Digital Art Zone

I’m spending a lot of time at the ‘puter, I think. My vision is getting worse and worse. Back when I was working—for long days at older crt computers, I had glasses which had a special coating, but that was a while back and they don’t work anymore. . Any suggestions for lenses or coatings for long computer use? I know I’ve got to see an eye doctor too, but glasses would work I think. I have the cheapo drugstore ones, but they don’t have the coating. The optometrists will try to up sell anything, and I’m on a budget now, not like when I was rolling in regular paychecks with pension plans and benes like eye glass insurance, LOL!

Or if there any other tips for long use at computer—I use a Dell laptop.

When I get new eyeglasses I make sure I tell the optometrist that I work for long hours at a computer.  Doing that they make sure that they adjust the strength of my lenses to reflect that.  It comes at the cost of a little distance clarity, but it keeps me from getting headaches while sitting in front of the computer for hours on end.

Your eyes are _incredibly_ important to the appreciation of the world around you (I’m guessing slightly here, but you are posting on a digital _art_ forum…).  Therefore, you should take whatever steps are necessary to help them, and to help avoid degenerative age-related diseases (glaucoma, astigmatism, cataracts, partial blindness, corneal damage, and all those other wonderful ocular horrors X).

Laptops are really _not_ appropriate for long-term use - they’ve been designed with a different set of engineering constraints in mind (ie portability and battery life), rather than ergonomics and the health of the operator (although obviously these come in a close second, otherwise the manufacturers would be out of business).  I believe quite a few modern laptops do come with Operator Instructions, and recommendations not to use them “for prolonged periods… [or]... if eyestrain occurs” etc etc (mostly legal stuff to avoid court cases, I suspect… but there is a _reason_ for it all…).

In that vein then, get an external monitor for your laptop - and, ideally, an external keyboard and mouse as well!  Yes it is inconvenient, and you lose one of the major advantages of a laptop (portability), but compare that to the impact of the loss of your sight.  The laptop monitor is a marvel of modern engineering (brightness, contrast, lack of after-images - remember when LCD monitors used to be compared on how much after-image would appear on a moving picture?) - pixel size etc), but all that magic comes at a price, to your eyes.

(imho, I am not an optician, etc etc <(^_^)...).

@maraich I do plan to see an optometrist soon next year, which is not that far off.

@M F M   oh yes, without eyes, there is no art. I probably should get an opthalmologist too, but that’s got to wait a bit more. I did have a desk
‘puter, but in chosoing a lap top there were other pluses. Portablility from room to room is a great asset for me. With the old crt types, I did have a safety screen put on, but I thought the LCD types didn’t broadcast the dangerous spectrum. I’ll definitely check it out.

Thank you both for taking time to reply. Happy holidays!

When watching any computer monitor, people tend to not blink as much as they should. So when you think about it, “blink” ... proper eyedrops can also be helpful. The other tip we were given at work years back was to have something else nearby and look at that now and again too. That provides some focusing exercise for the eye muscles.

I think the type of coating you’re looking for is “anti-reflective lens coating”. A must have with my glasses too.

Apparently we are supposed to stop every couple of hours and focus our eyes on something distant for minute.

After a decade of working on these machines…my vision is effectively between 1-3feet in front of me. That is where my eyes got used to focusing and i guess everything else atrophied.

For those who want to try to heal their vision and throw away the glasses here’s an excellent book:

http://tinyurl.com/d5kf9lg

The author was suffering from cancer over 30 years ago, and the doctors said he had only a few months left. Then he met a monk who told him how to heal himself though meditation. He tried the monks suggestions, and after a few months the cancer was completely gone. As a side effect he discovered he no longer needed his glasses, his sight had completely recovered also. That’s 35 years ago now, and he’s still alive and well and holding workshops where he teaches others how to heal themselves.

I’m a retired ophthalmologist and I found that adjusting my prescription for a distance of 30 inches did the trick.

I work on a laptop for hours without a problem.  My bifocals DIDN’T work but the specially adjusted lenses do.  To do any heavy reading I switch to my bifocals.

If you work on a laptop - take it with you when you go for a prescription.  If on a table top - measure the distance from your cheek bone to the comfortable screen distance.

BTW - was in practice for over 50 years and I still teach.

Lower the contrast..In most cases its the brightness that hurts your eyes.

Zev0 - 23 December 2012 06:31 PM

Lower the contrast..In most cases its the brightness that hurts your eyes.

Yes. Do that and take regular and frequent breaks.

Wow, thank you all for the suggestions. Here’s a recap that may help others:
recap (not in order of posts)
Glasses:
avoid bifocals-get specific glasses for use at computer
get fitted for computer distance
measure from cheekbone to screen at comfort
better still take the laptop in and measure during visit
get “anti-reflective lens coating” on the glasses lenses
Technology
Use a different kind of display screen than usual laptop
lower the contrast
Behavior
Blink more frequently
take regular and frequent breaks
stop looking at computer screen after an hour or two
refocus at different distances for at least a minute
learn of alternative exercises to change habitual viewing
do exercises to build visual and perceptive strength

I need to get new glasses, which is on the budget after paying dental bills and DAZ purchases;-) Every half hour I get up anyway just so my legs don’t petrify. I always like to learn about new techniques for improving one’s body, but I have to say the most immediate relief has come so far with lowering the contrast. For some reason, the screen contrast was set somewhere between “nova” and “nuclear burn”, LOL! I did not even think of it whilst working hard at projects. Also, I have made a point of vigorously blinking and focusing on the scenery when I go to stretch my legs.  You all have been very helpful and your suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Have a creative fantastic Happy New Year!

You’re welcome and all the best for the new year!

Elowan - 23 December 2012 04:12 PM

I’m a retired ophthalmologist and I found that adjusting my prescription for a distance of 30 inches did the trick.

I work on a laptop for hours without a problem.  My bifocals DIDN’T work but the specially adjusted lenses do.  To do any heavy reading I switch to my bifocals.

If you work on a laptop - take it with you when you go for a prescription.  If on a table top - measure the distance from your cheek bone to the comfortable screen distance.

BTW - was in practice for over 50 years and I still teach.

I’m in a similar situation. My everyday vari-focals don’t work at screen distance so they gave me a pair for screen only - really nice of them as they were free. It’s because the band for that distance is too narrow. I have to be careful not to go out in the screen pair as I can’t see clearly long distance. They tested me with their computer screens until it worked. It’s always worth asking and letting them know that you work with a screen as they’re usually very keen to get a correct prescription.

One tip from my optician when I had dry eyes that were irritating and gumming up at night. She showed me a “tears” liquid that increases the water round the eyes. It worked very well.