Slashdot Mirror
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?
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.
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
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.
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.
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.)
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.)
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
what the heck are you talking about? You have a cure for nearsightedness? That's odd. Why doesn't the rest of the world know about it?
Look, whoever asked this question--Slashdot is the LAST place where you should be getting medical advice, especially about something as critical as your eyesight. There is no fact here, no medical truths--a high moderation does NOT mean that that advice is better than any of the other crap on here.
Here's some advice you can really use: Get a second opinion and see as many eye specialists as you can. They're the bloody experts--not Slashdot's armchair doctor population who have little to no medical training and pure anecdotal "evidence" to prove that their methods work!
Run, don't walk, away from these comments if you value your eyesight at *all* and are having problems.
Shame, Slashdot--suggestions in here may do damage to your weaker-minded readership. Please don't run stories like this.
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.
I've already seen several optometrists and opthamologists about my condition, including an optician in Edmonton who is well-known in the community for handling people with keretoconus. With over 30 years of experience, I trust him for helping me make good decisions about my eyesight. Unfortunately, he had no suggestions about display technologies that are easier on the eyes.
My interest here is *not* in asking people for medical advice - that's why we have doctors. I wanted to find out if anyone had seen studies or had suggestions for display technologies that would be easier on my eyes. Since I had not found anything on my own, I posted the question here, since I believed there's probably a lot of people in the tech community who are young, have bad eyesight, and are seeking the same kind of solutions I am.
You're aboslutely right, though - don't take any medical advice from a forum. Always take that advice to your doctor and get their opinion. Then get *another* opinion. Especially when it comes to your eyes. We only get two, and we don't get any more.
Brendan "Beej" Dery "Only in Canada, eh?"
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...)