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Retina screen, head, eye strain and nausea problems.

Simacca

Simacca

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 31, 2008
1,435
764
UK, South East.
I recieved my lovely rmbp yesterday (macbook virgin). After using it for about 10 minutes I noticed that I couldn't focus on the text properly and my head started to feel really tight and felt buzzing (tinnitus) in my ears. This followed by severe eyestrain, dizziness and nausea. I have never experienced this before, I own a vaio (3 years old) and an ipad 3 with retina amongst other gadgets.

I thought I may be just over tired and excited so went and had a rest for a couple of hours. When I came back to the macbook all the symptoms started again. I have tried different settings (brightness, resolution, etc). I let someone else use it and they never had any of the problems i did, so it's definitely me :-(.

I recently had my eyes tested and have 20-20 vision. This has really pi**ed me off as I love the macbook and the crispness of the screen.

Can anyone help or give me some advice as I don't want to return it?

Thankyou for taking the time to read this.
 
That's really odd, I don't have 20-20 vision but I've been rocking with my rMBP since last year w/o any issues.

If you're getting all those symptoms from using a laptop, then return the laptop.
 
maflynn said:
That's really odd, I don't have 20-20 vision but I've been rocking with my rMBP since last year w/o any issues.

If you're getting all those symptoms from using a laptop, then return the laptop.
Click to expand...

I was hoping someone out there may have a solution for me before I decide to return it. Just going to pop into my opticians for some advice.

Makes me worried about using laptops in the future now as a lot of companies are using similar screen tech.
 
I have the exact same issue, which extends to the retina display on my iPhone 5S, but also affects me with the non-retina iPad mini.

It seems to occur more later in the day, so I believe it to be just eye-strain as I work with various computers/devices for 10+ hours every day.

The only thing that resolves it is to wear my non-prescription reading glasses. My eye test also came back near perfect, but I picked up reading glasses upon the recommendation of my optician. This has definitely helped!

Could it just be eye strain? I can definitely say that this isn't always resolved by resting your eyes for a few hours. Only a full night sleep is a sure fire way to rule it out. Is it occurring later in the day when you could be tired, or as soon as you wake up also?
 
davidjearly said:
I have the exact same issue, which extends to the retina display on my iPhone 5S, but also affects me with the non-retina iPad mini.

It seems to occur more later in the day, so I believe it to be just eye-strain as I work with various computers/devices for 10+ hours every day.

The only thing that resolves it is to wear my non-prescription reading glasses. My eye test also came back near perfect by the way, but I picked up reading glasses upon the recommendation of my optician. This has definitely helped!

Could it just be eye strain?
Click to expand...

I use various screens throughout the day and get the usual eyestrain, but this is much more intense. Not sure if it's because my eyes aren't use to the retina screen as it seems even sharper than my ipad 3 retina, but am going to try some reading glasses and see what happens.

I did do some googling and read that it could be down to the led backlight refresh rate?
 
Are you on a medication?, these symptons look like side effects of a pill, the only thing a lcd screen can cause is insomnia as far as I know, I've never experienced those symptons using a retina ipad/macbook for hours.
 
The glass in front of the screen could cause glare and headache. But then again, if you have an iPad, maybe it's not that. What's the manufacturer of your display panel? You could ask if others have the exact same screen type and if some other people get similar symptoms.

On the other hand, if you get tinnitus sounds like it might not be your eyes causing the problem. My second best guess would be that maybe you are sensitive to electromagnetic fields (are you using wlan to connect to the internet?). Perhaps rMBP emits more electromagnetic radiation than your Vaio.
 
I sometimes get this problem too, especially when LCD panels started getting more popular over CRT's (Back in the day!) I think it had something to do with the refresh rates on the LCD's being lower.

It feels like I'm getting seasick with massive nausea. I had a surface pro for a while and scaled it was fine but at 1080 no scaling it made me nauseous, which also makes me think it might have something to do with resolution too.

I did have an older LCD monitor that made me nauseous but I got used to it so maybe it might just take you some time to adjust.

I've looked at the retina's in the apple store and it seemed fine to me, I hope I wont have this issue as I am seriously considering getting one
 
Those symptoms are very similar to those of motion sickness/3D sickness/car sickness, you may suffer from one of them, I for one suffer from motion/3D sickness, hope this helps.
 
Jim4D said:
I sometimes get this problem too, especially when LCD panels started getting more popular over CRT's (Back in the day!) I think it had something to do with the refresh rates on the LCD's being lower.

It feels like I'm getting seasick with massive nausea. I had a surface pro for a while and scaled it was fine but at 1080 no scaling it made me nauseous, which also makes me think it might have something to do with resolution too.

I did have an older LCD monitor that made me nauseous but I got used to it so maybe it might just take you some time to adjust.

I've looked at the retina's in the apple store and it seemed fine to me, I hope I wont have this issue as I am seriously considering getting one
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience. I actually played with a rmbp a few times in store and don't recall getting any symptoms either.

The good news is that I just got a cheapo pair of reading glasses from my local chemist and it seems to have helped somewhat, although I now have to sit right in front of the screen. I think I need to get some different strength ones so I can sit further back tho.
 
Simacca said:
Thanks for sharing your experience. I actually played with a rmbp a few times in store and don't recall getting any symptoms either.

The good news is that I just got a cheapo pair of reading glasses from my local chemist and it seems to have helped somewhat, although I now have to sit right in front of the screen. I think I need to get some different strength ones so I can sit further back tho.
Click to expand...

Just go and get a proper eye test - its only £20 and then you can get the right glasses.

Droo
 
Obviously it is an eye problem - wearing glasses has improved the situation ?
 
walkie said:
Those symptoms are very similar to those of motion sickness/3D sickness/car sickness, you may suffer from one of them, I for one suffer from motion/3D sickness, hope this helps.
Click to expand...

The funny thing is I can use a Nintendo 3ds on full 3d settings with no probs. Passive 3dtv's are fine, but I can see the refresh rate on active 3d glasses and they give me similar symptoms. Never really suffered from car sickness though.

----------
droo said:
Just go and get a proper eye test - its only £20 and then you can get the right glasses.

Droo
Click to expand...

Had a full eye test a couple of months ago and my vision actually improved from the time before. It's practically 20-20.
 
My eyes are also fine, I may try reading glasses if I experience this problem again. Maybe the glass in the lens reduces the effect of flickering or glare we can not consciously see :cool:
 
Simacca said:
The funny thing is I can use a Nintendo 3ds on full 3d settings with no probs. Passive 3dtv's are fine, but I can see the refresh rate on active 3d glasses and they give me similar symptoms. Never really suffered from car sickness though.

----------



Had a full eye test a couple of months ago and my vision actually improved from the time before. It's practically 20-20.
Click to expand...


For me watching the movie Avatar in 3D was a very painful experience to the point I had to close my eyes for minutes, the nausea and dizziness was unbearable and it lasted me for 2 hours more after the movie had ended, I have similar symptoms if the movie has a lot of car chasing, I remember was I was a child I had one of those typical digital alarm clock with big numbers, and because of the refresh rate of the display I could see the numbers shaking at times, creating a moving effect by itself, maybe you are experience something similar with the refresh rate on a rMBP.
 
This happened to me once a long time ago, and it had to do with the refresh rate or rather a problem with a monitor that was not hitting the right refresh rate (at least that is what I came up with). I returned the monitor for a new one (same make/model) and I was fine. I had the benefit that it was at work an noticed that it happened at my work station but not at another.

Return it and purchase a new one so you get another 14 days with a replacement and see if that helps. (don't exchange as it won't reset your original purchase date.)

Good luck.
 
Simacca said:
I recieved my lovely rmbp yesterday (macbook virgin). After using it for about 10 minutes I noticed that I couldn't focus on the text properly and my head started to feel really tight and felt buzzing (tinnitus) in my ears. This followed by severe eyestrain, dizziness and nausea. I have never experienced this before, I own a vaio (3 years old) and an ipad 3 with retina amongst other gadgets.

I thought I may be just over tired and excited so went and had a rest for a couple of hours. When I came back to the macbook all the symptoms started again. I have tried different settings (brightness, resolution, etc). I let someone else use it and they never had any of the problems i did, so it's definitely me :-(.

I recently had my eyes tested and have 20-20 vision. This has really pi**ed me off as I love the macbook and the crispness of the screen.

Can anyone help or give me some advice as I don't want to return it?

Thankyou for taking the time to read this.
Click to expand...

How many different focal distances are you using during the day. Maybe this is an issue. Do you still have this problem if the rMBP is the only item used during the day ? i.e. no TV, no reading, no other screens ? How many different sets of glasses do you use ?

I have similar problems if I watch my MBA, a MacMini/Samsung 1440x900 monitor, TV and reading all extensively in the same day, even though I don't change glasses (bifocals). If I cut out the Samsung monitor, the problem is much reduced.
 
Have spoke to my optician and apparently I haven't had an eye test since last November. I'm sure I had one less than 6 months ago. Anyway, I have got another app on sunday so shall see what the outcome is.

I am now not sure whether the cheap reading glasses are actually doing anything, because I have took them off and my symptoms are not as bad as they were yesterday, although I can feel the tightness around my forehead, focussing probs and my tinnitus has gotten worse

Maybe I need time to get used to the screen. I will keep experimenting.

I have just watched a 4k video on youtube and it was amazing (apart from my symptoms). I really hope I can keep this as I don't want to go back to my old vaio with rubbish low res screen and colour shifting with any slight movements!
 
Well after quite a lot of usage today the symptoms have eased a bit. I'm still getting a tight head and some eyestrain though. My optician's app is tomorrow, but I don't think its my eyesight. I will persevere for a few more days and see if the symptoms lessen even more. I really hope they do because I love this thing!!
 
This is not a Retina specific tip, but a normal tip for avoiding eyestrain.
Try to have a light source behind the screen, not so it shines right in to your eyes, but just so its brighter behind the screen.
And the other way around in front of the screen, try to keep it as dim as possible and make sure you have no lights that can glare of your screen.

I had problems both with my big screen TV and when gaming with headaches, and i have tried this, and it works great for me.
I now have LED strips stuck to the back of my TV so it shines up the wall behind it, it works great.
And when i had a gaming rig i had a light placed behind the screen so i could just see the halo effect around the screen, and it also helped a lot.

Now this is of course much harder on a laptop, but its possible to try it out and see if it works for you, and if it does take some appropriate steps to make it work for you.

Also i would try a bit more zoomed in on your laptop, the retina makes it much easier to read small print, but its still hard for your eyes to read small print. So zooming in could help you not needing to focus so hard to read the small letters and such.
 
zOlid said:
This is not a Retina specific tip, but a normal tip for avoiding eyestrain.
Try to have a light source behind the screen, not so it shines right in to your eyes, but just so its brighter behind the screen.
And the other way around in front of the screen, try to keep it as dim as possible and make sure you have no lights that can glare of your screen.

I had problems both with my big screen TV and when gaming with headaches, and i have tried this, and it works great for me.
I now have LED strips stuck to the back of my TV so it shines up the wall behind it, it works great.
And when i had a gaming rig i had a light placed behind the screen so i could just see the halo effect around the screen, and it also helped a lot.

Now this is of course much harder on a laptop, but its possible to try it out and see if it works for you, and if it does take some appropriate steps to make it work for you.

Also i would try a bit more zoomed in on your laptop, the retina makes it much easier to read small print, but its still hard for your eyes to read small print. So zooming in could help you not needing to focus so hard to read the small letters and such.
Click to expand...

Thankyou for the tips. I shall try these out over the next few days. It's like the screen is too sharp if that makes any sense and my brain can't adjust properly lol.
 
Just had a full eye exam and my eye sight is fine. The optician said it could be something to do with the backlighting or refresh rates. Looks like I will end up returning it for a refund and try my luck with the ipad air when it's released, as my eyes are fine with my. Ipad 3.

Am gutted really. Was actually hoping I had something wrong with my eyes.
 
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