Your eyes don’t need to hurt after staring at a screen. Image: DepositPhotos
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If your monitor hurts your eyes, a problem sometimes referred to as computer vision syndrome, there isn’t just one thing that could be the culprit. Instead, there are a host of problems that could be affecting your eyes. A few simple steps can provide clues as to whether or not your monitor is damaging your eyes. They can also suggest some other possible causes, basic fixes, and what to look for in your next monitor. This is not medical advice and you should absolutely talk to your eye doctor about any and all issues.
Is your monitor causing eye pain?
With the rise of computer-based work, those experiencing eye pain are more likely to blame their monitor today than ever. It isn’t an entirely unfounded belief, either, with one study in Nature suggesting that the use of electronic devices like computer, laptops, phones, and tablets for as low as three hours a day could contribute to “computer vision syndrome.”
Symptoms include watering of the eyes, double vision, dryness of the eyes, and generic eye pain among others recognized in a cross-sectional study of computer vision syndrome. In other words, any sort of pain or discomfort related to the use of screens is part of the syndrome. If you find your eyes hurting while looking at (or just after looking at) screens then you could be affected and it’s worth mentioning to your doctor.
However, it’s important that noticing a few symptoms isn’t the same as a real diagnosis. You could have simply developed another issue while using screens, as most of us do use screens on a regular basis. For example, BlueCross BlueShield recognizes dry eye as the most common eye problem, citing that it can result in itchy, red eyes and blurred vision — all symptoms of computer vision syndrome. While taking a good look at your monitor and monitor health is a good idea, going to see a doctor or ophthalmologist may also be highly beneficial.
Why monitors hurt eyes
There are several possible problems that can arise from too much staring into a monitor. Here are some common possible culprits.
Monitor height
If your monitor is at an incorrect height, you’ll probably feel it in your neck at some point. However, a study conducted in an office environment suggests that higher screens cause eye strain at a greater rate than lower screens. Most people prefer a screen that they can look at head on or that is somewhat lower (as low as -16 degrees) for comfort. Your monitor likely has a height-adjustment feature, so if you find that it is too high, go ahead and take the time to adjust it now. Alternatively, consider picking up a monitor arm for easy and precise adjustment.
Viewing distance
“If you sit too close to your TV, you’ll go blind!” sounds like the parental advice of a bygone era, especially with how close we are to our monitors and phones each day. But is there something to viewing distance after all?
In the same study mentioned above, participants were shown to prefer viewing distances between 60 and 100 cm (from about 2 ft. to 3 ft. 4 in. away). Screens closer than the preferred distance were shown to cause increased visual strain. Physical moving your monitor on your desk or your chair’s location can help. You can also use a monitor wall mount if you happen to use a narrow desk.
Monitor size
Monitor size is rather tricky to get right, and you’ll hear several opinions about it, all backed up with their own research. To sum up the complex, a smaller computer monitor is likely going to be better for your eyes but there are cases for larger screens, too.
If you research screen size and eye health, you’ll likely come across mentions of a BMC Ophthalmology study on eye accommodation when using smart devices, where the smaller screen was more damaging. However, this study utilized the iPhone XR and a 9.7 inch iPad, both notably not monitors, and also not used in the stationary way that monitors are. Additionally, it focused on specific measurements of eye convergence ability instead of overall eye comfort.
When we look at more typical use patterns for monitors, however, and overall eye health, the results are different. It seems that smaller screens are better. According to optometrist Dr. Jennifer Lyerly in an interview with OCuSOFT, smaller screens are much more comfortable to the eyes. In the interview, she notes a study that showed workers who use small laptop screens report less eye symptoms than those who use large monitors. She attributes this to our behavior when using screens. Larger screens mean our eyes are opened wider and we’re blinking less, giving us less time with healthy and protective “tears” on our eyeball surface.
Refresh rate and screen flickering
Refresh rate and screen flickering could be the issue, but are somewhat unlikely to be. Humans quit sensing images as individuals and start to perceive them as flowing objects around 50Hz, or 50 unique images per second. (Dogs, on the other hand, see unique images until around 75Hz, which is why dogs couldn’t watch TV in the past.) Below this rate you may suffer from an often unperceived screen flickering. However, the typical lower bound for monitors today is 60Hz, which should greatly reduce if not outright eliminate eye-fatiguing screen flickering from refresh rate sources.
You’ll also note that many of our favorite monitors for eye strain clock in at that 60Hz level and beyond. That’s because screen flickering can be reduced further in other ways than just increasing the refresh rate. For example, ViewSonic flicker-free technology uses a single continuous light source instead of rapid light source cycling to change brightness levels.
Conclusion: Higher refresh rates are likely to help your screen experience. Finding a screen that emphasizes being flicker-free or flicker reduction can help even more.
Resolution
Most people prefer higher resolution imagery for the sharper details and clearer picture, but is there anything more to it than that? According to the science, the results are pretty inconclusive:
One 2022 report from the Review of Optometry suggests higher resolution screens might reduce digital eye fatigue as they reduce accommodative lag (the time it takes for your eye to focus on an object that’s closer than the one previously looked at).
A 2016 study comparing a 4K curved TV to an FHD TV led the researchers to conclude that 4K resolutions (on TVs!) might be worse for people with some relatively rare eye movement patterns.
Furthermore, while recent studies suggest that people rate and enjoy 8K images more than 4K images (though whether they can fully perceive them is still up in the air) there is little to conclusively say that they affect eye fatigue at all.
Conclusion: Upgrade to a 4K monitor for the looks, but don’t count on it affecting your eyes.
Blue light
Blue light often receives sweeping condemnation for every type of eye strain, but it’s more complicated than that. Given adjectives like “harmful” or even “deadly” by manufacturers with blue-light filtering built-in to their monitors, it is easy to get panicky. Research suggests, however, that blue light isn’t the enemy you might have been led to think it is. It can, however, affect your sleep physiology and sleeplessness could be affecting your eyes.
Don’t worry about the blue light and instead make a plan to avoid sleep loss from screen light (of all colors).
Brightness
If your monitor hurts your eyes, it could be from your screen’s brightness level. In fact, one big tip from the American Association of Ophthalmologists (AAO) is to simply reduce glare and brightness. Screens with matte finishes reduce brightness from glare while the screen’s brightness and contrast controls can tone down the bright light.
Backlighting style
QLED, OLED, and mini-LED backlighting styles are all the rage in consumer TVs these days and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a quality TV without one of them. But, now that they’re sneaking into monitor tech, could they be hurting our eyes?
The answer is likely “no” but the full research is still coming out. For example, a 2020 study showed that while OLED tech still damaged eye cells in culture, it was less harmful than LED lighting for tested parameters. However, at this point there are still few accessible studies about this tech, QLED, or their long-term effects on the eyes.
Your behavior and environment
As a final piece of advice, part of the reason your monitor hurts your eyes may not be from the monitor at all, so much as your behavior. If your eyes are focused on something near for too long without a break, tension builds. Looking away in the distance periodically helps.
For a long time, when it came to preventing eye strain, the rule of thumb was the 20-20-20 rule: “Every 20 minutes, shift your eyes to look at an object 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.” However, with the pandemic and more work-from-home jobs, there has been more scrutiny on the 20-20-20 rule from academics.
Still, optometrists will tell you that looking away from your screen periodically helps.That’s because, while the 20-20-20 rule is iffy, optometrists will still tell you the data suggests taking near work breaks may be beneficial. So, take a break from work or stare out the window periodically, optometrists are telling you to!
Avoiding computer vision syndrome with your next monitor
If you want to make sure your next monitor does not hurt your eyes, doing a bit of research on various monitors and monitor types will certainly help. Here, we’ll look at some of the most important things to look for in a new monitor. But, before we get started, also consider buying a computer monitor screen protector for eyes for your current monitor if you want to save it. Those with matte finish ones being particularly useful for stopping glare.
Also note that if you find that some monitors hurt your eyes quickly (as do I, personally) it is always fine to go into a store and stare at them for a moment. Best Buy, Walmart, and Staples all have monitors on display for a reason.
TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Certification
TÜV Rheinland provides a number of safety and other certifications, with one of the more prominent ones for the tech-oriented being the TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Certification. The latest 2023 certifications check for everything from flickers to ambient light management. While not having this certification does not imply that a monitor is bad for your eyes, it can give you peace of mind when choosing a new monitor. Manufacturers will proudly show off this certification since they had to pay for testing, so it won’t be hard to find out if an individual monitor has it.
Curved monitors
Curved monitors allow us to quickly view a larger area of screen with less movement of the eyes. Your peripheral can check the edges and the screen shape is not dissimilar to your curved eye shape. Indeed, a 2016 study found participants had less eye strain and blurred-vision when searching for information on curved monitors than flat ones.
If you’ve checked out the best curved monitors, you’ll know that they have a curve rating expressed in R, which represents the distance in millimeters you should sit away from it to be in the circle it’d make. What R rating is best, though? Another 2016 study using flat, 1000R, 2000R, 3000R, and 4000R monitors found that 1000R was significantly better than flat monitors in eye pain scores from users.
Conclusion: Curved monitors are better for eye strain than flat monitors, and 1000R monitors are shown to be better for eye pain.
Trying a TV as a monitor
If you’re interested in using a TV as a monitor, you aren’t alone. And, typically, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it from an eye health standpoint. However, since TVs are made to be placed far away and tend to be bigger, it is possible you might find the experience mildly uncomfortable. It is probably better to go for a monitor designed with flicker-free tech and with the eyes in mind than a TV, but a smaller TV shouldn’t do anything harmful to your eyes.
Conclusion
Remember, your eye health is important and while it may seem that your monitor is the source of your eye problems, there may be other things wrong, so please be sure to check with an eye doctor if problems persist. However, remember that most of the eye strain from working at home isn’t going to hurt your eyes in the long run. Adjust your current monitor, change your settings, or grab a new monitor to get the right fit for you and you’ll likely be good to go without a panic.
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