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Ask Slashdot: What's Out There For Poor Vision?
hackwrench writes: I like to read on my computer, but when I resize text to be comfortably big, web pages and browsers handle it badly, and some applications don't offer an option to enlarge. Some applications even are bigger than the screen, which Windows doesn't handle well. Lastly, applications consist of bright backgrounds which feels like staring into a headlight. Windows' built in options like magnifier are awkward. What tools are there for Windows to increase text size, make things fit inside the screen, and substitute colors that windows use?
I use a 27" monitor, the NoSquint addon, and f.lux to dim the screen to softer colors at night. NoSquint is great because it can resize the entire webpage or just the text. There are also themes that can make your browser (I use FF) easier to read.
A friend of mine had a similar problem, and found he couldn't get a computer monitor big enough. He ended up getting a 40" LCD TV with a HDMI input. It's on his desk at what I'd consider an uncomfortably close distance, but he swears by it.
Honestly learn how glasses are prescribed and how to modify a prescription. go to am optometrist and get a baseline made for reading then modify and order from a place that doesn't ask questions and will make dirt cheap glasses like Zenni.
I have a special set of computer glasses that are useless for seeing anything outside of my arms length but they magnify everything clearly within arms length. so I can even easily use a 11.8 inch 1080p screen at native resolution on my surface pro.
use optics to get your vision as clear as it possibly can for the monitor distance and then start toying with the software and contrast, it works a LOT better that way. and yes everyone can benefit from optics to correct as much as possible first.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Finally somebody understands. Even with my someone decent vision, I never really got why people would buy super high resolution monitors. It really just makes everything on the screen smaller. You don't actually get any more usable space. You can use space on the screen more efficiently when there is higher resolution, but it doesn't scale linearly. You aren't getting 4 times more working space if you have a 4K monitor vs a 1080p monitor when the screen is only 20 inches. I admit that operating systems have gotten a lot better at handling higher resolution, so that things don't just end up smaller when you have a high resolution monitor, but there's a point where having a higher resolution doesn't make much of a difference and you'd be better off just getting a bigger screen.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
http://arcanesanctum.net/negat...
It works with windows 7 and above and it requires Aero to provide the filtering.
I get headaches from blinding white backgrounds and after spending way too much time trying various solutions like CSS and Windows accessibility themes which don't work I found NegativeScreen.
It works by putting a filter over the whole screen and allowing you to apply a matrix transform on the pixel values. Out of the box it will reverse the colours so every window gets a black background but there are other transforms supplied (submarine mode is cool). And you can edit the config file to create your own, here's mine which adds a blue tint to the otherwise harsh black:
Blue Blacks=win+alt+F12
{ -1, 0, 0, 0, 0 }
{ 0, -1, 0, 0, 0 }
{ 0, 0, -0.85, 0, 0 }
{ 0, 0, 0, 1, 0 }
{ 1, 1, 1, 0, 1 }
ObLinux: xcalib -i
go straight to a 32" 1080P TV as it's cheaper than a 25" monitor
A lot of televisions will only correctly negotiate EDID on the active input, and won't activate an input other than the primary, without first having a signal.
This tends to be a problem for laptops which are not persistent about negotiating EDID. This tends not to be a problem on Mac OS X, but in general, it's a problem for Windows, which is what the original poster said they had.
Toshiba or Samsung laptops, in particular, have a hard time driving some Samsung televisions, Dell HD monitors, and LG televisions. Mostly these screens tend to not be multithreaded in their electronics, meaning that they won't negotiate the EDID on an inactive (unselected) input when the computer is coming up, and those laptops, and many desktops, aren't very persistent in their attempts to renegotiate until they get an answer.
You're typically better off with a monitor than a television, if you plan to hook it up to a computer, even though there's a tendency towards higher expense compared to the televisions.