Eye strain problem

[xenphor]

^ ok, so u don't think it was the anti-glare coating after all? I'm desperate to find the culprit cause I can't afford to try different monitors...Currently I'm having difficulty returning the monitor as it technically has no manufacturing defect...However I did notice the thing about the colors being shady at the corners when u're looking at the display in the center (if u re-align ur sight focus to the dark areas they are seen normally, and then other areas seem dark..)..Is that even a manufacturing defect? I don't know

I don't know what the actual problem was. You could maybe try using warmer colors if lowering the contrast and brightness doesn't help.

edit: I'm starting to have eye strain with the M27Q as well.

[xenphor]

So I'm now having pretty bad eye strain with a new monitor I got: Gigabyte M27Q. According to reviews, it doesn't use PWM, but it does have anti-glare coating. After adjusting every option I could adjust like Brightness, Contrast, Color Temperature, Black Equalizer and Low Blue Light, it still is hard to look at for extended periods of time. I have my older, cheap Asus IPS monitor set up right next to it and tried to get them looking the same. I got pretty close, but the Gigabyte gives off a certain glow that is especially noticeable when reading text. The cheap Asus panel has a duller/grainier appearance that may be helping my eyes. The glow on the Gigabyte persists even at very low brightness/contrast/color temp settings. Using warmer colors or Windows Night Light doesn't really help with it either. I can only guess that it is the anti-glare coating that is causing the problem again. This is very frustrating because the monitor is otherwise very good. Do most high end monitors have this type of coating? Is it something that my eyes could adjust to?

edit: Looking at some other monitor reviews, I'm thinking maybe having a heavier/grainer coating might be helpful. The closeup picture of the M27Q (top) on the RTings review looks like it has a very fine coating compared to the Asus vg279qm (bottom). It also looks like it has a weird structure as well:

[xenphor]

Okay, I've bought a different monitor (Alienware AW2521H) because reviews said that it had a grainy coating. I think it definitely helps, especially when viewing all white screens like Google search. These screens would be blinding on the Gigabyte M27Q. However, I still noticed that white text on a black background was very hard to look at.

I was finally able to resolve the issue by forcing Limited Range RGB in the Nvidia Control Panel. This was the first setting I always tried to adjust on previous monitors, but it had no affect on those displays. I read that Display Port only supports Full Range RGB, so I'm guessing that's why it wasn't working. I'm not sure why it would work on the AW2521H unless it's something that can be adjusted at the firmware level.

Having changed that setting, I'm now able to comfortably look at the monitor all day without any strain. It's too bad that I was not able to get the setting to work on the other monitors I tried. I know that Full Range RGB is supposed to be the correct setting to use on PC Monitors, but I've never been able to use it due to the increased contrast.

[RealNC]

Does the new monitor have higher contrast? If yes, then it's normal that there appears to be "glow" when viewing black text on a bright background.

Limited color range is producing a more "washed out" image on full range displays. In other words, it lowers contrast. I would recommend switching back to full range color, but instead reduce the contrast in your GPU's driver control panel. Or do what I do: switch your OS to "dark mode" and install Dark Reader for your browser:

https://darkreader.org/

Enable Dark Reader only for websites that don't respect your OS's/browser's dark mode preference. This is my preferred way of dealing with this, as reducing contrast in your GPU driver affects everything, not just text. You want full contrast and depth when viewing images/videos or playing games.

[xenphor]

Does the new monitor have higher contrast? If yes, then it's normal that there appears to be "glow" when viewing black text on a bright background.

Limited color range is producing a more "washed out" image on full range displays. In other words, it lowers contrast. I would recommend switching back to full range color, but instead reduce the contrast in your GPU's driver control panel. Or do what I do: switch your OS to "dark mode" and install Dark Reader for your browser:

https://darkreader.org/

Enable Dark Reader only for websites that don't respect your OS's/browser's dark mode preference. This is my preferred way of dealing with this, as reducing contrast in your GPU driver affects everything, not just text. You want full contrast and depth when viewing images/videos or playing games.

I've tried lowering the contrast substantially while using Full Range RGB and it still caused eye strain compared to using Limited Range with the default contrast values. I've also switched to using Dark Mode for a long time now so that doesn't help either. I also always have the Night Mode enabled in Windows.

If the monitor has a Black Equalizer setting that can definitely help, but on my current monitor that setting applies some sort of sharpening filter which looks bad. The one thing I liked about using a TN display was that I didn't have to worry about adjusting the RGB setting since everything looked washed out by default. I guess my eyes are just not very good.

Is it true that Limited Range RGB over Display Port is not commonly supported? Because it kind of sucks having to choose a display based on an unsupported standard. I know I tried forcing it on the other monitors I tried but it didn't work.

edit: Okay, lowering the contrast in the Nvidia settings to 0% while using Full Range helps. I tried adjusting that before but only made small adjustments.

edit2: Unfortunately it seems like games have the ability to override the contrast setting because I just booted Crysis 3 and it reset the contrast.

[RealNC]

You should go and get your eyes checked. You probably need glasses prescribed.

[xenphor]

You should go and get your eyes checked. You probably need glasses prescribed.

I see an optometrist about once a year and wear glasses. He's never found anything wrong. It makes sense to me that a higher contrast image would result in more eye fatigue, especially when browsing the internet. I guess I just prefer displays that are duller in appearance. My phone's screen also has a dull appearance, similar to using my monitor in Limited Range.

[delve]

what phone do you use?

[Lexrhomb]

Hi,
I also bought the AOC cq32g1 and have been struggling with eye strain problems. I actually had a bout of vertigo a month after buying it and have struggled to use the monitor ever since.
I've played around with the brightness & contrast and can't pinpoint exactly what's causing me problems. It could be the curve, refresh rate, panel type or the anti-glare coating.


Have you guys any suggestions on the best 27" 144hz monitors for 2021? Something that hopefully doesn't cause eye strain..
I was looking at these models:
- LG 27GL850
- ASUS VG27AQ

Could an IPS panel cause less eye strain?

Cheers, Jon

[Loyal888]

Actually, many people reporting eye srain with 2521HFA and 2720HFA or even with the aw2721d. I had the 2720HFA and it was very bad. Trust me, When I say, I tried all sorts of settings like you. Lowering brightness, contrast and so on. I tried vesa certified DP cable with the alienware because everyone said the one it came with was crap. I tried to toggle between limited or full. I tried f lux. I tried different overdrives, different frequencies. I have bias light. I have prescription glasses too and going to the optometrist every year to check my eyes. I've literally seen white spots when blinking after / while using the 2720hfa. When I went to sleep, my eyeballs hurt. It was a very very bad experience and I don't recommend it to anyone.

For the record. I had the aoc cq32g1 as well. It was pretty bad. Gave me eyestrain but no headaches or white spots when blinking. After a while, I got used to it. I received steroid based eyedrops from my optometrist and I was able to look at it again. I sold it in the end. I wanted better response times. I bought the asus vg32vqr but it was once again better for my eyes. Much better than the alienware nano ips panel monitor. Unfortunately, I had to return it due to flickering. I didn't ask for a different monitor. I am on the hunt now to try and get a new one. Probably a 27inch 1440p or a 24inch 1080p.

What I see from this. VA panels are easier on the eyes in general than IPS. Also, I am currently using a Syncmaster b2230 Samsung TN monitor. Pretty old monitor. But it's so good for my eyes. Literally, so good. It's like I am not even looking at a monitor. I am using it with 50% brightness with MagicEco on and 85% contrast.

Unfortunately, even TN monitors can cause eye strain as I saw a post not too long ago which said the owner of the monitor was getting eye strain by a BenQ XL2411Z. It's actually here on blockbuster. You can check it out. There are many different panels out there and some are worse than others. Even same models can have different panels. Like AOC did it with 24g2. Used an old PANDA panel and changed it to something else.