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Anti-Glare Computer Screens That Work in Sunlight?

Posted by Cliff on from the reading-the-screen-without-squinting dept.

Belfont9 asks: "The company I work for operates in a very sunny climate, and our facilities rely almost completely on natural light. The problem for our coders is that all that light makes reading a computer screen for many hours truly painful - even if we use the standard 'anti-glare' screen covers. Dimming the entire rooms (eg through the use of shades) isn't an option. Could the Slashdot community suggest some good computer screens for use in such conditions?"

3 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. FlatPanels, maybe? by GreyWolf3000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've had the exact same problem, but when I got a laptop, the problem you're describing diminished greatly (although having such a small screen created new problems). Perhaps getting flat-panel LCD monitors would be worth the much higher costs (especially if you go beyond 17"). A large monitor taken down to lower resolutions also sometimes helps. Also, telling browsers, ides, irc clients, etc, to override system colors (mostly for backgrounds) and replacing white darker, vanilla "off-white" colors might help alot (and won't cost money :)

    --
    Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
  2. TFT screens indeed by barryvoeten · · Score: 2, Insightful


    Had that same thing, red eyes, hurt. Switching to a TFT screen help a lot. Cost money? Nope.
    Calculate the cost of some sick days, a missed
    project deadline...

  3. I want my glare! by fm6 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I looked at the cost of putting up a building just to block out direct sun from my office. Too expensive. Besides, what about the people who have to work in the new building?

    Had a conversation with my optometrist on the whole eyestrain issue. His suggestions:

    • Close the blinds. No way, that crow outside the window would be offended.
    • Get "computer glasses". These reduce eye strain by being finely tuned to help you focus on your specific monitor setup. I got them, and they work -- but they're not practical for me, since I don't just look at the monitor.
    • Lower your monitor so it's at least 10 degrees below eye level. This one suprised me: everybody has tons of computer accessories designed to raise their monitors. I had a machine in an AT-style case -- designed to have the monitor sit on top -- and my monitor came with one of those swivel pedestal that raises it even further. But when I move the monitor off the computer and got rid of the pedestal, it did indeed help. Enough to make other measure unnecessary.