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Are Low Refresh Rates Bad for the Eyes?
suwalski asks: "Often when I go over to someone's house to help them with 'computer stuff' (translation: free support), I notice that many people who don't know better still use 60Hz as their refresh rate. XP seems to automatically tune higher, but for the others, I immediately bump it up, because it hurts my eyes. They say they don't see the difference. Am I right to assume that low refresh rates that make my eyes water are not healthy? If people don't notice the low refresh rate, does it still damage their eyes? Anyone know of any studies or papers?"
Low refresh rates hurt my eyes badly - 60 is awful after just a couple minutes. I can see a little difference between 85 and 100, but only retroactively (i.e. 85 doesn't bother me). I used to run the network for a large architecture firm, and many of these people - although they drafted in AutoCAD all day long - saw nothing wrong with 60Hz. Some of them noticed that 85 or 100 was better, but I think many of them just acclimated to 60, not realizing anything better was possible.
On another note, Windows users should check out RefreshForce, which automatically sets the highest possible refresh rate every time you (or a game, or other app) switches resolutions or color depths in Windows. I run it on a couple machines wit no trouble.
This isn't as much "normalization" as it is "don't take so many drugs when you're designing tables."