I've been running Flux https://justgetflux.com/ for over a decade now. Windows has something similar built in, but it's not as good as Flux in my experience. Flux has the ability to slower change the hue of your screen over time and gives you great control over it at every level. It also lets you set a notif for when you want to get up so when it alerts me that I'm 8.5 hours away from needing to wake up I know I need to start winding down
Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
21–30 of 133 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#22I bought a monitor with a "Low Blue Light" button (it's a "BENQ" brand). I didn't buy it because of that feature and had never even heard of it before. My first reaction was thinking it was kind of ugly so initially I didn't leave it on but after a month or so I noticed my eyes were getting strained so I tried it. It is ugly, but it makes a big difference. Now, when I turn off the Low Blue Light mode I can instantly…
Blue light has no effect on eye strain[1]. The sky has about 100x the blue light emissions than your screen. It might be a great placebo effect, or maybe it just decreases brightness of the screen.
[1] https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/blue-light-di...
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#23Screen time itself shouldn't cause eyestrain. Reading is the most likely culprit. Pay attention to when you're actually exerting your eyes. For example, when trying to read a very small font you should feel your eyes working harder. See if reading a larger font feels easier. But sometimes it could be something more subtle like reading technique. Perhaps you're fixating on words or some details for too long. I hardly…
It's also good to follow the 20/20/20 rule. Each 20 minutes, take a 20 second break and look at something at least 20 feet away (20m works too, for metric users).
Having your eye focus at a certain distance for a long time has an effect on your ocular muscles.
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#24Stick LED strips to the back of your monitor to provide background illumination at the periphery of your screen
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#25You have some degree of presbyopia and need weak reading glasses. As you age the auto-focus capability of your eyes (called accommodation) degrades. Look for the depressing graph in this article:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004269899...
This is incredibly annoying.
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#26I've invested in using eink monitors from Dasung. I use one in landscape and the other in portrait mode. I experience no eyestrain after making this switch, using a computer for 8+ hours a day. My daily driver runs NixOS, i3wm as my window manager, and I've changed the editor and themes of my most commonly used applications to work with the monitors. I recommend the investment. https://dasung-tech.myshopify.com/produ…
I'm lucky not to have eye or hand trouble from heavy computer use, but now that I know a fast e-ink monitor like that Dasung exists, I really want to try it.
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#271) Don't sit too close to your monitor(s). They should be as far away as they are big, so if it's a 23" monitor, at least 23" away from your eyes.
2) Place the top of the monitor at eye level
3) THE BIGGEST: The 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look at an object 20 feet (6m) for 20 seconds.
These three changed my computing life forever, and for the better, especially since I'm on a computer 10 hours a day most days.
Laptop users- get an external screen or a laptop stand that allows the screen to follow those rules.
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#28OLED, ColorVeil, nightmode
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#29I got glasses that were focused at approximately the distance my monitor is from my face (~1 arm length). I'm near sighted and the monitor starts getting blurry at just the right distance. I have glasses for nearsightedness that are focused very far out (the common case). Wearing them for constant work at arms length really tired my eyes out. So, I'd frequently work without my glasses, but hunch forward a little to m…
I don't really have any distance issues seeing. I'm technically slightly farsighted.
What I do have is an astigmatism. Getting glasses (it was free with my work insurance) made a huge difference in my ability to stare at the screen all day.
If you find yourself _ever_ squinting at the screen, go get glasses. Or if you feel your eyes get "dry". They're both likely symptoms of an astigmatism.
I can use my computer and phone without glasses fine, but after ~4 hours I start to feel fatigue. And text is _slightly_ crisper with glasses on.
Re: Ask HN: How do you prevent eyestrain with daily computer use?
#30Has anyone tried to improve eyesight using the techniques in Getting Stronger: https://gettingstronger.org/2014/08/myopia-a-modern-yet-reve... ?
They seem plausible -- certainly that populations that don't look far away seem to need to correct their vision more, which implies behaving differently could lessen or reverse the effect. But I don't know of them being tested. I'm curious to get n higher than 1 before devoting resources to it.