[giberson]

I use to get headaches every day (the kind that seem to originate behind the bridge of the nose). One day in effort to reduce the ache (a desperation move I didn't know would work out not) I reduced the brightness level in my monitor to the lowest possible setting. It slightly helped me cope with the rest of the day at work, but I forgot to reset the monitor. The next day I didn't get a headache. Turning down the brightness to the lowest level is now something I do with every monitor I use. Coworkers always comment the first time the see my screen "how do you see anything on that?" But the truth is you adjust really fast and don't even notice it's so dark. Best of all, I don't get headaches anymore.

This may not have been CVS, but I felt it was related to looking at screens all day so I wanted to share.

I frequently hear coworkers complaining about headaches and recommend they decrease their screen brightness. They always provide their own reasoning for the headache cause that makes it unavoidable. I shrug because I can't make them try my suggestion. But it would be interesting to have someone else try and get some feedback if the solution works for others (identifying my problem as a work hazard rather than a personnel condition).

[sbierwagen]

A rule of thumb I've heard is that your monitor shouldn't be any brighter than a sheet of white paper held next to it.

http://i.imgur.com/5Cwiuif.jpg

Mine isn't quite that dim, but it's not nearly as bright as the view out the window behind it.

[marcosdumay]

It certainly should not be the brightest thing within your sight.

[Grangar]

Wow, good one! I tried that and turned out my monitor was set really high. Let's hope this will be easier on my eyes.

[jotato]

I keep mine set to what seems like the brightness of everything around it. On this montior, that is 20/100

[CGamesPlay]

This is very true. Flux helps with color, but it can still be a bright rectangle in a dark room and cause a lot of eye strain.

The best thing I can recommend is reducing your monitor's brightness to the same level as your periphery, including turning on a lamp to illuminate your surroundings (called bias lighting). Try something as simple as this: https://cdn.instructables.com/FUD/A1WU/GX3M1GEN/FUDA1WUGX3M1...

Also, if you aren't already, move your monitor further from your eyes. OSHA recommends almost 2 feet of distance; I personally prefer close to 3 feet. https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/compon...

[dotancohen]

Turning down the brightness had the opposite effect for me. My monitor at the time "turned down the brightness" by reducing the duty cycle of the backlight. This caused flickering that was imperceptible yet caused much eyestrain. Actually turning up the brightness, moving the monitor as far back as possible, and using yellow-tinted Gunnar lenses have made a huge difference for me.

Edit: This is the technique used to modulate "brightness" by varying the duty cycle: http://www.waitingforfriday.com/index.php/Controlling_LED_br...

[sbierwagen]

Basically every monitor with a LED backlight controls brightness by PWM. It only causes problems if the frequency is too low. (Contrast with fluorescent lights: every single fluorescent tube in existance flickers, but only some flicker slowly enough that people can notice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjyhFyUN_zQ Ditto CRT monitors, back when they were still used. Refresh rate of 60hz is flickery and annoying, refresh rate of 72hz is totally fine.)

[throwaway1X2]

Interesting observation! I actually lower the brightness to about 10-20 % on each display I use (the default settings are ultra high for a sunny day in a fully lit store) and while I have two CCFL panels (a 1000 USD 24" from the past and a 1000 USD 30") blazing at me and both of them clearly use some sort of PWM - they start buzzing audibly below 80-90 % brightness (both in their audio outputs AND even with audio disabled it is heard from the monitor itself) - there never was any visible flicker. And in the CRT days, I saw flicker up to 85 Hz (including). Color wheel DLPs are also pure hell - the image breaks into three separate colors in each eye saccade. Yet, CCFL backlight, buzzing like crazy - and no visible flicker. Enter my latest, fanciest, wide gamut screen with LED backlight - and on lower brightness, it flickers worse than a 60 Hz CRT...

However, luckily, it is not the case of each and every LED monitor - search for "flicker free" or "PWM free" - and it is not some fancy rare unicorn feature, a PWM free IPS display can cost the same or even less than flickering equivalents.

[mtone]

According to this recommendation page [0], there are quite a few monitors with "PWM-free (flicker-free) WLED backlight". The list includes many affordable mainstream choices.

I heard some monitors may revert to PWM below a certain brightness threshold, but assuming the information on that page is accurate, not getting PWM-free monitor is probably a sub-optimal purchase decision.

[0] https://pcmonitors.info/recommendations/

[c0l0]

http://geizhals.eu/?cat=monlcd19wide&xf=103_flicker-free#xf_... lists a LOT of displays that are supposed to provide a flicker-free viewing experience, and you can also filter for other technical properties to your heart's content. (Caveat: parts of that site are machine-translated to English - but that doesn't affect the rigor that went into curating the original data).

[mtone]

Looks like a good resource, thanks!

[petra]

There's some debate about what is flicker threshold (flicker fusion threshold ,I think).

I've seen some academic literature talking about 1000-4000hz , which is far above what most screens do.

Btw I believe BenQ has a display that doesn't use pwm at all .

[72deluxe]

I had a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 LTE edition and that used PWM for brightness, along with a ringing noise at certain rates.

[jdcarter]

Another thing to look into is FL-41 tinted glasses. I learned about them from a local vision therapist, and just ordered a prescription set about a week ago. There have been studies (e.g. [1]) indicating its usefulness for light sensitivity, migraines, and circadian disruption from using computers/TV at night. I don't have my glasses yet so I can't speak personally to their effectiveness.

[1]: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2701948/

[elorant]

Have you tried flux? It reduces the color temperature making it more mild during afternoon/night hours. It's a life saver.

https://justgetflux.com/

[giberson]

I use flux already and love it. However, it itself is/was not enough to solve headaches--but I use it for more comfortable evening/morning viewing of the screen.

[enigmalord]

yup it's cool and free too

[sdenton4]

Definitely works for me. I keep my monitors and phone at the lowest brightness in all but full sunlight, and pretty much don't get headaches anymore. (Well, now just on the days I miss my coffee...)

[DINKDINK]

The human body has a tendency to attempt to attenuate sensory input. The process you describe is similar to a practice in audio engineering where by an audio engineer will start with the lowest volume and gradually turn the volume up. If you start the volume high to begin with, your ear (and in your case your eyes) will attenuate the sensory input down which causes unnecessary strain.

[TheSpiceIsLife]

I'll back this 9000%.

I use Flux on Mac and Windows and Redshift on Linux to adjust the colour temperature of my screens.

And a huge dose of brightness adjustment. All the way down first thing in the morning, especially at work where I have skylights above me.

This combination has completely eliminated all eye related discomfort for me.

[mcbetz]

There is a list of recommended monitors intended for people with migraine over at Reddit and as low brightness is the main criteria, this list can help everyone with CVS.

Here is the post: https://www.reddit.com/r/migraine/comments/53m46d/as_promise... And the list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1etWKGqzZFHd293O5ooKy...

[lovelearning]

Yup, my personal experience too. I keep screen brightnesses and ambient brightness low.

[eumoria]

I've been doing this for years. It was especially a problem back in the CRT days you were basically staring at a light bulb all day.

With the never ending trend of websites and applications being white background black text aside from high contrast modes and/or plug-ins to change color schemes turning down your brightness works well.

My home computer is on night mode with brightness and contrast at the bottom. With the light off or could stand to be even darker!

[jwmoz]

Yep I used to get them too, sore eyes also and weird squinting. I run my screen at about 2/3 or 3/4 brightness, I use a dark theme in my IDE and I also always bump up the font size. Doing all this I don't get headaches or eye squinting anymore.

Also I use flux and try not to use the computer much at weekends.

[jotato]

I always increase font size. Either I am getting old, or font sizes are way to small in most places.

[merraksh]

Agreed. It's been 20 years that I use low brightness (and not too high contrast), plus I code on dark background.

Another thing I noticed helps is some other light source in the room, possibly a desktop lamp to light the wall behind the screen. It bothers me if the screen is the only light source in the room.

[swah]

Interesting, do you then prefer white-on-black or black-on-white code/text?

[giberson]

I actually alternate light-on-dark and dark-on-light color schemes for my editors because I like having visual context. Because I've reduced the brightness of the monitors light backgrounds aren't discomforting so I don't mind using either scheme.

[stephengillie]

Often, the minimum brightness is still too bright. An Android app called Screen Filter helps with this on phones - it turns down gamma or another setting - not sure about a PC equivalent.

[maaark]

I prefer Twilight, it has adjustable color temperature, as well as scheduling based on time of day or sunrise/sunset.

Both have paid versions, but Bluelight Filter's constant nagging & promotion of their other apps made the choice easy for me.

[stephengillie]

I used Twilight for month, but I found the red tint made my phone hard to read, so I kept disabling it. I still get the same 6-8 hours of sleep as I usually did. I may not be susceptible to the blue light impact on melatonin as I've been using screens from wake to sleep for over a decade.

[mason240]

That's a great idea. I was just able to very comfortably reduce mine from 100 to 70.