Is it healthier to use the computer in the dark or in a light-lit room?

[Mr Rayon]

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Please explain your reasoning.

[Daecon]

I believe it's better that when you're looking at a computer monitor for long periods of time, to have the ambient lighting at a similar brightness in order to avoid eye strain.

[StringJunky]

I believe it's better that when you're looking at a computer monitor for long periods of time, to have the ambient lighting at a similar brightness in order to avoid eye strain.

Yes, I think, if you maintain the same light levels you are not forcing your eyes to adapt to the frequently changing light intensity, as one looks at the screen and then away from it.. It's good for the focusing side of things to look away at frequent intervals, though. Optimally, one needs similar light levels, with frequent looking away, to minimise eyestrain.

 

If you find the screen too intense at night, it can make you insomniac because the light of the screen is typically daylight balanced 24/7, which is too blue at night for winding down. Your brain takes the changing colour of the ambient light as a signal to adjust its level of activity between active and sedentary.

 

You can get software that will adjust the colour temperature of your screen, according to the time of day and location. You can modify the colour from its defaults, F.Lux is one such example. In the latest iPhones it might be a native function that you can set up yourself.

 

https://justgetflux.com/

 

Put these elements together, viewing becomes much more tolerable for longer periods, without upsetting your circadian rhythm and with less eye fatigue..

Edited April 7, 2016 by StringJunky

[Lyudmilascience]

its better to have a well lit room when your staring at any bright screens. my dad always told me take a break from the computer and do some eye exercises. every half hour to an hour usually I forget but I try to do that. in fact its better to set your screen to the lowest brightness to not damage your eyes.the kindle black and white actually does no damage to your eyes, its like reading from a peice of paper.

[Lazarus]

Back when I was working with black and white CRT's, I found that my focusing distance was getting further out. I discovered that when I shifted my vision from the screen to the metal frame that I could feel my eyes refocusing. What was happening was that my eyes would go slightly out of focus to make the screen easier to read. I started turning the screen brightness down so low that peope walking by would say that the screen was blank. There was no feeling of refocusing on shifting from the screen to the metal sides. Also, My focal distance improved.

 

I agree that looking away from the screen every few minutes makes a big difference.