Monitors For Eye Fatigue

Monitor Flicker is an issue that has been with us as long as monitors have existed. Screen refresh cycles (that is how the image on your monitor is refreshed and re-drawn when necessary) - while very quick and not easily observable to the naked eye for most people, can cause significant impact to the comfort of your monitor use.

CRTs all had flicker, some more than others of course, but even the best still had easily observable flicker to those with sensitive eyes.

Modern LCD monitors initially reduced this issue as they were lit in a more continuous manner by fluorescent backlights, but one side effect of the recent move to LED backlighting in these monitors is that flicker has again returned as a problem, particularly at lower brightness levels (which are unfortunately also the more comfortable levels to work at!).

Fortunately, some manufacturer's - most notably BenQ and Eizo - have developed techniques for dimming LCDs that do not induce flicker.

Another key aspect of monitor induced eye fatigue is the level of blue light a monitor is emitting. LED backlights are very strong in blue light, and for many this appears to cause more issues with monitor fatigue. To mitigate this, your monitor should have excellent control over brightness and whitepoint.

In this section we collect those models best for people with eye and headache sensitivity when using monitors. We have had many customers purchase these, including many who would be described as severely affected by this issue, and choosing these models has, quite simply, made the difference in them being able to carry on working.

We have demo models here in our office and you're very welcome to come and use it for a while to see how well these screens will work for you.

See also the bottom of this page for task lighting specifically designed to help with eye fatigue issues.

We all know that long sessions in front of the monitor are tiring for eyes.  Even with a monitor that gives proper consideration to ergonomic and health issues like those we list above, there is more you can do to reduce eye strain at your workstation.

The most important thing to get right is the task lighting in your work area. Experts advise, for best eye comfort, that the area around your monitor is lit to approximately 500 lux, with the light as even as possible.  There should be no flicker and of course eye safe (low blue light) LEDs should be used.

BenQ, as the original developers of eye fatigue features in monitors, have followed up their reasearch and work in this area with the creation of two elegant solutions to the task lighting problem.  

Both feature eye safe LEDs, variable brightness (including monitoring and auto adjustment), and colour temperature selection.  With expected lifespans of over 30000 hours of use, they are also tremendously good value options.