New monitor to reduce eye fatigue - IPS vs TN; 60hz vs 100hz etc.

[niksy]

Hey, guys

 

[you can skip this paragraph if you know how the story goes]
So, as the title says, I'm looking for the best combination of specifications for a display that would help reduce eye strain. There's probably no reason to explain the reasons why on a tech forum, but here they go in short anyway - I've got a job that has me sitting in front of a monitor for 7-8 hours a day and, being a tech geek / go-to-family-computer-guy / occasional gamer / occasional video maker / etc, I usually spend at least an hour and a half more staring at the screen at home. And that's probably a bit optimistic. So that's a lot of screen time... Some days I would be going home feeling fine and some days my eyes would be burning incredibly by noon... I always try to get at least 7 hours a sleep and on workdays I usually pull it off. I've also started doing more short brakes and stuff, but on some (most, I would say) days it just doesn't help. I have to note that my sight as such is fine, and as soon as I spend two days away from the PC I feel so incredibly good about how well I can still see... There's the usual light sensitivity besides the burning and dry eyes.

[/dont skip beyond this point]

 

My current home monitor is: Dell ST220L - a 21.5" TN display, 60hz refresh rate, 5ms respond time

The monitors at work are: Asus MX239h - 23" IPS displays, 60hz refresh rate, 5ms respond time

 

If I would have to pick which one is worse to my eyes, I would vote the Asus one... But I can't be sure, it could be just the subjective opinion since work is where I get my eyes most tired. It could be a million different things, I know. But my eyes didn't like that screen since day one, and the one I have at home has never tortured them that badly, and I've had 8h sessions at the computer, as we all have, probably

So, I need your advice or, even more so, your experience What have you find that helps reduce eye strain the most when it comes to monitors?

To me, at the moment, getting a 100hz IPS display sounds like it could provide a possible improvement to my current enjoyment of life. That about TN pannels that pixels blink two different colours at times to produce a single one sounds horribly unnatural... The brain may be able to comprehend only 30 frames per second (or whatever those guys at Ubisoft say) but the eyes were made to see an infinite number of frames and providing them with a 100hz display sounds like a good idea. But would I be right in saying that IPS > TN in this regard, too? Better contrast, easier to read etc?

 

I know it seems like I'm providing an answer to myself, but I really need your hints, tips, advice and experience I don't have a tonne of cash to go around experimenting (who does, ay...)

[TomvanWijnen]

Maybe a blue light filter can help? I use f.lux, I think it really helps me.

[skyress3000]

Maybe a blue light filter can help? I use f.lux, I think it really helps me.

I agree, f.lux is great

[niksy]

Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to mention blue light, too... I've got CM12 on my Motorola Droid Razr HD Maxx (boy what a name!) and it's now got that Day/Night modes, where the night one reduces blue light output greatly (without it on, I can illuminate my whole room with just the display of my phone, kind of scary to think that much light would be hitting my eyes otherwise) and I think that really helps.

So, how do those filters work, the f.lux one for example? Does it actually reduce the output of blue and white or do the colours still remain the same?

Thanks for answering so quickly!

 

 

*EDIT*
Oh! F.lux is actually a piece of software... So I would reckon it's the same as it happens on my phone, it switches from white and blue stuff, to the warmer, yellow and reddish hues

Does it have something like automatic reduction of blue light over the day? Gradual? That'd be neat

*EDIT2*
It does... Damn I wish I read 2 more lines before posting again. So, you guys are saying this actually helped you?


And how about the 60hz vs 100+ hz business? Is text still readable when scrolling at those higher refresh rates? Because this 60hz ones blur the heck out of it, for example... If it's actually readable at 100+ hz I can imagine that it'd be better in every other way, too? Somehow makes sense to me that a higher refresh rate would be much more pleasing to the eyes.