Lighting:
- Ideal lighting conditions should be between 180- 460 lux levels.
- Good lighting design can significantly help reduce discomfort due to glare. Light leaving the fixture can be directed so that it goes straight down and not into the eyes of the room occupants. This is most commonly accomplished with the louvers in the luminaire or fixture. An even better solution is indirect lighting in which the light is bounced off the ceiling - resulting in a large low luminance source of light for the room.
- Wear a visor. This is actually a very efficient way to eliminate the brightness of overhead fixtures. A person can wear a visor for a day or two as a test to determine the extent to which the light problem alleviates discomfort at the end of the day.
What things can a computer user do to minimize eye discomfort?
- Place the screen further away since eye strain tends to increase as tasks are closer. 20-28 inches from your eyes would be ideal
- Design the workstation to place the screen at least a few inches below eye level and eliminate reflections from the screen.
- Do not have the screen excessively bright. Keep your monitor screen clean.
- Have moderate background ambient illumination with supplemental task lighting for hard copy documents. Ideally the illumination from the screen should closely match the light reflected from the document.
- Use a copyholder to place documents so they are at the same distance from the users eyes as the monitor.
- Place hard copies in a plane parallel to the plane of the user's head to minimize reflections, maximize legibility of print, and keep the whole document the same distance from the user's eyes.
- Have properly designed lenses for the task
- Use supplementary eye lubricants as indicated
- Minimize glare on your computer by:
- Turning your monitor away from the window
- Reducing strong overhead light
- Balancing overhead and window light with a desk lamp
- Using an anti-glare screen
- Keeping the computer monitor screen clean.
- Give your eyes a break. Frequently look away from your monitor for a few seconds. Take short breaks every 20 minutes for 20 seconds and look away 20 feet. This is known as the 20-20-20 rules.
- Anti-reflection coating
- Etching the glass screen
- Polarization filter
- Micromesh filter
- Tube shield
- Filter panel
Computer design
Several methods to eliminate the screen reflections (Cakir)
Do screen shields / Screen filters work?
Mesh type – decreases reflections and also the quality of print, hence not recommended
Polarized screen - decreases reflections but not the quality of print, hence recommended
Monitor Display quality
- Refresh rate – 72 Hz or higher
- Resolution – more the pixels, higher the level of details
- Colour contrast (According to ISO 9241)
- Screen Magnifiers
Do screen shields / Screen filters work?
Mesh type – decreases reflections and also the quality of print, hence not recommended
Polarized screen - decreases reflections but not the quality of print, hence recommended
Monitor Display quality
- Refresh rate – 72 Hz or higher
- Resolution – more the pixels, higher the level of details
- Colour contrast (According to ISO 9241)
- Screen Magnifiers
Anti glare filters
Big Shot allows you to focus on your work without straining to see it.
With a magnified image
You can view the screen from a comfortable distance,
Decreasing eyestrain, irritation and fatigue.
Screen Magnifiers
Screen Magnifiers gives your eyes the stamina to work longer and more effectively on your computer
Guidelines to be used for programmers and web page designers
Font style and design should be plain and should be closest to those used in the hard copy text
Avoid long lines of print, decreased spacing between lines and bold colours
Movement and flashing to be avoided.
Artificial tears
Artificial tears form the main stay of management of Dry Eye in CVS
They provide relief in Dry Eye,decrease discomfort,and Prevent ocular surface damage
Two types of artificial tears are available- Preservative free and Containing preservatives
Preservatives are added to artificial tears to prevent contamination of the eye drops on storage.
Inherent toxicity on long-term usage
Artificial tears with disappearing preservatives
Prevent contamination of eye drops during storage, but get converted into water and oxygen when instilled in the eye. It is safer for long-term use compared to conventional products containing preservatives
Disappearing Preservatives:They are stable in bottle and degrade on use into non-irritating compounds.They use reactive small molecules with potential energy.
Both formulas: Use borate buffer and breaks down into water and oxygen on instillation. All traces of preservative are gone in 60 seconds.
To most of us, computers have become an irreplaceable necessity in our lives at work and home. We need to protect our ocular health and thus prevent the epidemic of the 21st century
