[daveyp]

Thanks for all the help i shall let you know how i get on or if i decide on another monitor.

[daveyp]

Hi PCM2 the ad for the Benq EW2740L on amazon has not changed yet i shall wait a week to see if it comes back in stock.
Now i find myself needing a new printer so if i go to Amazon through one of your monitor links then buy the printer is there any benefit for you.

[PCM2]

Yeah I noticed that they still haven’t sorted it out. Quite frustrating! Yes, credit would be given for that sort of purchase as well.

[daveyp]

Just a word to let you know i have bought an Epson Workforce WF-2010 printer from Amazon using your link for the Benq EW2740L monitor hope you get your credit ok.

[PCM2]

Yes, this did work. Thanks very much for your support. 🙂

[wg200]

Thank you very much for your work =)

[PCM2]

My pleasure! 🙂

[Yxwagu]

Hello PCM2, I’m back;
I was looking for S24E390HL and I found this: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61CxqkSoiwL._SL256_.jpg

So I said what a white light, is this ips glow? Does it afflict all ips panels?

[PCM2]

That is not likely representative of what the monitor actually looks like in person due to what appears to be significant overexposure. It would be difficult to say whether that is ‘PLS glow’ or a backlight uniformity issue such as backlight bleed without knowing the distance and exact angle at which the photograph was taken. There is also no way of telling, from an image, what brightness is used. Bear in mind the inter-unit variation clearly noted in the review and the fact competing models are subject to exactly the same potential uniformity issues.

[Zixer1992]

Do anybody know this screen ?

Im looking for a good ps4 monitor and i can get this for 200 usd but cant find any info

[PCM2]

Hi Zixer1992,

This model has been discussed in this thread (particularly here onwards), so your post has been put here. In my opinion it could be a reasonable monitor for PS4 use, but it isn’t particularly responsive, isn’t set up that well out of the box and according to some users might not even be all that great regardless of what you do in the OSD. Hence it will not be found in our recommendations section where there are some more suitable models listed.

[Pipster]

Hi and thanks for all the info. Really useful.

I hope you can help – I have problems with eyestrain and computer monitors, which I use for text (reading and writing), watching videos and playing games. I have a NVidia GeForce GTX 970.
I had a 19″ CRT monitor for many years which I used with no problems. When this finally packed in, I tried a Dell Ultrasharp U2412M and an Asus PA248Q. Both caused serious eyestrain.
Immediately after turning them on I could feel a sensation like a glare burning into the eyes. Even after adjusting the settings, testing them for several hours was enough to change my glasses prescription (I’m short sighted with an astigmatism). I now have the correct glasses prescription and neither my Doctor or optician have found any problem with my eyes.

After reading around the issue, I tried the BenQ BL2420Z as it was VA and flicker-free – this was a lot better. I didn’t feel the immediate glare, but using it still caused the eyes to feel dry, tired and after using for a few hours, a bit slower to focus.

I wondered if the increase in size was an issue (my monitor is quite close – only around 50cm away).
I therefore tried a smaller monitor – a Viewsonic VG2239SMH – but the smaller size doesn’t really make a difference. This and the BenQ are usable, but leave the eyes feeling tired and dry.
(Flux helps here a bit).

I’m considering going back to 24″ and trying a VA flicker-free monitor with a higher refresh rate.
Any thoughts or other possibilities you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

One other piece of info which may help – I use an all-in-1 computer at work which has very little adverse effect – a several years old Dell Vostro. (I don’t know the precise model sorry and won’t be back until Thursday).

Thanks in advance for any help.

[PCM2]

Hi Pipster and welcome,

I think this is an interesting post as it highlights the fact that the distinction must be made between eyestrain and dry and fatigued eyes. I am glad that the real strain is something you’ve managed to overcome with models like the BL2420Z, but it’s a shame that the dryness remains. There can be many reasons for eye fatigue and dryness, though, and it isn’t always best overcome by trying new monitors but rather adjusting the viewing environment. A few questions and suggestions:

1) There could be some differences between your home and work environment that could make your work computer less problematic for you. Temperature, lighting and airflow can all make a difference.

2) Knowing the exact model of Dell Vostro would indeed be useful, to try to determine whether there are some specified avenue for the monitor itself that should be explored.

3) What brightness level have you been using on the BenQ? You mention using F.lux, but did you alternatively try the ‘Low Blue Light’ settings as well?

4) Be sure to keep hydrated and take breaks, and make sure you’re blinking. I’m sure you know to do this, but I sometimes find that especially if people are using a large monitor and sitting quite close as you are that they tend to stare. The combination of heat and electrostatic from the monitor at this distance could certainly dry out the eyes without adequate counters such as breaks, fluids and frequent blinking.

[Pipster]

Hi PCM2.
Firstly can I just say how impressed I am with the service you provide – always extremely prompt, helpful and detailed responses. Thank you.

Regarding your points:
1. I don’t think there’s anything there that would make a difference.
I actually suffer from repetitive strain injury so am very conscious of the environment – more the ergonomic setup to be fair, but general comfort while at the computer is still something I’m aware of.

I do use my computer at home at night with artificial lighting which I don’t at work.
But all the computers I’ve mentioned were set up during daylight, and it was during the initial use during the day when I first felt the symptoms.

The desks are also larger at work so the monitor is a little further back, although the 22″ Viewsonic hasn’t made a significant difference compared to the 24″ BenQ (if anything, the BenQ is probably slightly the better monitor), so I’m not sure size is the issue.

2. I’ll get the model tomorrow and get back to you.

3. I’ve tried a selection of settings on the BenQ and ViewSonic – both preset options (most of which I find too bright) and user defined. I always end up with a low brightness.
At the moment I’m using the ViewSonic (I returned the BenQ to Amazon as it was nearing the end of the 30 days and I wanted to try the smaller monitor).
Currently Brightness is 10, Contrast 47.
I did try the Low Blue Light setting – it helped, but I found that the Standard setting then lowering Brightness helped even more.
The Viewsonic is slightly different – there’s a Blue Light Filter setting which by default is at 100%. I’ve not experimented with that setting yet – it’s still at 100%.

One question – do you think that something like a Spyder calibrator would be helpful?

4. I’m aware of this thanks.

One reason why I’m not certain that it’s solely down to dry/fatigued eyes rather than eyestrain – although the feeling is very mild, my eyes start feeling dry and tired as soon as I start using the monitor – I don’t need to be using it for a certain period before the symptoms start to occur.
It also varies a little as to the severity of the effect – yesterday for example, I used it for several hours on and off and my eyes only felt dry and tired.
The day before, at the end of the day after a couple of hours use my left eye felt really tired and struggled to focus when reading. (After a nights rest is was fine again).

Thanks again for all your help.

[PCM2]

The distance between eyes and screen could certainly be a contributing factor, regardless of screen size. If it is something that usually comes on quite suddenly you could test whether this has an influence by moving a bit further back from your monitor at home. I appreciate this won’t be practical for actually using the computer if your desk isn’t deep enough, but would at least be able to use the monitor and see if you notice symptoms even when sitting a bit further back.

Calibrating the screen is unlikely to make a difference, aside from making colours more accurate. It sounds from your testing that reduced brightness is beneficial but that other have less of an impact. I would still recommend trying the LBL (Low Blue Light) modes plus reduced brightness on the BenQ, if you haven’t already.

I have also come across people suffering discomfort from standard WLED backlights such as those used on both the BenQ and ViewSonic (not sure about the laptop, will await the model number). There could therefore be some relief from trying a model with a more balanced spectrum (wide gamut) backlight. Currently quite a premium is placed on these models (with the cheapest current model being something like the Dell UP2516D). There are some models coming out shortly with alternative backlight designs (using a film of quantum dots) which shouldn’t demand the same price premium. None that I know of that are 24″ or smaller, yet, but they will surely come.

[Pipster]

Hi, thanks for the further info. Interesting about the wide gamut – certainly something to consider.

I’ve been doing some further playing with settings today and discovered that the ViewSonic can get 75 Hz, but only at certain lower resolutions up to 1024×768. Spending time browsing at this resolution, then also time at the same resolution at 60 Hz, the higher resolution does seem a little easier on the eyes – there was still some tiredness at 75 Hz but not so much.

I’ll come back with the model of the work computer tomorrow (it’s an all-in-one, not a laptop).

Thanks again.

[Pipster]

HI again.
The all-in-one PC at work is a Dell Vostro 360.

One thing to add about the Viewsonic – particularly obvious when testing in lower resolutions, text quality is really poor. The letters are fuzzy / not very sharp. Possibly another contributing factor.

Cheers,
Phil

[PCM2]

Thanks for confirming this. The backlight of that model is just a standard WLED so it’s interesting that you are fine with that. Does the Vostro 360 of yours have a matte or glossy screen surface? And did you manage to experiment with sitting a bit further from your monitor?

[Pipster]

I think it’s glossy – although not as reflective as some screens I’ve used in the past. (Although at certain times of the day I do need to close blinds due to the reflections from the light outside).

Sitting further back didn’t make a great deal of difference – I still got the tiredness / mild strain.

I do think the text quality, while not the entire problem, may be part of it with this particular Viewsonic. Like I mentioned in my previous post, text is not very sharp and I do feel greater strain when reading / writing compared with for example gaming or watching videos.

[PCM2]

The ViewSonic uses a medium matte anti-glare screen surface, the BenQ BL2420Z uses a light matte anti-glare surface and by the sounds of it your Vostro uses a glossy surface with an anti-reflective treatment. It could certainly be that you’re having to ‘focus through’ the screen surface and you’re finding this strenuous – this is more common than you might think and is why many users are frustrated by the lack of glossy solutions these days. It may therefore be worth considering one of the glossy (very low haze) HP models in the recommendations section (25Xw or 27Xw).

[Author]

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