for the near-sightedness (or whatever problem you are having) by making things appear closer. But that usually makes the problem worse. Most people I know with glasses say they got more and more nearsighted over time.
Anyway, the doc I saw gave me the opposite prescription -- lenses that made everything appear farther away (basically, reading glasses). I only wore them while reading or using a computer, or looking at stuff up close, but not at other times. My nearsightedness gradually got better, and eventually cleared up. My next eye test came up 20/20. Now, all these years later, my vision is still perfect. But if I ever forget to wear my reading glasses and use a computer or read a book for a couple of hours, my eyes get fatigued and I become nearsighted for a few hours or so. (And as I mentioned in my other reply, keeping the computer monitor farther away from my eyes also helps).
So a therapeutic approach may be better than a corrective approach, at least in some situations. (Probably not with the condition the submitter has, although I know nothing about that particular condition.)
I don't have a monitor recommendation for you, but I do have a browser one.
In Opera, all versions I have used, you can just hit + or - to make the whole web page larger or smaller. As soon as I load pricewatch I always hit plus three times, to bump it up to 130%. Where do they get off using tiny fonts anyway?
This works on all web pages, it's insanely great. It will even enlarge flash animations, images, everything. Well, almost everything, scroll bars stay the same size, but buttons, checkboxes, and radio buttons all get bigger. It doesn't mess up the presentation most of the time. Text just flows to fit the screen correctly, so no sidescrolling necessary (except on text/plain pages)
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I would find the biggest flattest screen CRT display you can get from Sony (or whoever) and run it at around 1024X768 or so. This will give you a much better image than going with a big LCD that will have a native resolution much higher. The problem with the CRT of course is flicker etc..., but running it at the lower resolution should help. Also, make sure that you design the desktop for minimal eye strain with large icons and text. As far as which OS to use, OSX is the nicest desktop on the eyes I have seen with beautiful anti-aliasing for the text and adjustable icon sizes etc..., so you might want to look at it. My experience with desktop themes for Linux has not been good as far as recommending them to our patients who are loosing their sight, but Windows does have some accessibility features that might ease the squinting some. The Windows solutions are a bit clunky, but if you use Windows, make sure you take full advantage of the ones provided early in the corneal thinning. More profound progression might neccesitate the use of specialized software.
Also, as everyone should do, pay very close attention to your work environment and ergonomic setup.
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My grandmother (who has Cataracts amongst other eye problems) is able to view things on her 21" monitor just fine.
.pitch and the focus is good. Go Trinitron for that matter.
:)
:( :( :( ) but many people swear by them.
:) (useful advice in general. :) )
:)
So go for a 21 incher, pretty much any one will do as long as it has a good
Baring that, I am sure that these people may be able to help you.
A good on screen text dictator is a plus, I have known of people who were almost compleatly blind and managed to use a computer just fine with a good text dictator. I find the damn things highly annoying myself (being a speed reader I would keel over if I lost my ability to read efficently.
*COUGH* *COUGH* Windows (any version) tends to have excellent text dictation support, as it does other features for the visualy impaired. (built in magnifing utility and such).
Also, learn how to type with your eyes clsoed, it can save a lot of wear and tear on them.
Use a good video card, I recommend a Matrrox card of any sort. They Rock. Period.
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I've used different monitors since I was like 7 on computers (am now 19). My eyesight is still pretty good, I'd say its still 20/20 (haven't had it checked in a few months). Last time I got it checked, they said I was like 8/20 or something, but that was after heavy computer use (a few hours MUDding). However, the next day I had it tested again at the same place, and they said it was 20/20 now. The only eye problems I really have is a lazy eye (left) after reading a lot and being tired, and my eyes burn if its early in the morning and people are smoking heavily.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
I'm using a ViewSonic flat screen,17" viewable and I'm able to see okay to do work. Of course for details in graphics, I occasionally have to get REAL close to the screen, but it seems to be working for me so far. My vision is 20/400 uncorrected in the eye that is affected. I do take A LOT of breaks, as teh brightness gets to me after a while. Opera's magnification features are a godsend. Other apps, I have set to use larger fonts, and the fairly generous screen realestate is helpful..I'll probalby shop for a larger monitor in the not too distant future...but the 17" viewable is doing me good for now.
-- oodabadabaY
The LG Electronics Flatron 915ft (plus) is a the monitor I've recently chosen to purchase. For around $315 after shipping, it allows 1600x1200@85hz (my major consideration), it's truly flat, compares well against the other top-rated 19" monitors in terms of color, and those that have had problems with the monitor, it has had the best record in terms of returns.
A set of Epinions reviews.
It uses a different mask type than any other monitors, from what I've heard, called a "slit mask" - and it does look good. The only real notable feature other than looking good and being really flat is that it avoids the "2 horizontal wires" of the trinitron type monitors.
One final note about the warranty - it's a three year warranty - however, not all the years of it's terms are equal. The two months, you get the traditional swap&replace returns for a new monitor. For the rest of the first year, you get a refurbished monitor back. For the two years after that, you have to mail the monitor to the service company, then wait for the repaired monitor. After that, you've pretty much got to get a new monitor. So, although they have had a good reputation as far as customer service goes so far, know what to expect.
I like it so far, and find it a very good replacement for my last 19" monitor, and worth the extra cash over a 17" or a lower quality 19".
:^)
Ryan Fenton
I'm only 24, but looking at a monitor for too long makes my eyes burn. It's gotten worse and worse in the last few years. Finally, I traded in my 17" Sony Trintron 17sfII for a 19" ViewSonic ViewPanel VG191. It's is so much better. The strain on my eyes is considerably less. Whether it's daylight or under the crappy flouresent lights in my dorm room, I can see it better. I don't know if it the fact it's an LCD or what but I can work for a lot longer and my eyes no longer ache afterwards, even running at 1280x1024, which hasn't made things any larger. The problem is that it costs about $1000, but I must say - it was worth every penny.
P.S. I also upgraded my video card to a GeForce3 Ti 500 with a digital output. The picture isn't drastically different, but I can honestly say it is easier on the eyes than analog (I think it has to do with the way the colors are presented).
Contact your local Lions Club odds are you'll find people there who have went through what you are going through and know what worked for them. Also their experiences may be of use in other non-technical topics also (such as optometists, business opportunities you might qualify for as visually impaired, etc)
/. Different vision problems need different solutions, size isn't everything sometimes contrast means more.
You probably much better off asking there than on
I'm legally blind without thick glasses. I may be legally blind *with* glasses. I'll never drive, because I'll fail the eye test. So, I kinda know where you're now coming from:)
Large monitors are good. I find that magnifiers don't feel 'natural' to look through, and software magnification that makes you scroll the screen around your work area is an added headache you don't need. Size, size, size.
I currently have a 20" (18" viewable) ViewSonic from about 9 years ago, and I'm getting an 18" (17" viewable) ViewSonic LCD this coming week. Flicker and too much brightness can do a real job on your eyes; blurriness will increase, your head will ache somewhat, the usual you can expect from overtaxing your eyes.
Crank the font size in your web browser, and get used to the overall look and placement of icons and menu items. You don't have to see everything perfectly if you know where things should be placed in relation to others.
Even with all the tricks, you'll never be completely comfortable with your monitor and desktop setup. Get used to looking closer a lot at times, and be sure to take breaks when you need it. Shut your eyes for a while.
This is all general stuff, but I hope it helps.
Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
1. For CRT displays, bigger is better. If something is bigger, it is easier to see. There are many packages out there that allow you to enlarge a portion of the screen (and some of this basic functionality is built into windows,) but in general, bigger is always better.
2. When it comes to software aides that 'enhance' the screen image or read things out through speech synthesizer, there is a lot of software available for windows, but I don't know if there is as much for Linux (because I have never before needed to check.)
3. For some people who have problems with reflections 'within' the eye (i.e. something in your peripheral vision appears to be in front of you) laptop TFT displays tend to be easier to see than CRT displays. I do not know why this is true, but it is true in my experience.
I don't use the Windows version, but I have a custom one that's easier on my eyes. (for me, white flickers like crazy on monitors, even at good refresh rates.) I generally use white on black or grey on black, with darker blue for gui elements.
It really has made using Windows a lot easier on my eyes over the past 6-7 years.
Wife and brother-in-law have RP. To echo another poster, bigger is better. She has a 17" monitor, and runs in DOS or Linux bash-prompt as much as possible. BIL has a 19" monitor.
If you can get the taxpayers to pay for it, get one of those ginormous LCD screens. Make sure it goes bright enough.
Really, owing to the individualized nature of many disabilities, your best bet is to be prepared to do lots of shopping. And if the condition is dynamic, be prepared to replace parts frequently as conditions change.
Also, I'd look into emacspeak. I would have done this for my wife, but her hearing is bad also. (BTW, that isn't the easiest page to read. Default font size too small:)
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Consider yourself blessed, you can now just sue companies that dont hire you and blame them for discriminating against you for having bad eyesight, then get a 5 million dollar settlement check from microsoft. Crazier things have happened in matters like that. Everyone is a victim nowadays, evidently.
For one thing, try and buy your monitor locally, so you can easily examine the merchandise for yourself.
I find a 19" is good at 1152x768. 1280x1024 is generally too much for me at that screen size.
A CRT will generally give you the biggest screen size for the price. But a nice LCD will be very crisp, and the crispness won't deteriorate over time. If you get an LCD, shoot for a monitor and video card combiniation that will will allow you to use a digital connection.
If you go for a CRT get one that will support high refresh-rates. Some cards are sharper than others too, as I recall, this is a ZDnet review criteria.
Lighting, of course, is important. Arrange things to avoid catching glare of the monitor.
Finally, get a monitor with workable controls. It doesn't matter how many settings the damn thing has if you can't configure it to get a good picture. And look for uniform picture quality across the display.
There are three basic things to try:
Figure out just how far you sit from the monitor. Ask your ophthamologist to write you a prescription for glasses optimized for that distance. Explain exactly what you're using them for; he may have a better idea of what to use.
If you're having problems with chromatic aberation, which shows up as red, green, and blue colored bands around letters, get a monochrome monitor. It isn't enough to set your software to display in black and white; this has to be done in hardware.
Get a big monitor. You may want to run it at a lower resolution than it's rated for. This is especially true if you have a hard time seeing thin lines. Many programs will insist on using one-pixel thick lines; it helps if the pixels themselves are larger.
Good luck!
--Andy Hickmott
I've got RP too, as does my brother and my mother. I've seen some of the leading researchers in the world (I was lucky to live where I did for a while...). Indeed, High Contrast is important for RP. Being careful in low-light/dark situations is important too. I'm able to just say to someone "I need you to lead me, it's too dark in here." That can be a good thing if you're with a girl... At the moment, my vision is good enough that I have not restrictions on my driver's license. (And just to answer the question, No, there isn't a viable surgery for RP)
I'm also very farsited and slightly astigmatic, unrelated to the RP. The set of things to deal with light-focus problems in the eye are different than the ones for RP. For problems focusing, bigger is most often better. It's also an area where high-contrast is very helpful. Myself, I find serrifed fonts easier to read, but it's something you can check out. Dispite what people say, if there is a physical defect in your cornea, not using your glasses WILL NOT MAKE YOUR EYES STRONGER. I know people who's eyes have gotten somewhat worse from extended comptuer usage. Mine have gotten slightly better over time and I spend an inordinant amount of time at the geekbox. If it's a defect, it's a defect and must be worked with. The Topic poster sounds like he is very interested in doing the right thing this way. I've had pretty darned bad eyes since I was 3, probably earlier. If you tell people your restrictions, and work on finding what helps you see (high contrast? Serifed fonts? closer/farther?) then your life won't be too dificult to deal with.
Just a word of warning, you'll get the occasional jerk who won't believe you have an eye condition that's as bad as it is, or doesn't care. It can be dificult to stay calm with these goons. Just remember, they're an idiot.
Good Luck
--Josh
There are exactly 42,935,718 letter sized sheets in a square mile.
Why not just get a video card with a TV out and use a large TV? At my college we had a special setup with like a 30" TV at 640x480 that was freaking huge for people with bad eyesight. I don't see why you couldn't do this at home except maybe with a smaller TV like 19-25" or so. After all, it's usually easier and cheaper to get TVs at larger sizes than computer monitors. There are obvious desk space considerations to take into account, but I think this could be a good option to mention.
Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
And by the time you reach your 40s, you'll invariably need reading glasses anyway; there is no escaping it. Sorry, eyes just aren't built to last.
and after the surgery replaced my lenses with implants I found that seeing small fonts on the monitor got more difficult. I had a 17" Viewsonic which I traded for a 15" LCD panel and the difference was amazing right off the bat. I would never recommend anyone with any vision problem buy anything but an LCD screen and preferably one with the best contrast ration you can find. In my opinion a 15" LCD is better than a 17" CRT.
No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
I have a ViewSonic VG191 19" LCD and a Sony G500 21" FD Trinitron hooked up to my ATI Radeon 8500 dualhead card at home, and a Sony M81 18" LCD at work. The VG191 has *almost* as much viewable area as the G500 (remember, a 21" tube has slightly less than 20" of usable screen), and hooked up to the DVI port it's razor sharp and very easy to read at its native 1280x1024 res. The VG191 is noticibly larger than the Sony 18". Alas, ViewSonic hiked the price by $300 a few weeks ago (a few days after I bought mine, when's the last time that happened?), so you'll spend at least $1200 to get one. It comes with DVI and analog cables though, the Sony M81 only comes with an analog cable(dumb!). One irritation with the ViewSonic: text mode (BIOS startup, etc) chops off the lower right section of the screen when using the DVI port (everything's fine via analog). The KDE desktop displayed on the VG191 via DVI is unbelievably cool.
Sony's entry level 21" FD Trinitron is ~$500 (the better G520P is ~$750), so if funds are tight, hey, you won't suffer too much. I use my G500 for HDTV video more than anything else these days, which no affordable LCD can do (Apple's HD Cinema display will, but it's $3500). But given a choice, LCD via DVI is the way to go.
I have found that the important thing is not so much the monitor, as how your vision is corrected.
Using a good flat screen 17" CRT monitor is probably a good idea. Make sure you have good lighting in the room you are looking at the computer screen.
My keratoconus is bad enough that glasses can't fully correct my vision without giving me double vision. The general glasses I use around the house work to about 20 feet and give me a headache if I wear them for more than a coupl eof hours.
I wear Softperm (sorry I couldn't find any good links) contact lenses. They are hard lenses in the center and soft on the outside. Much easier to wear than straight hard lenses, but you get excellent vision from the the rigid center.
With my lenses on, I get 20/20 to 20/30 vision, depending on how tired my eyes are that day. IMHO, the standard toric & other soft lenses are all shit compared to these Softperms.
The main advice I would give to you is to take breaks from the computer. Ever hour or so, get up and wander around. I find it makes a big difference to take time away from the screen.
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I'm responsible for buying all the hardware for my company, and I won't pick up anything smaller then 17"
At one point, my boss asked me why I was always going for the larger monitors. My response: "Because 15" (or 14", which we had at the time) was just too small. In a few years people with bad eyesite are going to blame it on their monitors if they are too small"
This will happen. The question is'nt if somebody will sue because their company gave them a small CRT (or LCD), but when. I sure as heck don't want to be there.
The Internet is generally stupid
Your condition is a problem in that the image presented to your retnia will be distored, but your lens muscles can adapt quite a ways from the norms.
I had some vision problems a while back. Was developing astigmatism. Went for glasses, and the doctor basically told me that if I used the glasses, I would quickly become dependant on them.
His solution was simple once he learned what I was doing most of the time. Subject my eyes to a variety of visual problems each day. Focusing near medium and far often during the day. This has worked well for me in that after a few months, the problems went away.
So it can't hurt in your case, and might help you retain lens flexibility and muscle development that will enable you to see well as your condition develops.
Blogging because I can...
I don't know any details about the posters condition, so this may not be relevent.
Over the past few years my eyesight has started to get worse. I can have a slightly weak right eye, which has been getting progressivly worse with time. about a year ago, after hiting an insane deadline for a project, my boss got me what was at the time the top of the line Dell laptop (C800). The machine has a 15" LCD which I use at 1600x1200, which makes everything very small, but razor sharp. Not only is it razor sharp, but there is no refresh rate, which is something that gives me problems.
Anyway, since getting the LCD, my right eye has bothered me less and less. I almost never even notice the problem now. Everyone that looks at my screen tells me I am going to go blind, and I just have to kind of chuckle, and tell them my vision has improved.
Now when I use a CRT for any length of time, I can actually feel my right eye starting to get stressed again. My experience may not be true for everyone, especially if you have a real vision problem, other than the standard bad vision, like I believe the poster does.
I highly suggest getting a high resolution LCD if you are just starting to get vision problems from using an CRT all day long. For me, using a CRT is a killer, even at 85htz refresh. I have a 21" Sony Trintron at home, and that gives me problems as well, although other people swear by them.
Try things out and see what works best for you.
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
The only thing that probably makes a difference as far as buying a monitor is concerned is to get a monitor that's bright. A bright monitor will make it more likely that your pupils are small, and that makes the images you are getting sharper. I think bright, sharp, and big are more difficult to get in the same monitor, so perhaps a smaller, lower resolution, but brighter monitor is a better choice overall. Paying attention to office lighting probably also helps a lot.
My personal impression is that light-text-on-dark-background also improves readability, but that's something you can experiment with afterwards.
Also, think about the software you will be using. Interfaces will lots of buttons and tiny, fixed-size dialog boxes will not be your friend, while a command line at which you type succinct commands works no matter how poor your vision gets. While Windows has some low-vision hooks, aiming for working on a command line system may be a better career move.
Meditation as a lifestyle has as a major side benefit; the 'grounding' of the organism that one inhabits. It (our Meat representation to the world) then calms down, and functions with optimal performance.
I've also had vision difficulties recently that can totally be traced to stress.
Stress can boost one's intraocular pressure (aggravating our friend's problem) as well as confusing the image processing areas of the brain.
Try being Here and Now and see if that helps.
(Zen skill acquisition is left as an exercise for the reader)
I'm betting that it will. Worked for me!
Brak: What's THAT?
Thundercleese: A light switch.. of TOTAL DEVASTATION!
Hi tuxbeej,
t m for more information). Making GNOME, KDE, X, and Linux accessible is a HUGE effort that involves dozens of full-time engineers at Sun, in Germany, China, and Ireland, yet Slashdot has never done justice to the topic.
f .nete echinfo.org/fddawg
Fundamentally you should probably be looking into Assistive Technology (AT) -- a screen magnifier or a large font theme or a high-contrast theme, just to name a few possible solutions. A larger monitor might be used in conjunction with a screen magnifier or a theme. Just buying a different or larger monitor and getting "one of the big LCD projector dealies?" may not be an option at your work or home, is certainly not portable, and may actually not help that much or at all.
Do you use Linux or Windows or Mac OS?
If you use Linux, you should check out the Linux Accessibility Resource Site (LARS) at http://trace.wisc.edu/linux/ If you use Windows you might want to search google for the terms ZoomText, JAWS, or just Windows Accessibility. I'm sure you'll find something useful. If you use Mac OS X, try searching for OS X Accessibility, there's a web page at apple.com about what it can do; more accessibility solutions also exist for OS 9. Please e-mail me (jpsc@users.sourceforge.net) if you have further questions and I'd love to talk to you more about solutions that exist for your particular platform.
I feel I have to comment on the way in which Slashdot continues to cover the topic of accessibility. I mean no disrespect to your question, it is indeed a very good one. The way in which the question was framed, however demonstrates a general lack of familiarity with accessibility on the part of Slashdot editors. The editors continuously reject stories (I and I'm sure other of my colleagues have submitted) about substantive accessibility news and assistive technology software for Linux, Unix, and OS X and instead pick stories that turn the complex issues of accessibility, disabled computer users, low-vision access, etc. into an invitation reccomend monitors.
This is really missing the point about what Assistive Technology is and can do. I would LOVE to talk to the Slashdot editors (or anyone else) about these issues and be thrilled to see an "Accessibility" topic added to Slashdot.
Editors, if you're reading, e-mail me, I'll be glad to call you or correspond on IRC or e-mail. This is a very important issue that deserves to be framed the right way. Among other things, under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, software used in the US federal government, INCLUDING Linux, must be accessible (see http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.h
Again, Slashdot editors PLEASE contact me. Tuxbeej, feel free to do the same.
Best,
--JP Schnapper-Casteras
Organizer of the 1st and 2nd Linux Accessibility Conferences
Creator of the Linux Accessibility Resource Site
Founder of the KDE Accessibility Project
Maintainer of the Free Desktop Accessibility Working Group
Founder and co-admin of Project Ocularis
http://trace.wisc.edu/linux/
http://ocularis.s
http://accessibility.kde.org
http://www.sp
I have used computers (with CRT displays) for at least 4 hours a day (more like 8+ hours/day now that I actually work in the industry) since I was 14. I'm 25 now, and I still have BETTER than average vision.
I'm always sorry to hear about people losing their vision, but I really don't think it's because of staring into monitors. I've only used a computer with an LCD screen when I was given a laptop by work for a week-long business trip, so I really don't think CRTs are doing the damage.
If you can afford it, definitely an LCD display would be best. Their speed, brightness, resolution, and color accuracy can't be beat.
If an LCD is out of your budget, then when looking for a CRT, make sure it's got a low dot pitch. The smaller the dot pitch, the sharper the image and therefore less strain on the eyes.
Also, make sure the monitor has a high refresh rate for the resolution you'll have it set at. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother and more flicker-free the display will be, also having the effect of reducing eye strain. Look for something with an 85Hz refresh rate or better would be best.
And of course, the bigger the monitor the better. But that goes without saying.
A company called ION Systems makes browser plugin designed to make Web browsing easier for people with vision impairment. It's called Web Eyes. It won't help you program, but it'll make reading /. a little easier. (That, and the threshold filter...)
I had a supervisor who had a similar problem...his optic nerve was badly developed from birth. Legally blind (he couldn't drive...and in AK, that is not fun), when he needed to see something on the monitor, he just had his face about 6 inches from the screen, and squinted a lot. Well, worked for him.
If you can still find any of the GDM-F500R's, its essentially the same as the F520 but in different (2000 model year) packaging. I think I paid about $1300 for mine. These are the best CRT's that I've ever owned. I also like my SGI 1600SW flatpanel but you either have to live with the crappy video card it requires or shell out $500+ for their "multilink" adapter to hook it to something decent.
Regarding resolutions, run whatever feels comfortable, but run the highest refresh rate possible.
HTH.
Chris
The problem with websites is often much more serious than with small monitors. It's easier to set up a text editor or xterm to display large fonts, but with websites things are much more difficult, thanks to incompetent web designers, that's why I'll focus on websites. There are thousands of webmasters out there, for whom a good website looks like this:
This is a serious problem. You can't set your default base font size to 1000 points, just to have 30 points fonts on most websites, because the correctly designed websites (i.e. those which use the default, user defined font size for main text) will have fonts larger than a screen. Sometimes even the website is nearly unusable when you're using larger fonts, because you have to horizontally scroll reading every line of text.
A quite obvious solution would be to use text mode Lynx browser in xterm window (or dos box in MS-Windows), using 40x20 characters, with very large fonts, so the window takes the whole screen. Unfortunately, most of websites don't work in text mode, not to say about being usable using lines shorter than 80 characters.
Read My own web design rules (my comment to What Makes a Good Web Design Slashdot article, which was not very popular when I wrote it, but is in my opinion very important), especially the points entitled:
Those are in my opinion the most important points to this discussion, but take a look also on:
If webmasters while making their websites were only following these few simple rules, there would be no problem. Even the 14 inch screen is big enough to display very large and readable characters using e.g. 40x20, or even 20x10 characters, full-screen windows. The problem is that most of the Web becomes completely unusable in 20x10 characters text mode.
Let me quote to sentences of Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web:
Unfortunately, most of web designers don't understand that at all. They are one of the main reasons, why people with poor eyesight have to buy gigantic, expensive monitors.
~shiny
WILL HACK FOR $$$
I am a programmer. I too have extremely weak eyes. How bad? Two summers ago, I went to summer intern at a company that bought us brand new 17" SONY trinitron monitors and I ended up in the doctors'. I spend over 50% of my computer budget on monitors. (which is what EVERYONE should do.) I have spent a lot of time on this subject. Let me tell you what I find.
1. Lighting is VERY important. make sure you have ambient light.
2. the size of the monitor is also very important, but CRISPNESS is more important. You must make sure that the monitor is CRISP. You cannot really tell if a monitor is CRISP without looking at it. Two monitors with the same pitch distance can be very different when you actually look at them.
3. You MUST get them with full 3 year warranty. Monitors are so fragile, that it may be already broken during shipment, before you open the box. Monitors, especially big ones, have an extremely high lemon rate. If you spend money on a monitor and you are not satisfied with the image quality, insist on taking it back. You must move it *very* carefully.
4. LCD vs. CRT. Well. LCD technology is simply not there yet. When IBM shows me the 300dpi monitor I'll take a close look and maybe change my mind. The truth is, For the price you pay for a LCD with high quality digital signals, you'd be so better off with two beautiful 20" high end monitor. Another thing is, in Linux, you can configure 10 different resolutions, all the way from 1200x1600 to 400x600. LCDs cannot scale good. When a LCD is displaying any size that is different from it's own, it interpolates. This anti-aliasing kills your eyes because your eyes tend to think that it is out of focus.
5. Video card counts. You must get a Matrox. Make damn sure that it doesn't get under 85MHz. Better get higher rates. Hand tune your monitor carefully.
6. Monitor cables counts a lot, too. Best is high quality BNC cables, they are about $100.
7. Do yourself a favour, use OPERA as your browser. you can zoom in any size you want with your numeric keypad. Right now I'm typing in half-inch letters.
8. one thing great about two huge monitors is that you can set one of them at really low resolution, so when you switch to windows. *shame* like VC++ you can see BIG letters.
9. Picking a monitor is likely shopping for fruit. You must hand pick yours. Even the exact same model have different crispness. Pick a good one.
This is what my room looks like.
My school have 20" Trinitron monitors everywhere, but they tire my eyes. If you set up your monitor configuration correctly, you are not likely to be tired for a long long time.
What's the best CRT monitor? Well I really dislike Trinitron tubes because many of them actually flashes due to the little string that holds the grills turned lose. I heard many many good words about high end EIZO, but they are at $2000 range.
I know that you are a student, and this sounds very expensive. You must sacrifice everything else to get a good monitor setup if you want to still see in 10 years. It's also a great investment because it last longer than any other parts of your computer, Good luck.
Another huge earth quake hit Taiwan. Let's pray for them.
Thus, you are basically looking at light bulbs when you use your monitors. As a result, your eye sight gets worse. I used computers more than 15 hours/day. So, I also hope new display technology which is not so bad for eyes.
I'll bite.As a M.D., heavy computer user, and having gone through eye surgery myself, I've put a lot of reading into precisely this. I get this kind of question asked on a daily basis.
Short version: This is false. Monitors do not worsen your eyesight.
Long version: Computer display devices do not have, and they are not, light bulbs. LCD displays carry a small fluorescent tube to provide backlighting. In a CRT, as probably allThere are, however, certain things that can give you the idea that your eyesight's getting worse. Your eyes naturally focus at infinity, which means that the muscles which stretch the lens for focusing rest when you look at a far-off point (20 feet away or more).
As you grow older (and I mean from 15 years on), the lens becomes more and more rigid, and your focusing muscles must work harder to focus nearer. Ultimately, you just can not focus close enough to read (which is a normal condition) and must wear eyeglasses to do it (at 50 yrs approx).
This means that, as time goes by, you have to strain more and more to look at the screen, will see it blurry from time to time when your muscles get tired and can't focus properly (and yes, they do get tired), and might get headaches from the effort expended.
Is this is the case, an optometrist can provide eyeglasses to look at the screen with your eyes focused at infinity. Sitting farther from the computer will also help.
No
I'm kind of surprised how many KC'ers have replied. It's not a particularly common condition and I've only met one or two others in person who have it -- but there's a large online community with a very active mailing list (kc-link@nkcf.org that has several hundred subscribers.
Anyway, I have KC which reached the point where I've had (successful) cornea transplants in both eyes. I still have to wear contact lenses since the transplants, but I can now use relatively ordinary computer displays (e.g., 1024x768 on a 12.1 inch laptop screen).
Prior to the transplants, I found that a 20 inch monitor running in 800x600 mode with "large fonts" selected in Windows worked well. For character-based work in Linux, a normal 80x25 text display on the 20 inch screen was really easy to read.
Hang in there -- 90% of KCers get adequate vision with either glasses or rigid contact lenses; for the other 10% (like me), the cornea transplant has a 90%+ success rate.
I just got new glasses and the doctor suggested two perscriptions - a lower one for work on the computer (works great for reading too) and a higher one for driving, etc. I've only had them a week and while switching glasses is slightly annoying so far I'm happy. You don't mention if you are near sighted or far sighted but this might work for you...
... of why "funny" shouldn't be a upmod option. Or if it is, then "tired old joke" should be a downmod option!
I also have keratoconus, in its moderate-adanced stage. I'm 17. I haven't yet had a transplant but wear contact lenses which gets my vision up to 20/60. I've found theKCenter Website a real help- particularly the message boards.
As far as monitors are concerned, well I'm not exactly full of money, so I just put up with having 640*480 res and I find that if you stop white being the default colour background for things it stops the double vision appearing quite so accutely.
Since when did the Slashdot readership turn into homeopathic "holistic" healers who appear to be seriously suggesting that meditation can cure an eye problem?
d00d.. learn to READ..
I never suggested a cure. Just that it helps. Empirical experience.
Brak: What's THAT?
Thundercleese: A light switch.. of TOTAL DEVASTATION!