The key to preventing eye fatigue is to have the proper lighting. I recommend a bright overhead fluorescent white light. Go to a best buy and look at their computer monitors on display. Notice their lighting above the monitors and how clear that makes the monitors look.
I found that having the monitor set to the highest refresh rate was very helpful. 72 or higher reduced my eye fatigue and the headache that often went with it.
top_playa: I just set my charts to your color scheme and it is really nice. You're right, it does look like money. I noticed that the brightness was gone immediately.
LCDs and a 3M LCD anti-glare filter. Turn down brightness. Get a large enough monitor, that you can sit back from a distance and still make out the movement.
Ok, I think I've got some colors that work for me. top_playa, I'm using your color scheme (listed above) for my stock charts, and I'm using a light gray B/G for my indices: Hue 160 RED 192 Sat 0 GREEN 192 LUM 181 BLUE 192 I'm also using BLACK candles for up ticks and RED for down ticks in both color schemes. I like the two color scheme better, because it breaks it up a little, and I'm able to separate stocks from indices at a glance. The biggest thing I readily see is that the brightness is definitely gone. I should also mention that both my monitors are LCD's, from which, I sit approx. 30" away. Who knows? Maybe I've got my problem solved. I'll give it a try Monday. Thanks for everyone's input. Good Trading.
Be sure to increase your monitor resolution to the highest available. Also, try playing around with different RGB combinations.
Agree on all. I use also grey backgrounds for charts. If still problems, consult an ophtalmologist. Sometimes you can go blind without having done anything about it! Yes, this is quite possible. Even popular halogen reading lamps can cause eye strain problems because light emmission is in fact pulsed. I always feel more comfortable reading for long periods with old style lamp bulbs.
The first thing I do when I open a new sheet is set the background to grey. Highlight the whole sheet and use the fill button. I don't know how to set the default color on a new sheet so it's done automatically. I've looked and don't see how to do it. If someone knows, could you tell me pls?
Get some real advice from a qualified eye doctor. Tell the doc explicitly what you do, how long you do it for and they can adjust your prescription too. Stuff like refresh rates, you have to play with to see what works for you. Good glasses help. Getting the highest quality screens help too. Get a digital feed and use the MS ClearType Tuning software to make it easier on your eyes. Actually ClearType Tuning from MS helped me a lot. You only have 2 eyes and if you cant see, no amount of money will help. Fix this problem today before you continue, its that important.