Finally got my new PC build working, turned on the monitor and - instant headache / eye-strain, didn't even want to look at it. 🙁 Relevant specs: Acer XV340CK 34" 3440x1440 IPS, MSI Ventus 3x 4070 Ti Super on DisplayPort. Old monitors which DON'T bother me: Acer H233H and Viewsonic VA2431wm (each 1080p.) I've had issues with LED monitors before. But, wanting to finally build a nice expensive gaming PC, wanting at least 1440p widescreen if not 4k, I figured I'd just chance it, going for IPS for low latency and hoping it would be fine. Well, now I'm here… Research I'd done in the past suggests the main problem is LED flicker, LED tech which is super bright and can only "dim" by pulsing off for longer periods of time. So this bombardment of fast flickering LEDs greatly bothers some, and I am one of the bothered. I've been browsing threads reading various suggestions, but I wondered if someone could give a quick rundown of my options here. I saw blue light glasses mentioned (would that work & would I really want to game in them?) eyepatch training (would this really work - isn't the tech the problem and not me?) could I alleviate it enough using bright room light / could it help to put room light by the monitor rather than behind me? what monitor settings can I try to help reduce the effect? I saw some monitors suggested like the 27" standard 1440p Viewsonic VA2761, but I would also like more suggestions especially for widescreen 1440p or 4k. Should I just give up on IPS right now and look into VA? There was a 3440x1440 VA panel I had almost bought instead. It took me so long to get the PC working, I'm already out of any and all return windows. But I'm willing to sell the monitor and take a bit of a loss if I know a new one would work for me. Honestly I wanted to go big on everything - been settling for super budget PCs for many years. But I'm not thrilled with the monitor for other reasons - 34" sounds enormous, but at this aspect ratio, it really isn't. It's just WIDE!! but not much taller than my 1080p ones. Additionally, I was hoping to get the Oculus / Meta Quest 2 to hook to my PC. Would THAT also give me the same headache issues?? I didn't see any VR section on the forum.

New $2000 Gaming PC, hard to even look at the monitor... advice welcome

MrLoco

Finally got my new PC build working, turned on the monitor and - instant headache / eye-strain, didn't even want to look at it. 🙁

Relevant specs: Acer XV340CK 34" 3440x1440 IPS, MSI Ventus 3x 4070 Ti Super on DisplayPort.

Old monitors which DON'T bother me: Acer H233H and Viewsonic VA2431wm (each 1080p.)

I've had issues with LED monitors before. But, wanting to finally build a nice expensive gaming PC, wanting at least 1440p widescreen if not 4k, I figured I'd just chance it, going for IPS for low latency and hoping it would be fine. Well, now I'm here…

Research I'd done in the past suggests the main problem is LED flicker, LED tech which is super bright and can only "dim" by pulsing off for longer periods of time. So this bombardment of fast flickering LEDs greatly bothers some, and I am one of the bothered.

I've been browsing threads reading various suggestions, but I wondered if someone could give a quick rundown of my options here.

I saw blue light glasses mentioned (would that work & would I really want to game in them?)
eyepatch training (would this really work - isn't the tech the problem and not me?)
could I alleviate it enough using bright room light / could it help to put room light by the monitor rather than behind me?
what monitor settings can I try to help reduce the effect?
I saw some monitors suggested like the 27" standard 1440p Viewsonic VA2761, but I would also like more suggestions especially for widescreen 1440p or 4k.
Should I just give up on IPS right now and look into VA? There was a 3440x1440 VA panel I had almost bought instead.

It took me so long to get the PC working, I'm already out of any and all return windows. But I'm willing to sell the monitor and take a bit of a loss if I know a new one would work for me. Honestly I wanted to go big on everything - been settling for super budget PCs for many years. But I'm not thrilled with the monitor for other reasons - 34" sounds enormous, but at this aspect ratio, it really isn't. It's just WIDE!! but not much taller than my 1080p ones.

Additionally, I was hoping to get the Oculus / Meta Quest 2 to hook to my PC. Would THAT also give me the same headache issues?? I didn't see any VR section on the forum.

Seagull

MrLoco eyepatch training (would this really work - isn't the tech the problem and not me?)

We are a tiny minority of the people, there must be something different about us compared to those who can use screens without issue. You may find some devices/technologies better than others, but you'll get much better outcomes if you can find what is it about you that causes this problem and treat/cure it.

simplex

MrLoco I saw blue light glasses mentioned (would that work & would I really want to game in them?)

nope, bad blue wavelength is about 380…430nm, you need specific glass filter to cut it off. Moreover, your enviroment would get green/red tint then

MrLoco eyepatch training (would this really work - isn't the tech the problem and not me?)

your eye nerve get intensive stress, why you prefer to choose eye-drops or another medicine?

MrLoco what monitor settings can I try to help reduce the effect?

Check if monitor works in 8 bit mode only. Than your OS also could be trigger ( I can't use win newer than w10 1809)

My last findings - newest IPS DC dimming devices use full digital brightness control via dithering - try to find display which used real DC dimming (voltage decrease)

MrLoco Should I just give up on IPS right now and look into VA?

Doesnt matter, depends on brightness control type in panel used

p.s. my xiaomi mi 27 2k monitor based on M270DAN02.B works without issues in 8-bit mode in win10 1809 at 55+ brightness

DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs

MrLoco Do your old monitors work fine with your new computer?

MrLoco

DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs The Viewsonic VA2431wm has been dead for years (burned out CCFL tube). The other Acer I'm on right now on my old PC. Yeah, I could use an old 1080p Acer monitor on my new expensive PC. But that was not at all the point of having a new PC. Wanted more resolution and high framerates. So.

JTL

MrLoco But that was not at all the point of having a new PC.

I think their point was to test with a "known good" monitor to narrow down potential causes of your issue.

MrLoco

JTL Have already used this (old Acer 1080p 60Hz) monitor with the new PC, it behaved as normal.

I did recently have the chance to go into a Best Buy and examine the monitors they had setup. It was a bit hard to tell in the bright store lights, but I did notice their huge ridiculous $1200 curved IPS display seemed to cause the same discomfort to me. The best ones seemed to be HP 27" 1440p monitors specifically one that claimed "eye care" on it. However again since it was bright store lights, and only a 27" display, I can't be sure if it would really be good for me. If needed I did try to record the model numbers and could post them later.

I did read about innolux panels and saw they were suggested. Is there any big list of monitors which use innolux panels, and have people had good results with them?

Also does anyone know if Meta Quest 2 is likely to be unusable for me? I was thinking of buying it.

Ok. The monitors I looked at there with any kind of conclusions:

LG 45GS96QB-B 45" OLED - bad!
HP 27mq 27" IPS - seemed ok
HP 527sh 27" IPS listing eye care - seemed like the best one

But again, even though something like the HP 527sh seems to not give me issues, I wanted more than a 27" standard 1440p monitor. If I had no choice, I guess I could settle for that, but still hoping to find 1440p widescreen or even just go up to 4k if I can find one that my eyes like.

Hazard

Two monitors that are manageable but not perfect to me are, you may try and return them if not doable:
Dell S2722DGM
Dell G2724D

MrLoco

Hazard What is your GPU, and do you feel the 1440p 27" monitor is "enough" ? With a 4070 Ti Super I'm sort of in between 1440p widescreen and 4k capability, depending on the framerate I want. I feel like normal 1440p would be a waste of my GPU. So, still hoping I can get a good one which is at least 3440x1440. But thanks for the suggestions and I'll put them on the list.

AgentX20

The problem is the source of your issues is going to be one or more of:

The operating system
The video card
Your monitor.

Identifying which ones of these is the problem for you is super difficult, as is finding the specific source of the problem.

My money is on all three, with modern Nvidia GPUs being a primary 'offender'. Still, you might be lucky in finding a monitor that mitigates the problems of some or all three. And if you do, we'd love to hear it because for many of us here finding such a panacea is very unusual.

I suggest you try disabling dithering on the GPU using this utility. It might just help:

GitHub - ledoge/novideo_srgb: Calibrate monitors to sRGB or other color spaces on NVIDIA GPUs, based on EDID data or ICC profiles