Re: TOOLS: more ergo stuff LCD Monitor Arms

[David Neeley <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Kevin,

Actually, I wear glasses and for many years found that computer
glasses were far more useful than you might suspect merely from
theorizing. The fact is that no matter where you adjust the monitor,
it is essentially in the same visual plane.

Normal single-vision glasses for the near-sighted are made to focus at
infinity, leaving your eyes to adjust to closer distances. Single
vision glasses for the far-sighted are made to aid your eyes to focus
at very close distances, relying upon your eyes to adjust for farther
distances. Bifocals are made for those of us who have problems both
near and far--and even with the "lineless" bifocals, only a small
sliver of the glass is used for a given focal length.

By contrast, computer glasses are made to focus through the whole
field of vision at your normal working distance. Merely moving the
monitor will not necessarily help as much--and, depending upon the
kind of glasses, you may still be straining your eyes to focus
properly.

Fortunately, as I have continued to age, my vision has become
excellent at the working distance for my computer monitor--so I don't
wear my glasses while working at the computer.

Regarding your comfort during extended sessions--it is most likely
that the effect you feel from the CRT is due to radiation from the
monitor. I ran some fairly extensive tests on CRTs some years ago,
before LCDs were available. We purchased anti-radiation screens to put
on an already low-radiation monitor for my business partner, who was
doing computer programming for many hours per day. He found he was
able to work productively at least an extra hour per day and was much
more comfortable in doing so.

(Surprisingly, some LCD monitors radiate strongly in the ultraviolet
due to their fluourescent tubes. This can contribute to eyestrain.)

With an un-shielded CRT, you may experience some of the same effect
you might feel when on the beach during strong sunlight for some
time...tiredness, eye strain, and a "baked" feeling to the skin.

One strategy for the CRT that you find uncomfortable over a protracted
time might be to get fixed-focus computer glasses that allow you to
sit farther back from the tube. Since monitor radiation follows the
inverse square law, you would get a considerable reduction in
radiation from sitting farther from it.

Unfortunately, the best of the anti-radiation screens are no longer
produced. See http://www.noradcorp.com for information concerning the
problem.

One source for anti-glare/anti-radiation screen filters is
http://www.ergoindemand.com/glarefilters2.htm You may find one of
these to be very helpful on a CRT.

This sort of ergonomic situation is not only theory or opinion, but
something I have seriously studied over several decades.

David


On 6/21/05, mlist -at- safenet-inc -dot- com <mlist -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> wrote:

> 
> I agree with the positioning (height-wise), but I disagree
> with the solution for visibility.  Glasses with fixed focus
> just move the problem.

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