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There are two more things I am now considering as contributors to eye strain: backdrop color and distance. A lighter backdrop could improve eye strain by normalizing the amount of light the pupils need to adjust to. But there is also backdrop distance; there is a vaster space to focus, either on behind in the case of a laptop or on in the case of the TV. For my computer monitor, I am both close to the screen and the wall behind it. Doctors say that you tend to get more eye strain if you go for long periods focusing on nearby objects.

The eye strain I've been feeling with even the Samsung 2494 after very long sessions isn't a burning sensation like with the Alienware AW2521H but more like a basic muscle soreness. This supports the idea of totally separate types of eye strain going on. One could be focus related and one could be sensitivity to certain light wavelengths like blue or red, and sensitivity to certain types of polarization like horizontal or vertical. But it's also surprising because I never experienced eye strain like this on my 2494 before and it makes me think my eyes are also just losing stamina, or maybe I'm still recovering from a literal eye injury from using the other monitors. Or it could be using the C1 with vertical polarization has now made me more sensitive to horizontal or diagonal polarization.

I will try experimenting with different colored drapes and moving my desk out to put more space behind it. There's something I'm not totally getting, but I think we've at least identified that some monitors are worse for eye strain than others.

    TrantaLocked There are two more things I am now considering as contributors to eye strain: backdrop color and distance. A lighter backdrop could improve eye strain by normalizing the amount of light the pupils need to adjust to

    I recall someone here claimed to get more eyestrain from a device after they repainted the walls in their room, which I presume included the wall behind the emitting device, so if true that's more credence to that theory.

      TrantaLocked you are right. Different kind of eye strain with different causes. But i can also tell that eye strain is different dependant on the device and its settings. My Benq gives me only normal eye strain but gives me nausea. Eizo gives no nausea but the worst eye strain. The LG 24gl600f gave me less eye strain and it feeled completly different AND gave me nausea.

      I also think my glasses dont help at all. I visited a new eye doctor. He said i have chronical dry eyes and that can lead to the worst symptoms. He gave me new medication(Cortison 3 weeks, better eye drops 4times a day, sth for the night). And i stopped using my glasses, because they give me strain too. Muscle strain...

      I bought the syncmaster but also a dell u2410. They are cheap and a lot of people in the forum use them it seems. But i will try to get some eye rest first.

        Isn't this just amazing. My Lenovo x280 has been problem free. My old HP 27 inch display died, so I quickly replaced it with some old Samsung 24 inch. This is not producing eye strain, after testing 2 weeks full workdays.

        Now I decided I wanted a bigger display. I have been thinging that older displays with worse tech would be better, and anyway cheaper displays. I got a 32 inch ThinkVision which costs some 300€. It does not have PWM, but it produces immediate eye strain, with the same Laptop that has not produced eyestrain with 2 other displays.

        So what is it?

        Does anyone know what can be the reason why this cheap 32 inch does produce eye strain whereas one 27inch and 24 inch do not?

        I assume it cannot be temporal dithering as all of those are 8bit + FRC, but the other did not cause strain.

        It is not PWM.

        What is it?

          Nausea can come from ultra high refresh rates but also types of motion you aren't used to. I had nausea for a couple weeks when I first got my 360Hz monitor but I adjusted to it. I also had it the first time I bought a 144Hz monitor but it seems at least for me I got used to this. I don't really have trouble adjusting to any sort of motion but I will say that VA ghosting is still annoying and makes zero sense that this technology is half the monitor market.

          Despite all of the LTT videos about new $10K ultra-wide OLED monitors, budget monitor tech is still bad and it shouldn't be this bad at this point. It should not be possible for someone to buy something like the LG 24" UltraGear TN and get the absolute dog water primary colors (TN does not inherently have a bad color space! It's a design choice!) and blue black level LED color temperature it has (and overall be an objectively worse TN panel than a 2009 Syncmaster TN other than refresh rate), or a VA with 2-inch long color trails in 2022. It's ridiculous. None of those displays should even be on the market. Where is micro LED. Where are small budget OLED monitors. Where is the focus testing to minimize eye strain at default settings? What are monitor manufacturers doing???

          WHERE IS MICRO LED????

            My assumption is that it is not the LEDs, since I don't have any problems with blue light. Only flicker is a problem.

            Of course I could be wrong and there is a completely new source of eye strain in the form of light spectrum. But I've tried all kinds of blue blocking and even polarizing sunglasses and none of those help.

            I still suspect that the problematic panel is creating some form or temproal dithering or PWM type flicker that irriates my eyes, since it is exactly the same type of irritation.

            It feels like the white parts of my eyes would be tingling and like some wind would be blowing, cooling and drying the white parts. But it cannot be dryness, since the feeling starts immediately when watching the display. For dryness to be the reason, it would take some time for it to kick in and moisturizing eye drops would mitigate this, but they do not.

            My theory remais that some muscles in the eyes start to overwork due to the flicker (some kind of flicker) and the muscles start to need more blood supply, thus the blood vessels start get pumped, thus the eyes get red and irritated.

              Maxx yep, exactly same feelings here. I said it numeours times, my benq monitor with pc is fine, but when connected to MBA M1 causes eye strain, diziness, nausea …

                TrantaLocked Well, I am not sure I agree that cheap lousy monitors equate with low eystrain though. MY experience suggests that there is very little correlation between price and impact on eyes. I have a terrible old Acer laptop from 2012 with a very cheap washed out TN panel which cause zero eyestrain, cheap low grade 22" LG IPS (22MK430) which cause little strain and also tried mayn medium and high end displays, with excellent parametres and they killed my eyes. Also seen an horrible/amazing noname Chinese 144 Hz gaming QHD which caused no apparent strain (at least within 2 minutes I tested it).

                  @hayder1983 I think Benq uses terrible, way too grainy and glittering antiglare films and this is the reason for nausea (I own one IPS benq , hopefully I'll get rid of it soon, and I figured it is the reason for my nausea too). Did you try other VA's? I never owned one, but I heard in general VA's are easier on eyes.

                    EyeDiscomfortCertificate i tried an iiyama va Panel but it was horrible. The black smear! I also tried the s2721hgf. It was nice but after a week i was sure i could see flicker with my naked eye. But no nausea.

                      TrantaLocked yes yes yes. Monitors are really stange now. Even the new ultrasharps are really not better than the 12 yr older dell u2410. Not sure why there is nothing high quality available. Even the cheap LG i had was a very good monitor, but i tried 20 different screens in the last 6 months. I cant see a big plus for the current screens.

                      If the 27 inch LG Oled becomes a big success we might perhaps see more budgetfriendly options in the next years. If not...

                          hayder1983 I think something hapenned somewhere around 2017-2018, monitors older than that mostly feel okay to me, newer ones not so much. Probably phasing out CCFL played some role.

                              hayder1983 OTOH there notable exceptions too. HP Elitebook 840 (2019) has absolutely best screen I ever used (no strain whatsoever) , and also I owned for awhile in 2013-14 a Glossy Dell IPS Full HD but it was bad, replaced with super cheap HP TN, with horrible viewing angles and no strain. Still the rule holds. Most old screens are fine. Most new are not.

                                If anyone wants to test this monitor Benq PD3420Q, I got assurance from Benq that it's good for the eyes when used with Mac devices. They give 30 days timespan to test the device and possibly return it if you're not satisfied, but unfortunately I cannot do this in Bosnia. If you have an option in your country to try this, I think it would be worth, and let us know here…

                                  mirza this thing is huge! I prefer 24 Inch or smaller. If needed 2 Monitors. I have the benq ew3270u and i really hate it being so big. For gaming i even prefer 22 Inch but there are nearly no 22 Inch screens left on the market.
                                  BenQ is a mixed bag. All of them are considered eye friendly, but in reality some seem very good and some unusable. They change comoponents a lot, so 2 screens of the same type can be totally different. You have to just try it, if you consider taking one.

                                    Own BENQ pd2700u. It is certainly less straining than cheapo LG27UL500 (mine has poor Vcom tuning and black crash), but definitely is not very eye friendly.

                                    Outside the eyestrain issue, Benq are overpriced. They just are not worth the money, quality control is not on par to the price. Higher end Dells are probably better choice.

                                    4 days later

                                    TrantaLocked I just hooked up the Syncmaster 2494HM. Will test it over the next days, despite my eye infection(still need some work to do.

                                      dev