imac eye strain?

I think you're going to encounter problems including eye strain based more on what you do (and what you don't do) than a glossy vs. matte display.

Take a break once in a while. Get a nice chair. Set up your work environment correctly. Jack up the size on the font of the text you're reading. Look into getting your eyes checked.

I get eye strain from using my iPhone too often...and hand cramps. I'm trying ways to get myself to take breaks and stop doing the offending tasks so much. It's not the phone's display. It's what I'm not doing that's causing the problem.

For what it's worth, I have no problems with my glossy MacBook display (other than the dust), as long as I'm not hunched over typing for hours on end. That's when things start to hurt.

 

I'm on a MacBook that has a glossy display and I don't have a problem with eye strain. I've had times when I had to read/write essays that were at least 10 pages long and it took around 3 hours for everything. When I was done I had no problem with eye strain.

 

I went from a first-gen Apple Cinema Display (matte) to a glossy iMac screen. I must admit that I have experienced more eye strain after sustained text-reading. I don't know if it's the glossiness or the brightness, though. And I do have it set on "television" gamma, because I watch a lot of video.

 

I am on a 24" Alum iMac for 12 hours a day. I do not notice any eye strain, but I have turned the brightness down a little. When you buy a new one the brightness is maxed out.

If your on any computer, you need to look away, and/or walk away from the screen constant staring onto the screen is very unhealthy for your eyes.

 

The point is, some people are more susceptible to eyestrain than others. So you cannot make a blanket statement like "gloss screens don't cause eye strain". That is why Apple should bring back the matte screen on the iMac and MacBook Pro. Steve Jobs says the majority of people want gloss screens, but the macpolls.com survey shows that 44% of people want matte screens. Sure, that's a minority, but it takes a bully to shaft 44% of customers, and enforce the glossy screen on them. Steve Jobs, you're a bully, and you're getting worse as Apple's success and marketshare increase.

 

I don't think its the glossy screen that creates eyestrain but it's the reflections instead.

If you do get an iMac just make sure to place it in a way where the lighting in the room creates less reflections.