Please see this:

Do you find it difficult or easy to focus on text on VA panels? Did you just get used to it? Did you get headaches and did they eventually pass?

On the TN panel (BenQ XL2720Z) I find text is easy to read. It's crisp. It's perfect. I can focus on it without issue. I don't even notice it because it's just easy. The background colour is flat.

On the VA panel (LG 32GK850G-B) it's just... not. It's like the edges of the letters are soft. I understand that the pixel structure is different but it's so difficult to put my finger on it. I honestly feel like my eyes strain more to read, and after a few months I'm feeling like my eyes are worse in general. Which has got to be bollocks.

It could just be because things are slightly differently sized, but then I increase the text size and there's still this thing that's hard to quantify. Like it's just slightly out of focus. And anything a few inches from what you're directly in front of, the background color seems to shift. It's a shimmer like on those old kids toy pictures that would look like one thing and then another if you changed your viewing angle.

I know TN panels are supposed to shift a lot but when you're sitting in front of them, they don't – at least not in the same way. Maybe it's the screen coating?

When gaming, it doesn't really matter; there's not a lot of text to be looked at. But when working on notepad, especially on a dark background... it's.... really distracting.

Has anyone else experienced this? Do you just get used to it in the end? Are there any solutions? I've tried using Windows upscaling for text but it blurs things something awful.

Edit: It could just be the anti-glare coating. I don't know. The BenQ doesn't have it.

Examples of what I'm referring to:

Link to the thread: https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2766887

On the matter of refresh rate, I can't find my last post where I asked about 75Hz being of benefit for desktop usage. One says:

Refresh rates do make a difference. I can't do 30hz 4k. Kills my eyes so I had to get a new card to do 60hz on all three 4k monitors. I haven't tried the 120hz monitors yet.

I'm guessing above 60Hz on the desktop is mainly of help for videos and conferencing. It shouldn't help eye strain for most content, unless I'm missing something.

15 days later

Interesting comment:

Both IPS and TN panels hurt my eyes, but only newer ones.

I've heard here that older IPS are worse than newer ones because of thicker anti-glare finishes, and old TN panels are really bad compared to newer ones, yet he says they're more comfortable for him.

7 days later

Does anyone know a VA monitor with a low backlight brightness?

    K-Moss do you know the minimal brightness value of VA249? (currently, I have to use Eizo's IPS model because I need quite low minimal brightness but I would love to try VA).

        anyone Unfortunately I can't tell you that. However one of the the nice things about VA is being able to use a dark or black theme, which VA does very well, and another thing is that VA has good contrast even when you take the contrast control down after taking down the brightness.

        Also, I've read good things about this TN unit: https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-24MK400H-B-led-monitor

        I was going to get one to see how it is because it's a cheap unit with excellent reviews and no one complaining about any eye strain. However, my Amazon site sold out of them after stocking them at a very attractive price level.

        I believe the VA249 may be a bit better, but since I didn't get the LG to test, I don't really know. LG says the viewing angles are only

        Viewing Angle 90º (R/L), 65º (U/D)

        And the Asus is supposed to have 178º viewing angles, but I haven't read anyone complaining about the LG's viewing angles. Maybe that could be because people are easily pleased when they don't pay much? I don't know. TN used to have bad viewing angles, but people don't seem to complain about the current generation units.

        In general, I recommend buying from a place like Amazon where you can try out the unit for 30 days before returning it if need be for a full refund. There's no substitute for using the monitor in your own home environment.

            K-Moss ok thank you, I'll take a look at both (but I need really low brightness so most of the monitors don't fit my needs).

                anyone The LG seems to have a high minimum brightness?

                Brightness 150cd/m² (Min.), 200cd/m² (Typ.)

                    K-Moss oh, yes, thank you, I know about this list (that's how I choose my Eizo), but there are no good VA models there (actually I'm pretty sure VA monitors with a very low brightness doesn't exist so I asked just in case).

                        anyone Have you considered trying the blue light settings in an Asus Eye Care VA like the VA249 or else using a "night light" tool in your OS to make the screen warmer? This may allow you to use a brighter screen, particularly if you have a nearby incadescent lamp to provide some room lighting. When I turn on my "Night Light" in Ubuntu, it takes the sharpness out of the display even though my brightness and contrast levels are at daytime levels, and I am sitting in a dark room without any ambient lighting. This tool allows me to make the screen less warm or more warm depending on where I put the slider.

                            a month later

                            f3likx Hi how are your eyes now? I made a post here related to my issues https://ledstrain.org/d/963-1500-down-the-toilet-lg-38gl950g its odd given my ipad 10.1 IPS 120hz gives me no eye strain whatsoever yet this thing is burning me after 2 minutes!!

                            Not sure if you have used this site before https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/model/a51ef5e - nice breakdown
                            https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_32gk850g.htm a review on the monitor

                            Maybe something in there might help?

                            https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/model/1a1f16d6
                            Mine is https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_38gl950g.htm

                            You can use the site to also do a comparison like between mine and yours:

                            https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/comparison/917eb301a

                            Instantly I notice that there is no FRC on yours. Someone mentioned cables earlier, not sure if thats a thing but this is the first time im outputting a mini dp to DP 1.4, I used to be on Dual DVI, sadly I sold my old monitor and now I'm in a bit of a pickle!!

                            Your contrast is 3000:1 to my 1000:1
                            Yours is AMVA to my IPS
                            Yours is 93 PPI to my 111
                            both backlights are W-led
                            I have dynamic contrast also (? Sounds like changing perhaps!)
                            I have HDR which is disabled
                            Similar refresh rates
                            My ports are HDMI 2 & DP 1.4 vs your HDMI 1.4 and DP 1.2

                            Ironically in this blog for best eye care monitors the no1 recommendation is the ASUS PB278Q which is the one that was destroying your eyes! So if we compare this to your current one we get this:

                            https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/comparison/07e0139da3

                            It is a PLS panel (no idea what that is!)
                            higher pixels than yours
                            but heres something interesting, its 1000:1 contrast same as mine and it also has dynamic contrast too.
                            It doesn't have FRC
                            Mine doesn't have horizontal frequency (IPS) yours has horizontal and vertical
                            It also has the same ports as yours

                            My old monitor I could work all day on, with a little bit of grief here and there but often I could game until 3am if I chose too and recover after having breakfest enough to be able to continue working again.

                            That one was https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/comparison/a98f139db1 and it had 1000:1 contrast also like my current one

                            What about Chroma, could turning off RGB help at all?

                            Other than this I've also found a guide on viewing distance

                            Im trying still with my current monitor but after 3 hrs today my eyes are ready to jump out of their sockets again!!

                              7 months later

                              K-Moss I got that LG monitor, and it has a few issues. Its not a 8 bit panel, and it using horrible static dithering thats very visible with some shades. Images also look lower resolution thanks to this. It also has strong inversion flickering. Its not the worst on the eye, but its not a good monitor overall, not worth buying.

                                  Random Which LG exactly? I made my posts in this thread quite a while ago.

                                      K-Moss Sorry i didnt notice the post is so old. The LG 24MK400H-B is not very good. This monitor also confirmed me that AMD does color dithering, because the static dither on the monitor becomes very "noisy" when its enabled. I was able to turn AMD dithering off with regedit, and all the noisy animated pattern is gone. But the inversion is big issue with this cheap monitor.

                                        8 months later

                                        I'm that kinda person that cannot stay in front of a screen for long enough. One of my friends suggested me a monitor BenQ GW2480 24 Inch IPS Monitor and it is one of the best monitors I've used. I couldn't find this monitor anywhere. I started looking online and I found this website: best computer monitor for eye strain. They have pretty decent types of computer monitors ranging in different prices.

                                        a month later

                                        So basically nobody really knows what causes the eye strain. I'm beginning to think the problem of eye strain is a multifaceted issue. For me the following measures collectively have made a difference. I can't say which one of them is the most effective one, since they all seem to help:

                                        • Increasing the font size and sitting further back, because it's easier to focus on "far and big" than "near and small". Also, near and small forces your eyes to converge (at the extreme you'd be crossing your eyes), which is also tiring.
                                        • Using the Night Light function in Windows (basically a blue light filter I think, the screen turns reddish).
                                        • Adjusting display brightness to match ambient light levels.
                                        • Using a monitor with deeper blacks for better contrast (this enables you to turn down the brightness even further and still see detail).
                                        • Using a flicker-free display. My Samsung phone is not flicker-free and it starts raping my eyes within seconds.
                                        • Placing the monitor at a comfortable viewing height, that is, with the top bezel slightly below eye height.
                                        • Using a larger display because a bigger screen keeps my eyes moving and refocusing all the time, depending on which part of the screen I'm looking at. On a small screen eye movement is more constrained and feels a bit like sitting in a plane seat for hours which can cause discomfort and you feel the need to stretch your legs.
                                        • Placing a light behind my monitor pointed at the wall to create a light bias. This results in a more even distribution of light over the retina, rather than just a bright rectangle surrounded by darkness.
                                        dev