Going Back to 60hz From 165/144hz

[MySpecialEyes]

First time forum poster so I apologize if this is the incorrect place to post this.
 

So as the title implies, I want to go back to using a 60hz monitor. For context, I recently got a 165hz monitor with a new PC build. As with almost everyone, the difference between the two is quite staggering. I personally almost feel like it's too much, I can't tell for certain but I feel like 165hz is tiring my eyes or something with how "fast" it is, maybe I'm wrong and just paranoid. It may also be worth noting that my previous 60hz monitor is 16:10 (1920x1200) and the new one is 16:9 (1920x1080). I know that the latter is pretty much the 1080P standard these days but it just feels a bit worse than 16:10.
 

Anyway, back to the point. For better or worse I've decided I want to go back to my 60hz monitor. Obviously I can see the difference, it does look worse. Fortunately I've only been using the new 165hz monitor on and off for about three days, so I don't think my eyes are too indoctrinated to it yet. I'm curious if anyone else has done something similar and gone back to using 60hz after using a superior refresh rate. How long did it take your eyes to readjust so that 60hz looked normal and like how it used to? Will I ever be able to go back? Am I too far gone already?
 

I've begun testing it and after playing a game at 60hz for about two hours my eyes seem to readjust pretty well, not fully like 100% perfectly how it used to be but like 85%ish I'd say. My plan is to completely cut out the 165hz monitor so my eyes have nothing to see but 60hz ones. I was also wondering if there's any merit in not using my gaming computer for like an entire day or two to "reset" my eyes so to speak.

Any feedback, suggestions, comments, etc. regarding this would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Edit: Please don't focus on the reason why I wish to go back to 60hz, I'm interested in people's opinions and/or experiences on how long it will take to readjust fully back.

[Shimejii]

You are more then likely wrong about the eyes being more tired with faster refresh rate. When i swapped to 144hz 1440p, the 60 hz School monitors Actually made my eyes a fair bit more strained. Usually it takes a while to adjust back to something that you were previously at without feeling the slowness. 

 

Id stick with the 165hz or tune them down to 144hz, potentially go see an eye doctor to make sure its not an eyesight issue.

[RONOTHAN##]

6 minutes ago, MySpecialEyes said:

maybe I'm wrong and just paranoid.

Think you are. You can set your current monitors refresh rate to 60Hz to see if it's just the monitor itself. Odds are it's either the monitor is a lot brighter than your last one, it outputs more blue light than your previous one, or it does something weird with black frame insertion (I do know people who that gives a headache to). I'd highly doubt it's the refresh rate being too high that's straining your eyes.

[MySpecialEyes]

Thank you both for your replies. There's other reasons why I wish to return to my old 60hz monitor. I'm mostly interested in people's opinions and/or experiences on how long it will take to readjust fully to 60hz.

[dizmo]

I'd look more into the brightness and colour settings of the new monitor. They're far more likely to be the reason for any fatigue you're feeling.

Giving something only a couple of days to adjust to is a poor decision as well, as it will often take longer than that to adjust to something new.

I don't imagine it'd take long for you to go back to 60hz, for, as you already said, it's only been a couple of days. I'd imagine it'd be immediate.

 

You need to quote people in order for them to see your replies.

 

Welcome to the forum.

[An0maly_76]

"You're going back to 60hz?! You'll destroy the space time continuum!"

[GeorgeMKane]

22 minutes ago, MySpecialEyes said:

First time forum poster so I apologize if this is the incorrect place to post this.
 

So as the title implies, I want to go back to using a 60hz monitor. For context, I recently got a 165hz monitor with a new PC build. As with almost everyone, the difference between the two is quite staggering. I personally almost feel like it's too much, I can't tell for certain but I feel like 165hz is tiring my eyes or something with how "fast" it is, maybe I'm wrong and just paranoid. It may also be worth noting that my previous 60hz monitor is 16:10 (1920x1200) and the new one is 16:9 (1920x1080). I know that the latter is pretty much the 1080P standard these days but it just feels a bit worse than 16:10.
 

Anyway, back to the point. For better or worse I've decided I want to go back to my 60hz monitor. Obviously I can see the difference, it does look worse. Fortunately I've only been using the new 165hz monitor on and off for about three days, so I don't think my eyes are too indoctrinated to it yet. I'm curious if anyone else has done something similar and gone back to using 60hz after using a superior refresh rate. How long did it take your eyes to readjust so that 60hz looked normal and like how it used to? Will I ever be able to go back? Am I too far gone already?
 

I've begun testing it and after playing a game at 60hz for about two hours my eyes seem to readjust pretty well, not fully like 100% perfectly how it used to be but like 85%ish I'd say. My plan is to completely cut out the 165hz monitor so my eyes have nothing to see but 60hz ones. I was also wondering if there's any merit in not using my gaming computer for like an entire day or two to "reset" my eyes so to speak.

Any feedback, suggestions, comments, etc. regarding this would be much appreciated. Thanks!

You can actually set your 165hz monitor to display at 60hz. I set most of my games to 60 fps through either NVIDIA Control Panel or through the in-game settings. Why? I like 60 fps, and I can turn the settings up. If I leave it at 165hz, and I try turning settings up to ultra in some games, the fps will just dip anyways. 60 - 90 fps is usually the sweet spot for adventure games, for me.

[MySpecialEyes]

3 minutes ago, GeorgeMKane said:

You can actually set your 165hz monitor to display at 60hz. I set most of my games to 60 fps through either NVIDIA Control Panel or through the in-game settings. Why? I like 60 fps, and I can turn the settings up. If I leave it at 165hz, and I try turning settings up to ultra in some games, the fps will just dip anyways. 60 - 90 fps is usually the sweet spot for adventure games, for me.

Yeah I know I can, but that returns to the predicament that my new 165hz monitor (set to run at 60hz) is 16:9, and even though it's outdated, I still prefer 16:10. For the sake of this topic pretend my 165hz monitor no longer exists lol.

[GoodBytes]

Typically, eye strain is related to the fact that the monitor backlight is running on PWM circuit instead of a dimmer circuit. In other words, your backlight flickers full on/off at a various speed based on brightness. The brighter the screen, the faster the flickering (Max usually has no flicker as it is full on. I say usually, cause some screen only lights up 1/2 of the LEDs at the same time).

 

Anyways, there is no fix beside reading in-depth reviews who checks for this. Dimmer circuit costs more than PWM one.

 

I have a 165Hz LG 4K monitor. And a secondary Dell 4K 60Hz monitor. Paired with a GeForce GTX 680, I can only enjoy 1080p at 144Hz at best. 4K it's 60Hz. Work laptop can drive only 1 4K display at 60Hz, the other at 30Hz only 

 

The experience going down is not the end of the world. It's fine. Even 30Hz. That said, it does make the system feel sluggish, as OS animation and scrolling is all choppy due to the lower fps. As for games, no issues either. Mind you I don't really play First Person Shooters (on occasion only, offline only). The most important part is having consistent fps. 30fps sounds crazy low, but if get that consistently, it won't be jarring, and at least for me, doesn't get you get you out the experience.

 

The real issue is that most 60Hz monitor don't support G-Sync or FreeSync, resulting in tearing of your game runs faster then your display and you don't enable V-Sync. This can be annoying and gets you out of the game.

 

[Andrewtst]

Higher hz won't make your eye tired. It make the animation transition smooth and prevent tearing in gaming. Higher hz should make your eye less strained and less tired. 

 

It is possible others part that make your eye tired. For example if your new one is TN panel which can make some people eye very tired, include me. If it is TN, you should sell it and get only OLED, IPS or VA panel. 

 

2nd possible due to your new monitor brightness and contrast setting, this is big impact to eye tiredness if you set it too bright or too dim. 

 

3rd if your new monitor is FALD where might make the desktop itself very bight in white area and too dark on dark area. Try turn off the Local Dimming if your monitor support it, only on for gaming or watching movie. 

 

4th possible reason is your new monitor have very bad back-light control and it is not flickering free. 

 

Change your new monitor to 60hz and try it, you should facing same eye tiredness. 

 

For aspect ratio wise, 16:10 is very rare now, if the reason you find productivty on 16:10 is better than 16:9, this I truly agreed. To overcome this issue on better productivity usage, you could try 1440p (2560×1440) monitor and you will no longer miss 16:10 anymore. For 1440p, recommended for 27" and above screen size. 

[Doobeedoo]

Yeah like people said, it's either something with the monitor like dimming or something or do eye check. Because higher refresh rate doesn't do anything bad or harm for human sight. 

We're getting faster and faster monitors.

[Tan3l6]

"Backlight strobing mode" is the only thing that I suspect might be straining eyes with high refresh rate monitors.

Or whatever it's called by different manufacturers. 

At least in my case it seemed tiring.