Blur Busters Forums

I'm new to this forum and, frankly, all this new display technology stuff, so I think I should say
"Hello!"

I've done some reading and research on this forum and discovered that there is very little discussion about how those new monitors can affect our eyes. Is the Lightboost/other Strobe Backlight technology contain any future issues with our vision? I'm planing to buy one of the listed 120 Hz monitors for gaming (my rate for today is about 2-3 hours of gaming per day), and before I'm gonna pick one, I want to know - is there any danger for health? I've heard, for example, about PWM issue with BenQ 120 Hz monitors. Is this really perilous?
Thanks for an answer in adance.
P.S. Sorry for any language mistakes, English isn't my native

This is my favourite reply:

Mark Rejhon wrote:It is very person dependant.
The LightBoost FAQ has both entries:
"Q: Why does LightBoost have MORE eyestrain?"
"Q: Why does LightBoost have LESS eyestrain?"

e.g.
If you are motion blur sensitive, you may have less eyestrain with LightBoost.
If you are flicker sensitive, you may have more eyestrain with LightBoost.
If you are excess-brightness sensitive, you may have less eyestrain with LightBoost.
etc.

People who liked high-refresh-rate CRT's but hated LCD's, will generally like LightBoost.
The good thing is that strobe backlight modes can be easy to enable/disable, thanks to ToastyX Strobelight (for LightBoost) or hardware pushbuttons (for next-generation strobe backlights).

Motion blur reduction strobing is often a less evil kind of PWM than unsynchronized PWM, because it doesn't produce PWM artifacts, which can sometimes bother people more than PWM flicker. PWM doesn't affect everyone, either. Even for people that PWM affects, sometimes LightBoost doesn't affect them, because the better motion clarity is nicer.

Thanks for the answer. I've read that the feelings from different types of monitors are very personal; I just wanna be sure that it goes no further then that. Every man would change monitor or monitor work mode or a setup if he feels sick while working/gaming on it, but is there any long-term effects that can affect eye health, if everything feels fine?

DarkWasp wrote:Thanks for the answer. I've read that the feelings from different types of monitors are very personal; I just wanna be sure that it goes no further then that. Every man would change monitor or monitor work mode or a setup if he feels sick while working/gaming on it, but is there any long-term effects that can affect eye health, if everything feels fine?

There aren't any that I have heard of. I wouldn't be too worried since CRTs also strobe and no long term negative affects have been found with them.

In my case, more than two hours with lightboost enabled causes me eyes fatigue (slight). I can notice flicker at 120Hz, but not much. At 100Hz I notice it alot. However I rarely play more than two hours (I use lightboost for emulator playing) so it is not an issue really.

cpharlok wrote:In my case, more than two hours with lightboost enabled causes me eyes fatigue (slight). I can notice flicker at 120Hz, but not much. At 100Hz I notice it alot. However I rarely play more than two hours (I use lightboost for emulator playing) so it is not an issue really.

If you use black frame insertion with emulators (MSX, MAME, and WinUAE), you will get 60Hz strobing. That can wear your eyes out faster than 120Hz strobing. I think you can last a lot longer with 120Hz strobing than 60Hz strobing, but certainly 60Hz strobing makes emulators feel more authentic!

Thanks for all replies!

Chief Blur Buster wrote:

cpharlok wrote:In my case, more than two hours with lightboost enabled causes me eyes fatigue (slight). I can notice flicker at 120Hz, but not much. At 100Hz I notice it alot. However I rarely play more than two hours (I use lightboost for emulator playing) so it is not an issue really.

If you use black frame insertion with emulators (MSX, MAME, and WinUAE), you will get 60Hz strobing. That can wear your eyes out faster than 120Hz strobing. I think you can last a lot longer with 120Hz strobing than 60Hz strobing, but certainly 60Hz strobing makes emulators feel more authentic!

Yes of course, I mean only playing with emulators which a 60Hz black frame has been added. With normal desktop or new PC games eye fatigue appears later. But no more than that. Definitely more eye-friendly than CRT tubes.