I have a 2012 Mac Book Pro Retina, and learned in a podcast that monitors flicker and that can distress eyes. would adjusting monitor brightness, or 20 minute rule, where you look at something 20m away for 20 seconds, every 20 minutes help? or fitting a cover to the monitor? (undoubtedly look awful) or https://9to5mac.com/2016/01/12/night-shift-flux-mac-os-x/ having night mode installed help? please comment
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suggestions to making monitor healthier for eyes..
- Thread starter Appletise
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Don't believe everything you hear.
Old fat CRT screens could flicker properly, especially in interlaced graphics modes. We haven't had to endure that since a good many years in most of the world.
Cheap LCD screens could flicker some, especially as they neared their end of life, since they were lit by CCFL light sources where noticeable flickering is one of the symptoms of impending failure.
Modern, LED-lit high-end displays like in Apple products shouldn't flicker at all. Some cheap displays, though, dim the backlight by turning it on and off rapidly. That can be avoided by running such a display on maximum brightness.
Taking pauses and refocusing your eyes may be a good thing to do anyway, but with a modern Mac you shouldn't have to do it because of screen flickering.
Old fat CRT screens could flicker properly, especially in interlaced graphics modes. We haven't had to endure that since a good many years in most of the world.
Cheap LCD screens could flicker some, especially as they neared their end of life, since they were lit by CCFL light sources where noticeable flickering is one of the symptoms of impending failure.
Modern, LED-lit high-end displays like in Apple products shouldn't flicker at all. Some cheap displays, though, dim the backlight by turning it on and off rapidly. That can be avoided by running such a display on maximum brightness.
Taking pauses and refocusing your eyes may be a good thing to do anyway, but with a modern Mac you shouldn't have to do it because of screen flickering.
Are your eyes distressed?? Doesn't sound like it!! Don't worry about something not affecting you.
The best thing you can do in General to reduce eye strain is use the best monitor you can at a high resolution and the lowest brightness you are comfortable with. There will be a night shift mode in the next OS X update this should help with blue light and sleeping issues as well or you can use Flux for Mac to get the same result.
While I agree with the comments above, I also do the 20 minute rule. I used to have Time Out installed on my Mac to remind me to take a break.
Brightness as low as you can, but still see items without straining. Twenty minute rule; I follow a fifty minute rule. I get up every fifty minutes ( thank you Apple Watch for reminding me ) and take a ten minute walk outside.
There are several things you can do to help your eyes with respect to monitor viewing -
1) Avoid glare off the screen. Some monitors reflect glare more than others and, you can often simply block light sources.
2) As others mentioned, give your eyes a rest by not looking at the monitor for a period of time before returning to view.
3) Distance from monitor. Check your vision. If you find you keep moving your head closer, go see an optometrist.
4) Not as common these days, but people used to adjust text on screen (size) for easier reading. - Worth investigating.
5) While not ideal for graphics, slight adjustments to the monitor for contrast may help. Too bright or dim, you decide.
6) Dot pitch can make a difference if the pitch is too low. This happens on some larger monitors. They appear less sharp.
The above is just food for though for the OP and hopefully worth some time investigating IF there really are some challenges on the the viewing.
1) Avoid glare off the screen. Some monitors reflect glare more than others and, you can often simply block light sources.
2) As others mentioned, give your eyes a rest by not looking at the monitor for a period of time before returning to view.
3) Distance from monitor. Check your vision. If you find you keep moving your head closer, go see an optometrist.
4) Not as common these days, but people used to adjust text on screen (size) for easier reading. - Worth investigating.
5) While not ideal for graphics, slight adjustments to the monitor for contrast may help. Too bright or dim, you decide.
6) Dot pitch can make a difference if the pitch is too low. This happens on some larger monitors. They appear less sharp.
The above is just food for though for the OP and hopefully worth some time investigating IF there really are some challenges on the the viewing.
what difference is there to just manually adjusting the brightness of my monitor?
[doublepost=1490114216][/doublepost]what are your opinions on https://justgetflux.com an app for macs
The monitor should be the same brightness as the surrounding area. Make sure you do not have a window behind you to avoid reflections. Make sure you do not have a window in front of you to make sure you have the same brightness as the screen around the monitor. Avoid fluorescent lighting that flickers, or glare from any other lighting. I use an uplighter with a dimmer switch so that I can control the lighting exactly. That alone has made a big difference to my eyestrain and migraines have virtually disappeared (I used to get them one or twice a week, now it is less than once a year).
If buying an external monitor, look for one that is flicker-free (i.e ones that don't have PWM (Pulse Wave Modulation) to regulate that backlight brightness). There were websites that covered which models did that the last time I looked for a monitor.
If buying an external monitor, look for one that is flicker-free (i.e ones that don't have PWM (Pulse Wave Modulation) to regulate that backlight brightness). There were websites that covered which models did that the last time I looked for a monitor.