Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

sailplane
Puff wrote
sailplane wrote

I use safety glasses when using any LED monitors, it helps a lot. Any cheap plastic safety glasses seem to work, I think there is a small amount of UV coming out of the LEDs that the glasses block. …
Are you saying that regular clear safety glasses help? Like, those that look like my amber ones (but clear)? I'll have to try that and see what happens.

I've tried regular sunglasses, which do help a little.
Yup, just regular safety glasses help a lot, these are the ones:
https://www.amazon.com/3M-Glasses-Protective-Removable-Anti-Fog/dp/B083FGPBVK/

Huge difference. Of course I also use Redshift and the brightness is set to pretty low most of the time.

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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
Redshift is fun to experiment with. :) I've used it a few times, at least.

If you like that, you might also be interested in using xcalib (if you haven't used it already). I've used it with Redshift, too. To invert my colors (to get black backgrounds and white text), I use `xcalib -invert -alter`. I set up a keyboard shortcut to toggle it on and off.
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Karl
I had never heard of xcalib... Cool :)

The commands I use to set my PowerLite to 85 Hz are cvt and xrandr:

$ cvt 1280 800 85  [calculates the X11 modeline for the following command]
$ xrandr --newmode "1280x800_85.00"  122.50  1280 1368 1496 1712  800 803 809 843 -hsync +vsync
$ xrandr --addmode VGA-1 1280x800_85.00
$ xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode  1280x800_85.00


For laptops you might need to use something like "DP-1" instead of VGA-1. You can find the available display interfaces with 'xrandr -q.'

You can also use cvt -r to reduce the white flicker between frames and the frequency of the VGA signal, but it only works with refresh rates that are evenly divisible by 60.
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
Karl wrote

The commands I use to set my PowerLite to 85 Hz are …
Cool. Thanks for sharing.

I've thought about getting a projection screen before, but I'd have to use it in the livingroom where other people want to do stuff. We've also considered it for movies, though. I was concerned about how long they would last before needing repairs/replacement or replacement parts. How long do they last? Is there any one in particular with significantly more longevity?
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Karl
I have four Powerlites, and the only maintenance they've ever required is periodically cleaning the dust filter on the cooling fan air intake.  Replacement bulbs for brand new projectors are very expensive, but not for older projectors.



The short-throw models don't require too big a room. Mine just points at a bare wall in a 12'x12' home office.  (I have a Da-Lite screen, but I didn't think it made too big a difference.)
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
Cool. How old is your oldest one?
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Karl
Really old.  It was made about 15 years ago.  The ones I use more are between 5 and 8 years old.
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
Wow. That's pretty cool. Can you still get them, and replacement bulbs, too?
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
In reply to this post by Puff
Hooray! I have my computer back.

I ordered the $60 HP P204 from Walmart, and it arrived today (several days early)! The box says it's 19.5 inches instead of 19.4. It works nicely. It's very clear, and I don't feel like it's damaging me, so far. It's so nice. It came with four different kinds of cords. It definitely looks new (of those, I'm using the HDMI cable and the power cord).

I figured $60 was cheap enough that if it didn't work out, I might have enough money left for another monitor (although I think I may have miscalculated my funds; so, it's probably good that I got the $60 one, and that it works, so far).

It has a few different refresh rates (different ones for different resolutions). I think Marc Martin was right, for me, about lower resolutions being better, or at least that 60 is better than 70.1 for me (glad I didn't invest in a super high one). I tried 70.1 on a low resolution and compared it to 60 on the highest, and 60 felt better.

The monitor doesn't bend to reposition its angle, but fortunately, it's at the right angle for how I have it set up. I still need to figure out how to work the buttons to configure it. I pressed the one closest to the power button, and the screen just went blank. (I unplugged it and plugged it back in, and it came back on.) The default settings are pretty good, though, if a bit on the bright side when my colors aren't inverted; that should be good when I'm watching movies from a distance, though (I haven't tested movies on it, yet).

Although it's TN, it doesn't seem terribly different from my tablet (which has an IPS display) when viewing it from the side at close range. I think it's harder to read text on it at a distance than my old monitor (so, maybe it might not be as good for movies at a distance), but it's easy to read stuff close up, fortunately. Anyway, we should see. I'm getting the sense that it might provide more eye strain than an IPS display, but eye strain isn't part of my light sensitivity issue (so, it's not the end of the world; I can just increase the font size or something, if it bothers me; it would probably cause more strain with the colors inverted than otherwise, by the look of it, but that's not surprising). I still need to finish getting the antialiasing settings set up how I want (so, it may be able to be a bit clearer with full hinting enabled).

Okay, I tested a TV show on it (without the colors inverted, naturally). Text on the show (as well as closed captioning) didn't appear distorted at all until I got about 6.3 feet away from the screen. I could still read it then, but the further away from that I got, the more blurry it looked. When I got to about 16.9 feet away, I could only make out some of the words.

The display doesn't look washed out, which is a definite plus.

The screen size is great, so far, and it lets me make the resolution as high as 1600x900 (which is what I decided on after looking at the options).

Here are the resolutions and the refresh rates available with them, on my system (using Xubuntu 18.04.4 LTS):
720x400 is 70.1hz.
640x480 lets me choose betwen 60hz and 59.9hz.
720x480 lets me choose betwen 60hz and 59.9hz.
720x576 is 50hz.
800x600 is 60.3hz.
1024x768 is 60hz.
1280x720 lets me choose between 60hz, 50hz, and 59.9hz.
1280x800 is 59.9hz.
1440x900 is 59.9hz.
1280x1024 is 60hz.
1600x900 is 60hz.

So, for an inexpensive LED replacement for a fluorescent monitor, meant for close range, it's nice. Not high end with bells and whistles, but so far, it's nice and usable for my purposes (especially for $60).
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
Actually, maybe I spoke too soon about that refresh rate. I feel a bit less jittery with the higher one, and it does look smoother. I guess it depends. I'll have to use it for a while to see if it affects me much differently.

I think I might prefer the 1280x720 resolution.
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Karl
In reply to this post by Puff
Puff wrote
Wow. That's pretty cool. Can you still get them, and replacement bulbs, too?
Yes: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Epson-Powerlite-475w-used-475h-No-Remote-No-Power-Cord/202959813934

You can get generic replacement lamps for under $30, and EPSON lamps for about twice as much. And you can also buy the bare bulb that goes inside the lamp assembly.  As I said, I've never had to replace one, so I don't have any experience with what's best. (The lamp assembly is usually very easy to replace - one screw to remove the outer cover, and two to remove the lamp itself.)
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Karl
In reply to this post by Puff
Looks like a good LCD :)

Visually, I like higher refresh rates and resolutions. The main potential downside is higher frequency on the VGA cable (http://www.tinyvga.com/vga-timing). I'm hoping it won't matter as much with the projector/computer/cable inside a shield.
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
In reply to this post by Karl
That sounds pretty awesome. I should tell my sibling about that (who also might be interested in a projector).

Guess what? I figured out a way to make the text a lot clearer, and make it feel a lot less prone to causing eye strain. The trick is to use the highest resolution and increase the DPI (I set mine to 150, which looks about like the other resolution I was using with 96 DPI, except with more detail). So, the text has a lot more pixels and more detail that way, and looks nice to me with the colors inverted. 180 looks even better (but less screen room; I think it's enough, however). My icons aren't huge, though, which is nice, even if the text under them is pretty large. If I lessen the text size (but keep the huge DPI), it still looks pretty clear.
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Marc Martin
Administrator
On April 27, Puff [via ES] <[hidden email]> wrote:
> The trick is to use the highest resolution and increase the DPI (I set mine to 150).

Assuming that you can tolerate the higher resolution.  I've never been able to tolerate setting my PC monitor at a higher resolution.  Anything above 768x1366 causes a noticeable increase in symptoms, no matter what monitor I use.

Marc
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
That's interesting. I wonder what would cause that. Have you checked to see if it emits more of anything at higher resolutions? I remember you said that earlier, now.
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Marc Martin
Administrator
On April 27, Puff [via ES] <[hidden email]> wrote:
> That's interesting. I wonder what would cause that. Have you checked to
> see if it emits more of anything at higher resolutions?

I've decided over the years that it's not the monitor itself that's causing the issue, but either the PC video card or the VGA video cable.  As I can tolerate 1080x1920 monitors (I'm using one right now), I just can't stand having a signal going to it that's more than 768x1366.

And digital cables (HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort) have not helped, as I tolerate those less than analog.

Marc
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
This post was updated on .
In reply to this post by Karl
Okay, I looked up what I did to get inverted colors and a red screen at the same time:

Do the redshift as follows (or similar):

redshift -l 43.9693:116.8140 -r -g 5.5:0.1:0.1

Then, press ctrl z from the same terminal (to end the program without making things no longer red). Then do the following command:

xcalib -invert -alter

Then the whites will be black-ish (tinted red a bit, I think) and the other stuff will still be red.

If you want to turn things back to normal, do this:

xcalib -c

Here's a rough Python Linux script to automatically toggle the red invert on/off (it may not be perfect):

#!/usr/bin/env python3

from threading import Thread
import subprocess, time

def redshift():
    subprocess.Popen("redshift -l 43.9693:116.8140 -r -g 5.5:0.1:0.1", stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, shell=True).communicate()

Thread(target=redshift).start()
time.sleep(0.01)
result=subprocess.Popen("killall -9 redshift; xcalib -i -a -v", stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, shell=True).communicate()[0]

if result.startswith(b"Red Brightness: 100"):
    subprocess.Popen("xcalib -c", stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, shell=True).communicate()

Save that to a file (with the .py extension). Make the file executable. Make a shortcut that executes the script.

I use this next code in a script (not Python) for my screen locker (to uninvert the colors to ensure I have a black screen when it's locked):
xcalib -c
xflock4
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Puff
Huh. I guess redshift already lets xcalib invert them and keep it red while redshift is running. For some reason I don't think that worked before.
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Re: Recommended computer monitors; intro: my light-sensitivity

Karl
In reply to this post by Puff
Thanks :)

I've never written any Python, only Bourne shell scripting and some very simple console C programs.
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Safety goggles, UV-sensitivity, and UV/IR filters

Puff
This post was updated on .
In reply to this post by sailplane
@sailplane

I wanted to thank you for mentioning safety glasses. I got these safety goggles, and they work wonders. They fog quite a bit at times, but really, it's getting them to block all the ambient light and stay in place that I care about. I got some motorcycle goggles first, but I was allergic to those. I kept thinking about swimming goggles. But, then I just went back to considering safety goggles, like you recommended, and got some; not sure why I kept passing them up. I think it's because I was going after polarized lenses, and it was hard to find polarized safety goggles.

Now my problem is my UV sensitivity is getting worse. Apparently, the windows in my house don't block enough UV. Wearing safety goggles indoors helps a lot. I'm fine outside when the UV index is 0 or 1, though, but even indoors if it's 4 outside, I get issues (like I started feeling nauseous and stuff, today; so, I put the goggles on and immediately felt better). I'm thinking about getting some UV/IR filters for the windows, but I need to know the wavelengths they block. The windows already block some UV, apparently (just not as much as the safety glasses). Any suggestions?

Another issue is I can't seem to sleep without a sleep mask anymore. I think it's the light coming through my window. My room is the brightest room in the house. I got these sleep masks, which were cheap and they work very well. The material itself could stand to block a little more light, though (a tidbit bleeds through the material), but it gets the corners nicely; I'm tempted to put two pairs on at once, or cover the outside of it with duct tape to add another layer of blockage.

I don't know why my sensitivity is getting worse. Something's going on. Maybe I just didn't eat enough yesterday. I think all I had was chili. Oh, yeah, that's got to be it. Capcaisin makes my UV sensitivity worse, and I put three hot peppers in my chili.

I think the safety goggles work just as well as the blue-light blocking glasses, actually (except I can see more colors, and I don't have to keep pushing it up my nose). I don't just mean for sunlight, but for artificial lights, too.

Ooh, and I can even put my old DeWalt red laser glasses (the ones that work the best of all my colored glasses) underneath these goggles; so, I can wear them again! They lost their arms, and the goggles hold them on.
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