Introduction
As a kid, you probably heard your parents tell you to sit further away from the screen because it was unhealthy to sit closer. That actually came from a health guideline in the 1960s because of a G.E tv recall that produced excessive radiation.
Now, we think that sitting too close or staring at a screen too long is hard on the eyes. But there’s more to it than that and there’s a lot we can do to reduce the negative effect of staring at a screen too long. This article will cover the top ways to do that.
What causes eyestrain on a gaming monitor?
Blue light is the main cause of eyestrain. The light produced from a monitor comes from LED backlight that allows you to see the pixels on the screen. It is the opposite of a natural light to include the color.
Extended exposure to same brightness levels also has an effect. You’ll notice this effect the most if you play videogames near a window in the evening as the sun sets. As the natural light coming through your window decreases, you probably aren’t adjusting your screen brightness to match the remaining light.
Using a 60hz monitor at 1080p. Refresh rate is how fast your screen can display frames per second. 60hz isn’t a bad number alone, but combined with 1080p (the lowest resolution you can play games on), it strains your eyes faster. A 144hz monitor or 4k resolution one will make viewing flickering images on the screen easier on your eyes.
Sitting too close or too far away from your monitor. Doing either of these two things makes your eyes focus harder on the details of your screen and works them overtime.
Not wearing prescribed glasses. If you’re prescribed glasses or contacts, wearing them makes your eyes work less to view blurred details. Even if you don’t feel your eyes working to focus on blurred details, they are constantly looking to do this.
Symptoms you’re straining your eyes when gaming
Below are some of the most common symptoms of eye strain. If you’ve noticed any of these, then be sure to mitigate as much as you can after reading and applying this article.
- Headaches
- Fuzzy vision after playing
- General feelings of discomfort / nausea
- Redness around the eyes
If you google more health related issues, you’ll come across two common health syndromes. The first one is Digital Eye Strain (DES).
In a study conducted among 426 civil workers in Spain, the overall prevalence of DES occured at a 53% rate. Only 15 of those workers had a total screen exposure time of 6 hours. Of the total sample, almost all workers who wore contacts experienced eye strain more than on-wearers
Health study conducted from BMJ Open Journals on National Library of Medicine
Another condition that results from eyestrain is known as Computer Vision Syndrome and is recognized as an actual health problem.
The 4 best ways to reduce eyestrain
1. Blink more frequently if you get eyestrain frequently
A study was done by Hyosan and Optase Eye Care that surveyed 2,000 British adults in regards to their screen time use. Workers who used a computer reported eyestrain by 2pm after working for about 5 hours.
TheLadders.com
Additionally, the study found that the workers blink 1-3 times per minute while focusing on a screen. When they weren’t staring at media, they blinked 20 times per minute.
Blinking more frequently helps moisturize the eyes. This is necessary to do when you’re in a high contrast environment i.e when you’re gaming in a completely dark room. It isn’t the most natural thing for your body to do when you’re focusing, but it is extremely necessary if you want to reduce eyestrain.
2. Get ambient light around your desk and behind your monitor
Ambient light creates a natural contrast environment that makes focusing on your gaming monitor easier. Below are some good examples.
3. Sit the appropriate distance away from your screen
There’s an organization called the International Standards Body SMPTE that’s researched the healthy distances you’re supposed to sit away from the screen. Below is the chart data:
| Monitor Size | Viewing Distance |
| 22 Inch | 1 Arms length |
| 27 Inch | 3 feet |
| 32 Inch | 4 feet |
Important note: screen resolution plays a big factor into your viewing distance.
If you plan to use a 1080p monitor, multiply the screen size x 1.6 = viewing distance.
For 1440p and 4k monitors, the formula would be Screen Size x 1.2 = viewing distance.
To find out if you’re using a monitor that’s too big for your current setup, check out this article.
4k Monitors are more forgiving to viewing distance standards because the screen images look better, your eyes don’t have to focus on the details as much, and they often come with eye-care features.
4. Use BenQ’s EyeCare Monitors
| Monitor | Eye-Care Feature |
| BenQ GL2480 | Adaptive Brightness |
| BenQ PD2700U | Anti-Glare |
| BenQ EW3270U | Brightness Intelligence (color, brightness, and contrast) |
BenQ made a series of monitors that have eye-care technologies that I personally haven’t seen in other monitors. They’re able to self adjust for room brightness and viewing distance based on how far away you sit.
Free Gaming E-Book Resource
Since there’s a lot of fluff on the internet about what the best eye strain reducing monitors are and what gaming gear goes with what, I created a Free Ebook resource on The Best Beginner Gaming Setup Guide. It’s the best of everything I’ve learned with zero fluff.
You can get it by scrolling up and signing up on the right hand side of this section.
Final Thoughts
Reducing eyestrain is something everyone can do on any budget. It’s worth purchasing additional ambient lighting for your office or man cave as well as actually deciding how far away you need to sit.
Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or comments, feel free to reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond. I’m also taking resource suggestions so feel free to send those over as well
Check back regularly for the next article!