fgrise

Since the beginning of the year and using the old laptop (Dell Precision 5520) I have had no issues, until … a couple weeks ago. I thought I had been exposed to COVID and was worried when I started having some kind of chest pressure. I felt really tired at times too, but that's not a very useful symptom. I went to the ER out of precaution, got checked and they found nothing. Today though, I am having this eye strain with this sort of pressure around the eyes that I recognized as what happened last year with the MacBook Pro 16. Now I am wondering if this is not a repeat of last year's issues, just with some slightly different symptoms at first (this time, I never felt palpitations, just this chest pressure). Conditions are, I suppose, similar to last year. I have been working many more consecutive hours on the laptop instead of being in the lab. Time of the year is about the same, but I am not sure this has any relevance. The only thing is that indirect sunlight is shining through the window and I remembered being bothered by it last year. But this is something I have noticed only since yesterday. How do we explain this progression of symptoms that don't affect the eyes at first (some kind of neurological issue?) I haven't seen any updates to the video drivers, but there has been some Windows updates in the last 2 weeks (I can't deactivate those because of IT). Now on what to do with all this … I am not sure. I still need a new laptop and have been paralyzed at the idea of buying a new one, especially if I can't tell right away if it's going to be a problem. In my case, it looks like it might be dose-related so I guess I need to be more cognizant of this in the future, although this is going to be a pain in my job. Any thoughts/comments appreciated.

Addendum: the other thing that might be happening is that I am working with overhead lighting that is quite apparently flickering (as I have now taken a slow-motion video with my phone). It's not on all the time, though, but again it could be a dose-dependent issue. I need to find some new bulbs but as this is attached to a dimmer (and I am renting, so no way to change this) I am not sure what to buy.

    Hi there. My name is Nicholas, and I´m a led strainer (this is beginning to feel as Anonimous ledstrainers now). I´ve been reading some of your stories to see if I can gain a better understanding of what´s going on with us, and what are you trying to do to overcome it, or a least to be able to live some sort of normal life again.

    I wanted to tell you a little bit about my case, to see if someone has been experiencing the same – one thing about this condition is that it is very tricky, and there appears to be multiple factors at stake, as well as multiple potential triggers. But before that, I wanted to summarize the possible triggers (not causes, I think) of this affection. By reading most of your posts, triggers can include:

    +regarding screens:

    -LED, LCD, and even CRT screens (maybe not all of them, maybe specific types of LCD, maybe OLEDS, an even maybe not LCD screens)

    -PWM flickering

    -Low refresh rate

    - temporal dithering

    -Intel video drivers, other Windows 10 drivers

    -External screen connection technologies (such as HDMI)

    +Regarding other luminic sources

    -Sunlight

    -Reflected sunlight

    -Incandescent light bulbs: old ones, LCD, LED; color temperature

    Am I missing something? I think it would be good to make a list as comprehensive as posible, because it would help people to identify what triggers their simptoms.

    I´m posting this here because… seemed the best place. Maybe we should start a new post to keep updated, so people can easily find out the triggers that might be affecting them. And maybe the post already exists, and I missed it - sorry if that´s the case.

    A will summaryze my own problems in another post, so this is not too long.

    Nicholas

      Mrak0020

      Great, let´s do it. I´ll copy my little list in a new thread.

        6 days later

        Hi! In december 2020 (a few days before Christmas) I made a clean install (win 10) and since then I had eye strain on my private computer (w10, amd gpu). The solution was to use a VGA-DVI-cable (thanks to ledstrain.org; of course I have also been to ophthalmologists but they wasn't helpful). At work I also have Windows 10 (Dell Latidude 5510, Windows 10 Education but there shouldn't be a difference) but without these problems (DVI, HDMI).

        Now in December 2021 (again a few days before Christmas) I did nothing and suddenly I get eye strain also via vga. In the days before nothing was updated (no w10 update, no driver update). I just had a lot of stress the days/weeks before.

        Now I am a bit at a loss what else I could try. Or what caused it (possibly the stress but relaxation has not helped so far).

          18 days later

          killabug Welcome! A lot of intro posts in this thread may go under the radar due to its general topic. You may get more feedback posting this as an individual post.

            14 days later

            i get headaches very easily when playing video games certain movement makes feel like car sickness movement throws me off balance.? adjust the lighting on the tv or not.?

            a month later

            Hello everyone!

            I'm from Bulgaria, working in corporate (40 hours of emails each week 😅) and am 33.

            I first found out that there is something wrong with newer displays when I went out and bought an Acer Predator XB271HUbmiprz gaming monitor which I found appalling upon several days of use and quickly returned. My eyes were bloodshot, had bad headaches and a vertigo-like feeling when trying to look at this monitor for more than 5 minutes.

            After a year or so (2021) influenced by the HWUnboxed review on YouTube (must admit 😓) went out and gave high refresh rate IPS panels a second chance and bought the MSI Optix MAG274QRF-QD. It was a notch better, but it sucked again. So had to return it once more.

            Long story short, I am being very cautious about my next monitor purchase. I will detail my experience with the above two in a post shortly.

            Thanks to the admin team for coming up with the idea for this amazing forum!

            Cheers!

            • SAH likes this.
            2 months later

            41 year old physician. Only recently discovered this forum as I had a bout of dizziness during which I felt much worse while reading my desktop screen, an old dell u2412m 24 inch 16:10 ips display that I bought in 2015, which otherwise is very good and I never had problems with.

            This took me down the rabbit hole, after learning about how all of these monitors are affecting us and using various techniques to adjust brightness and produce color which aren't very good for the eyes, to say nothing of poor motion and blur artifacts, etc. Along with, of course, my progressive myopia which I finally stabilized in 2015, and to which I will always blame optometrists. Nobody needs minus lenses, period. Just take kids outside and make them wear reading glasses for any heavy study, and they will be fine, they will never need glasses and turn into a nerd, they will enjoy life.

            And besides I'm tired of wasting my life behind screens. Thinking of getting a laptop just to reduce overall computer use even though they are not as ergonomic. I just don't want to sit at a desk staring at these big screens my whole life.

            Human eyes are designed for natural lighting and distance. That way your extraocular muscles, pupils, ciliary muscle, and blinking all work in tandem to resolve blur at all distances, control light passage, and flush and protect the ocular surface. All of this is reduced when you are sitting down staring at a fixed screen.

            Notice how all of the superficial people, athletes, etc. never develop myopia or eye problems (until later life) while we nerds are cursed with myopia and strain. Hmmmm, wonder why that is. Can it maybe have something to do with sitting down staring at a screen your whole life?

              dolph99

              People on this forum have serious problems with screens and you write a post that people here can find a bit insulting. We live in an age where there is screens like everywhere, in our homes, offices, cars, stores, public areas and so on. I think we all know that our eyes is made/optimized for natural lighting, and its good to be out playing in the nature.

              dolph99 Notice how all of the superficial people, athletes, etc. never develop myopia or eye problems (until later life) while we nerds are cursed with myopia and strain. Hmmmm, wonder why that is. Can it maybe have something to do with sitting down staring at a screen your whole life?

              This is just stupid. I know many people (tech/economic) who uses screens all day and have no problems, and if we ask some eye doctors they can confirm that “sporty people” also have eye problems.

              dolph99 And besides I'm tired of wasting my life behind screens. Thinking of getting a laptop just to reduce overall computer use even though they are not as ergonomic. I just don't want to sit at a desk staring at these big screens my whole life.

              Maybe this is your problem, not screens.

              //Mike from Sweden

                    dolph99 Thinking of getting a laptop just to reduce overall computer use even though they are not as ergonomic

                    In addition with a desktop you have control over what monitor you can use, and some can be better for eyes than others.

                      2 months later

                      I am nobody special…Just an early 50's guy with the 'gift' to be able to see and feel the PWM of all those crazy lights. Always have. Just now they are everywhere. Too bad they try to make me crazy. Which can make my wife crazy, well not so much. Quit my job to stay sane and stay married last summer. So now I pretty much just keep the wood cut, pigs and chickens fed, and garden growing. But it does give me a little more time in the Forge. It was a great relief, (relief) may not be the right word, to find LEDStrain.org.

                      So, Thank You from Kentucky.

                      a month later

                      I am so happy to find this site! I am a 42 year old Project Manager from northwest Pennsylvania. I am generally sensitive to many types of substances and stimuli, but my "relationship" to LED sensitivity is one of the most pronounced and has noticeably affected my life. I work on a computer screen, and I've found that for some reason due to the LED back lighting, certain older model monitors (even WITH PWM!) are tolerable for me with no problem at all, while almost all modern monitors cause significant eye strain and other symptoms within minutes of use: for instance I can use an Asus VS247H-P for Dell P2014HT all day long, but a standard monitor from even 5 years ago like a LG or LG 24MP59HT-P or any gaming monitor like Asus PG279Q causes terrible eye strain. I'm confident this is an LED issue as certain modern LED desk lamps cause the same exact symptoms, and the monitors affect me even if the backlight is on but the screen is black. I am on a quest to find a modern monitor- hopefully a gaming monitor- that is tolerable! I will search the forum and start a post about this topic in case there are any others here who have a similar experience. Thank you for this site! 🙂

                        Lauda89 Thank you for the idea! I once expected OLED would be my solution, but a OLED TV we bought was totally intolerable to me, it affected me negatively so strongly I couldn't watch it for even a few minutes and we had to return it. I suspect there are some color wavelengths being produced that I am super sensitive to. I wish I could narrow down the issue better: I'd absolutely love to be able to tolerate an OLED monitor.

                        • JTL replied to this.

                            Gemsand Well. I do know current OLED TVs use a "WRGB" subpixel so that could be an issue as well.

                              13 days later
                              dev