Which displays are good for the eyes? (1 Viewer)

[John Roger]

Yes, that was exactly what i wanted to know.

Ofcourse lightings do have an effect.But this i think we have to choose according to our comfort.

A major problem for the eyes i heard is radiation.I heard that direct view CRTs can be harmful for the eyes because they send off radiation directly to the eye.Sitting too close to the screen can be bad aswell as too large CRTs(imagine a 60" direct view CRT!)

Some people have developed eye fatigue because of looking at computer CRT monitors for long time.I also had problems with computer screen.But now i use radiation filter.And it is so comfortable to look at the screen for long hours now.

As far as projections are concerned they project light on to the screen.What we see is just the light reflected.The radiation is not given off directly to the eyes.

I would like to know if i am correct.I don't know about plasmas and LCDs.Can someone enlighten me on this?

 

[John F. Palacio]

The Iris causes the pupil to open and close, no eye muscles here. Eyes do not try to move around and focus in the dark. Eyes will focus on something that's emitting light. Hope that your phsycological knowlege is better than your physiological one!

 

[John Roger]

You mean lens right?

Lot of discussion about eyes.So i would like to ask, do you guys think myopia(shortsight) can be the result of watching TV screens for too long or too close?

Recently i read that a large number of kids in Japan wear glasses as a result of watching too much TV.

 

[John F. Palacio]

No, absolutely not. Myopia is a condition that has to do with the size of the eyeball and light not being able to focus properly on the retina. Hyperopia (farsightedness) same problem, its a condition you are born with due to the size of the eye.

Can't blame watching television for that!(although you could claim mental damage, I suppose)

 

[John F. Palacio]

CRT's emit x-rays. This is due to the electron gun assembly and the high voltage necessary to run it. The amount is very small compared to background radiation. The effects of this small amount of radiation has been a source of debate for a long time.

Plasma's, LCD's and DLP's do not emit x-rays.

 

[John F. Palacio]

Yes, the lens of the eye is what makes it focus from far to near.

 

[John Roger]

Myopia also develops during adolosence.How?

 

[andrew markworthy]

Before you seek to patronise me, make sure you've got your facts right.

(1) The iris is part of the eye muscles.
(2) Eyes do move around and try to focus in the dark. The eyes are in constant movement even if a person isn't aware of it (though feedback about e.g. saccades is suppressed in conditions of total darkness). Again, responses such as the vestibulo-ocular reflex (i.e. turning a person's head causes their eyes to move in the opposite direction) is retained in total darkness.

 

[Max Leung]

I recently read an article suggesting that reading is a cause of near-sightedness. Supposedly, Asian countries that have more advanced schooling for children approach >80% myopia rates, probably caused by children that start reading at a young age. Compared to

 

[John Roger]

how does this happen, the lens becomes rigid?

I have near sightedness.It started at the age of 15 and stabilised at 18.I had a minor eye injury after which my vision started to degrade.But i can see clearly with corrective lenses.But some people tell me it is due to watching too much TV.

 

[GeorgeAB]

Original question:



Another perspective:

I expect for the typical viewer it's not so much the type of display but how it's being viewed that has the greatest impact on our eyes. That has been the basic conclusion in the research I've read over the years. I have been studying this field for over 7 years now.

The electronic display and eye-related industries have conducted massive amounts of research over the decades we've been using TVs and computer monitors. The CRT direct view monitor is the oldest and still the most frequently purchased and used display device for viewing video and computer images.

Human factors research is on-going for the more recent technologies. Sensitivity to certain stressful elements of viewing electronic displays definitely varies from one person to the next. The perception of DLP "rainbows" is an excellent example. Viewing environment conditions usually play a huge part in how we are affected by long-term viewing sessions. Those conditions vary as much as display characteristics do. Certain types of displays can be more suitable for a given set of viewing environment challenges.

It really takes a comprehensive understanding of imaging science principles, display standards and human perceptual factors to make consistently reliable recommendations for any given display system design or installation. That has been a major part of the Imaging Science Foundation's mission over the years. Many people misunderstand that training display calibrators is just one segment of what they do and teach.

Most consumer TVs and computer monitors are designed and built to provide a reasonably watchable image in high ambient lighting conditions. However, that kind of viewing environment is destructive of image fidelity, picture quality and sometimes viewing comfort. Many TV owners understand intuitively that they get the best picture when viewing in a darkened environment. There are very real reasons why this occurs. However, the TV has to be adjusted quite differently for a dark room. Both image quality and viewing comfort are enhanced when this is done properly. This is true for all types of electronic displays.

Which type of display is "good" for YOUR eyes? That cannot be dependably answered without knowing many specifics about you and your installation.

Best regards and beautiful pictures,
G. Alan Brown, President
CinemaQuest, Inc.

"Advancing the art and science of electronic imaging"

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

That depends on what you're watching.

Myopia is generally caused not by the size of the eye, but by it's shape. Myopics have eyeballs that are "longer" front-to-back, shaped more like an American football than a sphere. Our eyes, like the rest of our bodies, undergo changes throughout life, which is one reason that myopia can emerge in teenagers.

Regards,

Joe

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Well, not exactly. It doesn't help to have your eyes focused on the same plane for hours at a time, especially with computer use. That's why most optomologists will recommend you take breaks when working on the computer, to look up and look at things around you every once and a while, etc.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

"It doesn't help" is not the same as "it causes measurable and permanent harm" - which is what the old wives tale asserts. Opthalmologists recommend that you take breaks when working on a computer a foot or less from your face to avoid temporary eyestrain, headache and even neck strain, not to ensure you won't need to wear glasses in the future. Nor does any of their advice on computer ergonomics have anything to do with what kind of TVs we should be watching.

On an unrelated point regarding the theater experience.

1) As many others have also said, I've never been in a completely darkened theater. Dim lights along the aisles and wall, exit signs, light leakage from outside the theater all make the theater much bright than pitch black.

2) The amount of light reflected from the screen itself tends to illuminate the theater. Even in the darkest scenes there are usually light areas, and movie screens are so big that even small amounts of light in the image will proportionally illuminate the theater much more than the same scene would played back on a typical home TV.

Regards,

Joe