Is it possible for LCDs to hurt your eyes?

X

XTasy

Veteran XX
I just got a 17" LCD, Sony SDM-HX73, and I've noticed that my eyes kind of hurt and water when I use my computer. When I use the screen, they get sort of the feeling like when you've had like 3 hours of sleep the last two days and your eyes are sore and everything.

Is it because of the brightness?
Are my eyes used to regular CRT?

It is an upgrade from a 17" CRT, but I ran the CRT at the same resolution as the LCD, so size is not really a problem.

Any input or knowledge is appreciated
 
Are you working under fluorescent lights? Adjust the refresh rate higher. If it's at 60 hertz then your refresh rate is the same as the lamps.
 
In my personal experience, the LCD is easier on the eyes. CRTs (cathod ray tubes) are bombarding the backside of your monitor screen and repainting it constantly to provide the image, while LCDs merely illuminate the pixels (ie liquid crystal display) to give you the image. I think not staring at a ray gun is less stressful but YMMV.

Now, my wife, who is an industrial hygenist (sp?), tells me that prolonged computer use, no matter the screen type, can change a persons "blink rate", or the number of times a person blinks per hour and that dry eyes, scratchy eyes, or even watery eyes can indicate too much eye stress from computer use.
 
nspectre said:
Are you working under fluorescent lights? Adjust the refresh rate higher. If it's at 60 hertz then your refresh rate is the same as the lamps.
Click to expand...
I thought LCD refresh rate stats were different from CRT's.

All I know is, i've practically gone blind from my CRT. Is it possible to see 75hertz on a crt, or is my monitor about to die?
 
[X-L]Vortex said:
I thought LCD refresh rate stats were different from CRT's.
Click to expand...
And you are right.

65hz does not matter on an LCD because there is no electron beam shooting electrons at your face. There is absolutley no flickering, ever. I have an LCD on my laptop and an LCD monitor for my desktop and they are so much better than my old 19" CRT
 
There's no electron bean shooting electrons at your face in a CRT either.. it's shooting electrons at a layer of phosphors. The phosphors shoot photons at your face, which is fortunate, because otherwise you couldn't see the image. LCDs are backlit by small fluorescent tubes, which shoot photons through the liquid crystal layer (which acts as a filter) at your face.

Being bathed in photons isn't really all that different from being bathed in photons. :shrug:

I'm assuming that LCDs that don't run directly off of DC power incorporate an AC converter of some kind. If they didn't, the backlight would flicker at 60 Hz (or 50, depending where you are in the world).

It's theoretically possible to see flicker at 75 Hz.. but that's approaching the upper limit. Either you have some really fast rods and cones there, or you're imagining things.
 
nspectre said:
Are you working under fluorescent lights? Adjust the refresh rate higher. If it's at 60 hertz then your refresh rate is the same as the lamps.
Click to expand...


you dont adjust the refresh rate on lcds, meanie.
 
I used to have my monitor on its max refresh rate (85mhz), but i found out it was the cause of some major fps loss i had while gaming, so i set it to 60mhz recently
is this too low (ie will it cause the same issues that the thread starter is experiencing)?
what is the min you should set the refresh rate to?
 
Xplo said:
It's theoretically possible to see flicker at 75 Hz.. but that's approaching the upper limit. Either you have some really fast rods and cones there, or you're imagining things.
Click to expand...
My eyes suck, and I know i'm not imagining it...so I guess that just means my monitor is dying. :lol: I've had the damn thing for like 5 years now. :shock:
 
^Tyro said:
so i set it to 60mhz recently
is this too low (ie will it cause the same issues that the thread starter is experiencing)?
what is the min you should set the refresh rate to?
Click to expand...


how can you stand that? you're gonna go blind
 
Dude, there is some weird shit that some people are saying...that some people are allergic to LCD's.. (flourescent lights, actually..)

let me dig up the link I saw..
 
I'm actually ok with the flourscent light bulbs, but its just that this LCD is making my eyes watery and my eyes feel sore when I close them.

I don't think its from prolonged use, I'm usually gone the whole day either at classes or tutoring, and I just get back home and sit for five minutes and it hurts. Should the LCD display be placed a certain distance from my eyes?
 
XTasy said:
I'm actually ok with the flourscent light bulbs, but its just that this LCD is making my eyes watery and my eyes feel sore when I close them.

I don't think its from prolonged use, I'm usually gone the whole day either at classes or tutoring, and I just get back home and sit for five minutes and it hurts. Should the LCD display be placed a certain distance from my eyes?
Click to expand...
Find out what the "preferred" resolution for your LCD is, and use it. Using anything but that resolution will cause the image to be distorted, and create eyestrain.

as far as LCDs and refresh rates, well, there aren't any. Any flicker you see on an LCD is due to the FL backlight, and it cannot be adjusted.

the FL backlighting is powered by an inverter...it converts the DC power from the power supply/battery into high-voltage AC power to power the backlight. It usually runs at 60Hz, and is not adjustable.
 
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