Eyes hurt when using ACER x203h

S

Seros

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 11, 2003
Messages
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Alright so I purchased an ACER x203H monitor a few weeks ago and I have been noticing lately that all the solid colors that show up over a span of the screen (for instance the white space underneath what im typing right now) is a bit distorted.. as in its looking a bit black to me at times.. its very wierd and hard to describe..

Or when theres a solid amount of black, such as the space between the top [H]ard|Forum and the ad above, i see a bit of white in it.

Is this because im using a TN monitor? Could it be just a shitty monitor or are my eye going? I'm 22 and I used a few laptops prior to this monitor without any issues.. and I really dont think its my eyes..

If anyone comes to the conclusion of this being a monitor issue, does anyone have any alternatives? It has to be 19-20 inches due to space on my desk. Thanks.
 
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or could it be the refresh rate? Its 60HZ . maybe i need a monitor with a higher refresh rate..

edit #3: well i turned up the brightness a bit and the problem isn't as bad. its still noticable but slightly improved.... which is weird i was expecting the opposite effect.. maybe its a backlight issue.. maybe i should buy another monitor for a day and just test it out haha i am at a complete loss right now.
 
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I would return it and get another monitor.
 
Seros said:
or could it be the refresh rate? Its 60HZ . maybe i need a monitor with a higher refresh rate..

edit #3: well i turned up the brightness a bit and the problem isn't as bad. its still noticable but slightly improved.... which is weird i was expecting the opposite effect.. maybe its a backlight issue.. maybe i should buy another monitor for a day and just test it out haha i am at a complete loss right now.
Click to expand...

You have an LCD monitor with a CCFL backlight. The CCFL backlight itself operates at 50KHz or so, which is impossible for a human eye to detect, but when you reduce the brightness setting, your monitor uses a PWM to decrease the backlight intensity. Ideally, the PWM should flicker fast enough that your eyes would not be able to detect it or be hurt by it; fast enough for most people seems to be 200Hz or higher. But if the monitor is of poor quality or the backlight is failing, the PWM's frequency may drop below 200Hz at low brightness settings, which can cause your eyes to hurt if you are sensitive to flicker.

The only fix is to get a different monitor.
 
I had the same problem when I was using a Viewsonic vp920b at work for a while. After using it for 20+ mins my eyes would start to hurt and sometimes I'd get headaches. I got my boss to get me a BenQ G2412HD and it's been a ton better. It really matters when you have to work for long periods of time (and value your eyesight). I'm really surprised you had those problems with a new monitor like that, I thought Acer's were generally quite good.
 
evilsofa said:
You have an LCD monitor with a CCFL backlight. The CCFL backlight itself operates at 50KHz or so, which is impossible for a human eye to detect, but when you reduce the brightness setting, your monitor uses a PWM to decrease the backlight intensity. Ideally, the PWM should flicker fast enough that your eyes would not be able to detect it or be hurt by it; fast enough for most people seems to be 200Hz or higher. But if the monitor is of poor quality or the backlight is failing, the PWM's frequency may drop below 200Hz at low brightness settings, which can cause your eyes to hurt if you are sensitive to flicker.

The only fix is to get a different monitor.
Click to expand...

Thank you everyone, but specifically Sofa.. this post helped me a ton.
I poked around the article you linked and googled it but cant seem to find the answer.. so may I ask what is the alternative to a CCFL backlight?
 
LED backlights are all the buzz now for replacing CCFL backlights, but they introduce their own pros and cons.

A higher quality CCFL backlight monitor may also solve the problem for you, but it's difficult to say what monitors are better in this regard, because how a PWM works in a specific monitor is not information that the monitor manufactures provide to marketing, customer support or documentation.

For example, in this article, the author reports that the Dell 2007FP gave him a headache while the Dell 1908FP did not. All you can do is try monitors that are reported as having good quality to see if they solve the problem for you.
 
All monitors sold by Bestbuy use TN panels.

Try playing around with a different brand if you can at the store to determine if the problem could be your particular Acer monitor.

You may also be sensitive to temporal dithering which is used by nearly all current TN panel monitors to produce up to 16.2m/16.7m colors. TN panels can only produce 256k true colors. Temporal dithering works by quickly flashing between two colors to produce a 3rd color which the TN panel cannot produce without this technical trick.

For example, suppose a TN panel cannot produce purple. Using temporal dithering, the monitor flashes the pixels quickly between red and blue. This is done so quickly that to the human eye it looks like solid purple.

You may be sensitive to these quick flashes between colors on a subconscious level which leads to headaches and/or tired eyes. You can indirectly confirm this by looking at a few monitors at Bestbuy for a period of time. If you do in fact show these symptoms, then you will likely have to step up to a more expensive monitor that do not use temporal dithering.

Monitors built with MVA, PVA and IPS panels can truely create 16.7m colors so no dithering is necessary. The downside are:

1. They cost more.
2. Most stores do not carry these types of monitors because they are priced higher than TN panel monitors.

The only store that I know of which carries these types of monitors is B&H Photo Video in NYC.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
 
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So i went to best buy and none of the monitors seemed to work for me. They all seem cheap.. they did have the new 23 inch LED samsung in, but
1) it wasnt set up yet, just in the box and
2) i need a 20 inch or under due to space on my desk..

so it looks like next time im in the city im going to try B&H.. ill just have to live until then.. maybe microcenter has non tn monitors? anyone know?
 
1) Maybe your monitor is too bright
2) Maybe you cannot tolerate light text on dark backgrounds
 
Matija said:
1) Maybe your monitor is too bright
2) Maybe you cannot tolerate light text on dark backgrounds
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Thanks for trying, but no.. my monitor is not too bright, i have played with the brightness / contrast many times
2) i have been using computers since i was 6. I had a laptop that i just broke after five years of service which i had no problem using. Its this monitor.
 
thanks Matija.. luck is not what ive been having right now.
Anyone else have any opinions?
 
new monitor is the way to go. Like I said above, go with a BenQ (which I'm looking at right now and my eyes feel fine), or an Asus, or a Dell. To be honest, I might have recommended an Acer, they're generally quite good. You might just have a lemon (or be going crazy :p). Look on newegg.com, good site, good prices.
 
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