screen resolutions and eye strain -Reply

[Mark Annichiarico]

Eye strain canoccur at higher resolutions if your monitor and/or video
card has  a low refresh rate. Here's the deal: your computer display  is
drawn line-by-line by 3 electron guns in the back of your CRT. The
speed at which the image is redrawn in part determines how stable
your display appears.  A low refresh rate (typically less than 70hz) will
cause flickering, which is barely perceptable to the naked eye but can
cause screaming headaches (especially if your pc is in a room with
flourescent lights) over the course of a workday. Generally, most
monitors & video cards are slower to refresh the display  at higher
resolutions, which can make 640x480 tolerable but 800x600 a
nightmare. It depends on your video card/monitor combo. Pick up a
screen utility such as SETRES or Winmode, which will allow you to
alter the refresh rate and experiment.

Mark Annichiarico, Library Journal