What is the best monitor for eye strain?

Whether you’re an office worker or hard-core gamer, too much screen time is proven to be detrimental to your overall health and wellness. Some adults can spend up to 19 hours a day in front of a flickering, blue-light monitor.¹ If you’ve reached your body’s screen time threshold, you might experience troublesome symptoms such as eye strain, dryness, irritation, light sensitivity, blurriness, headaches or even double vision.

A curved display makes your monitor more comfortable to look at for long periods of time. This is because a curved screen provides less distortion and a wider field of view. The improved viewing angle can prevent your eyes from getting tired by straining to view small text or moving images.

You may already be familiar with the symptoms of eye strain. After a few hours of working at your monitor, your eyes can dry out and feel tired, or they may even start to itch or burn. In extreme cases, doctors may even diagnose you with "computer vision syndrome".³

Upgrading to one of the best monitors for eye strain—and using it correctly—can help you find quick relief. Take a look at some of the ways you can set up your monitor to be as easy on the eyes as possible.

A healthy balance is called for when it comes to brightness and contrast. Both too high and too low can strain the eyes. 

When setting the contrast, it is best to use test images as a guide. This allows you to shift from white to black via various grey levels. To set the contrast, white and black should appear pure and without grey haze.
 
 An eye-safe screen should also be optimised in terms of brightness. Ideally, brightness levels should be based on ambient light: the brighter the surroundings, the brighter the screen should be set. On the other hand, if it is rather dark in the room, reduce the screen brightness.

A high or low colour temperature differs from the colour we perceive in reality. Higher monitor colour temperatures produce colder colours with more blue components, while low colour temperatures tend to produce warm colours in the reddish range. An eye-friendly monitor should not have too many blue light components, as these can have a straining effect on the eyes over time.

Have you ever experienced trouble falling asleep after watching a series on your laptop or tablet? The excessive blue light components of the display are responsible for this. Monitors that reduce the screen’s blue light production provide eye relief, while also aiding your circadian rhythm.4

For optimal results, the colour temperature should be more in the yellow-green range when working for longer periods of time.

The best monitor for eye strain should have the highest possible resolution. 4K monitors, for example, have a particularly sharp resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. With larger screens, a high resolution allows users to zoom and scroll less. This also takes a significant amount of strain and pressure off the eyes.

With modern monitors, screen flickering rarely occurs. However, this is an issue to look out for because flashing images are common eye strain triggers. Monitors that come with a built-in flicker reduction feature can make working, surfing, watching videos and gaming much more pleasant.

Special blue light glasses—also called monitor glasses or computer glasses—can make screen time even more comfortable. Monitor glasses are specially designed for close range, and they allow wearers to focus on the monitor by adjusting the eyes to this standard distance.