Can anyone recommend the highest quality monitors that reduce impact on eyes? I ve got me one of those LED 40 inch top of the range TV(s) and as soon as I started using it as a monitor, I started to feel eye strain that I don't feel even after working for 4 to 6 continuous hours behind my desktop. I am now considering buying one of the high end monitors. 24 to 27 inches and continue using the LED TV for watching HD movies.... Do you recommend one that is LED with HDMI similar to the ones recommEnded for gaming? Does those qualities actually assist in reeducing the eye strains for longer time, or will the overwhelming resolution mean that I should opt for a more simple monitor? Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.
I don't think your issue is the quality of the monitor. I think you sit too close to the TV (used as monitor) while use it as a monitor to trade. The resolution (1920x1080 I presume) is not high enough. Are charts are magnified way high. My recommendation for 1920x1080 resolution us no bigger than 24-inch. Anything higher, you just see coarse, grainier images.
Buying "high end" is probably not a good idea if you really want to reduce eye strain. @see http://www.pixelqi.com/, for "low end" stuff that will actually reduce eye strain. It's like the Kindle screen, but in colour. <-- What I mean to say is that high-end TVs are probably too bright for your eyes to watch for hours. Also avoid glossy screens and go for matte. Use lighter colour themes (gray on prussian blue, for example. BackgroundColour=0,60,119; ForegroundColour=210,210,210), not high-contrast colour themes (bright green text on black, for example) that make you feel like Neo in "The Matrix", or some l33t hacker. More than these external changes, I'd say internal changes are quite important, too : breathing naturally, not scrunching any muscles, esp. not around the eyes, etc;! Remember : your trading career is a marathon, not a 100 metre race.
A "TV as computer monitor" is OK only if you view it from a "normal TV viewing distance". You likely have the brightness set too high. If you'll be viewing the display from a normal computer viewing distance, use a computer monitor. And any mention of "glossy screen causing eye strain" is a bunch of hooey... an urban myth. (I prefer the glossy screen. Too bad more of the desktop models don't offer them.)
Is the impact on eyes only down to the brightness, and will reducing the brightness solve the problem or is there more to it? As you said, I am using the TV screen as a monitor at a monitor separation distance not TV seperation distance which for a 40 inch screen would probably be around 13 FT.. Why is it that it is relatively safe to work for hours using a monitor but not as so with TV screens?. My next question would be, if I go for a 27" or 24" screen will I have similar effects like those of the TV? (I have always tHought big monitors suit the eyes better.)
"Too high of brightness" is likely the cause of the majority of perceived eye strain. Monitors are designed to be viewed from a close distance. TVs from a greater distance... say, 6 feet, or more. The resolution of 24-27" monitors is mostly the same as HDTVs.... 1920 x 1200/1080. The difference is in the size of the pixels. If the pixels are large and fuzzy (as in a TV) there needs to be a greater viewing distance so that your eyes are not strained trying to resolve the fuzziness. The larger the pixel size, the greater viewing distance required for comfortable viewing.
IMO you should never use a TV as a monitor. As has been said already, TVs are designed from the start to be viewed at a distance and computer monitors are designed to be used close. Most all monitors are set to ridiculous levels out of the box and need to be immediately adjusted for you to start using them. I already started a thread on Dellâs u2412m and even though it is very nice monitor you have to reduce the brightness by about half the initial settings.
Color is the bigget thing. Contrast is next. Brightness is next. Make your charts grey background. Turn down your contrast. Turn down your brightness. You'll have happier eyes.
EIZO S2100 monitors come up on ebay from time to time. I switched from dell to EIZO 19" monitors. They are not cheap but your eyes will thank you for it.