The Best Monitor Brightness & Contrast Settings For Your Eyes
Are you done with eye strain and fatigue that you get due to long screen sessions? Read on, this guide is of help to you!
The modern era is all about technology, phones, computers, laptops. Most of our time goes in front of phones or computers either due to work or for entertainment.
Continuous viewing of the screen puts strain on our eyes, and we get either watery eyes or dry eyes.
Using a computer continuously for hours is your personal choice. Still, you can at least make some display setting adjustments to lower the strain produced from viewing.
And, you can also bring home one of the best monitors for eye strain relief in India.
Best monitor brightness and contrast settings for eyes?
To make the monitor screen easy on the eyes, you can set the brightness level at 20-30% and contrast settings to 60-70%.
It can be easily set in Windows 10 display settings.
Read more to find out why this setting is prescribed here.
Why your eyes strain
There can be many reasons why your eyes strain.
It can be from long hours of viewing a digital screen or even reading a book for long.
Your eye muscles need rest and exercise, similarly to your body muscles. Working on the computer for long makes the eye muscle remain in a particular position, constantly putting pressure on it.
Working in very low lighting also puts pressure on the eyes. You need proper ambient lighting; this means there should be uniform lighting in the entire room.
The glare from the screen can also put a strain on the eyes.
Correct Brightness Setting
You cannot rely on the default brightness setting of your computer. It is set way too high.
The ideal setting is to set the brightness setting the same as the room lighting.
You can also make it as low as possible till the point where the text is easy to read. 20-30% brightness setting is a good range to choose from.
In Window 10, go in the display settings there; you will find the brightness setting.
Some modern computers come with an auto-brightness setting where the screen brightness is automatically adjusted based on the room light.
Today this feature is available in almost every smartphone. We need this feature in every monitor or computer display too.
You can also use the IRIS software, which can automatically set the brightness setting for you.
Correct Contrast Setting
The contrast refers to the difference between the whitest whites and the blackest black on display.
High contrast value leads to clear and vivid picture formation on your computer. In comparison, low contrast value leads to washed out and grayish picture formation.
A higher contrast ratio will make the text stand out from the background, making it easier to read. Therefore using a high contrast setting is better for viewing, making eye strain less.
Having the contrast setting to 60-70% is a good option.
Other tips for eye care
Blue light filter
Blue light is linked to eye strain, macular degeneration, a disease of the retina, and disruption of sleep cycles.
It is on the higher end of the light spectrum, similar to UV rays, and can easily pass through the back of the retina.
Almost all electronic displays emit blue light; this light restricts melatonin production, which is responsible for the sleep cycle.
To reduce the emission of blue light from your display, you should enable the blue light filter.
In windows 10, this setting is called “Night Light” and can be found in the display settings.
This setting reduces the emission of blue light(cooler color) and increases the emission of warmer colors.
Highly recommended settings in any display, especially in the nighttime.
Similar: The 17 habits that are actually killing your work productivity.
Type of Display
The type of display you use also affects your eye’s health.
In monitors, we have mainly three types of display – TN, IPS, VA.
Though TN display gives the highest refresh rate at a very cheap cost, it is the worst type of display for eyes. The contrast ratio and picture quality is extremely poor on this.
You can choose from either IPS or VA.
IPS is the best option for monitors. Viewing angles are high, and the colors are accurate, neither punchy nor dim.
For gaming or doing productive work, the IPS display is the right option.
On the other hand, VA displays are better for televisions and for watching movies.
Give rest to your eyes.
You should take a break of 1 minute after every 20 minutes from work. Staring at a distant object in between will reduce the eye strain by moving the eye muscles.
Protect yourself from glare by placing the display away from sunlight so that sun rays do not fall on your screen.
If you feel dryness in the eyes, wash your eyes with cold water.
Monitor Position and Placement
Your eyes should be at 20 inches distance from the display or the length of your arm.
Your eye level should match the top of the screen. This way, the amount of light entering your eyes is reduced.