Do flatscreens have flicker problems at low refresh rates?

I recently purchased a Dell widescreen, flatscreen monitor, maximum
refresh rate of 60 Hz. I could swear I'm getting eyestrain. I
thought the flatscreens (unlike the old CRTs) were not supposed to
have flicker problems, because the pixels should stay illuminated
between screen updates. Is my understanding mistaken? I'm trying to
figure out if I'm just imaginging the problem or not.

This is also a concern because the company I work for is offering a
choice between two 17" monitors or one 24" monitor -- but the 17"
monitors have 75 MHz refresh rates, while the 24" (again, a Dell) has
a 60 Hz refresh rate. (I think the model on the 60 Hz is the E248WFP
24-inch Widescreen Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor.) So again, does the
60 Hz cause eyestrain?

Thanks in advance for all replies....

"NoName" <null@null.com> wrote in message
news:st0p54160ip5nsfcej7qb349iqfv5rfi3b@4ax.com...
>I recently purchased a Dell widescreen, flatscreen monitor, maximum
> refresh rate of 60 Hz. I could swear I'm getting eyestrain. I
> thought the flatscreens (unlike the old CRTs) were not supposed to
> have flicker problems, because the pixels should stay illuminated
> between screen updates. Is my understanding mistaken? I'm trying to
> figure out if I'm just imaginging the problem or not.

Active-matrix LCD screens do not suffer from the same
sort of flicker problem as CRTs did. That doesn't mean
that there can't be other factors that may result in
eyestrain, however. And, of course, your eyes are going
to start to feel tired if you do any sort of close-up work
for too long without a break.

Bob M.

In article <st0p54160ip5nsfcej7qb349iqfv5rfi3b@4ax.com>,
null@null.com says...
> I recently purchased a Dell widescreen, flatscreen monitor, maximum
> refresh rate of 60 Hz. I could swear I'm getting eyestrain. I
> thought the flatscreens (unlike the old CRTs) were not supposed to
> have flicker problems, because the pixels should stay illuminated
> between screen updates. Is my understanding mistaken? I'm trying to
> figure out if I'm just imaginging the problem or not.
>
> This is also a concern because the company I work for is offering a
> choice between two 17" monitors or one 24" monitor -- but the 17"
> monitors have 75 MHz refresh rates, while the 24" (again, a Dell) has
> a 60 Hz refresh rate. (I think the model on the 60 Hz is the E248WFP
> 24-inch Widescreen Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor.) So again, does the
> 60 Hz cause eyestrain?
>
> Thanks in advance for all replies....
>

It's not the refresh rate. It's most likely the adjustment of
the Dell screen. They seem to not even remotely set the things
up right before they ship.

I had severe eyestrain for the two-three weeks or so that I had
a Dell sitting here, despite the fact that I tried to subdue
the brightness and contrast and colour saturation. I simply did
NOT manage to find settings that worked satisfactorily. Since I
swapped it for an HP monitor the eyestrain is a thing of the
past.

I suggest you find somebody with the knowledge (and equipment?)
to set the thing up right (brighness, contrast, colour balance)
and you should, hopefully, be all right. The Dell screens do
get very good reviews, so it must be possible to set them up
right, presumably. It's beyond me.

-Peter

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

NoName wrote:
> I recently purchased a Dell widescreen, flatscreen monitor, maximum
> refresh rate of 60 Hz. I could swear I'm getting eyestrain. I
> thought the flatscreens (unlike the old CRTs) were not supposed to
> have flicker problems, because the pixels should stay illuminated
> between screen updates. Is my understanding mistaken? I'm trying to
> figure out if I'm just imaginging the problem or not.
>
> This is also a concern because the company I work for is offering a
> choice between two 17" monitors or one 24" monitor -- but the 17"
> monitors have 75 MHz refresh rates, while the 24" (again, a Dell) has
> a 60 Hz refresh rate. (I think the model on the 60 Hz is the E248WFP
> 24-inch Widescreen Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor.) So again, does the
> 60 Hz cause eyestrain?
>
> Thanks in advance for all replies....
could possibly be because using the larger monitor your eyes are moving
more to cover the extra size of the screen,even though you don't realize
it. Try moving further away from the monitor

NoName wrote:
> I recently purchased a Dell widescreen, flatscreen monitor, maximum
> refresh rate of 60 Hz. I could swear I'm getting eyestrain. I
> thought the flatscreens (unlike the old CRTs) were not supposed to
> have flicker problems, because the pixels should stay illuminated
> between screen updates. Is my understanding mistaken? I'm trying to
> figure out if I'm just imaginging the problem or not.
>
> This is also a concern because the company I work for is offering a
> choice between two 17" monitors or one 24" monitor -- but the 17"
> monitors have 75 MHz refresh rates, while the 24" (again, a Dell) has
> a 60 Hz refresh rate. (I think the model on the 60 Hz is the E248WFP
> 24-inch Widescreen Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor.) So again, does the
> 60 Hz cause eyestrain?

60Hz is normally OK. Check that you are using the native screen
resolution, appropriate contrast/gamma, and, if using windows, that you
have the font aliasing enabled (Display preoperties/Appearance/Effects:
smooth edge of screen fonts: cleartype

NoName wrote:
> I recently purchased a Dell widescreen, flatscreen monitor, maximum
> refresh rate of 60 Hz. I could swear I'm getting eyestrain. I
> thought the flatscreens (unlike the old CRTs) were not supposed to
> have flicker problems, because the pixels should stay illuminated
> between screen updates. Is my understanding mistaken? I'm trying to
> figure out if I'm just imaginging the problem or not.
>
> This is also a concern because the company I work for is offering a
> choice between two 17" monitors or one 24" monitor -- but the 17"
> monitors have 75 MHz refresh rates, while the 24" (again, a Dell) has
> a 60 Hz refresh rate. (I think the model on the 60 Hz is the E248WFP
> 24-inch Widescreen Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor.) So again, does the
> 60 Hz cause eyestrain?
>
> Thanks in advance for all replies....

So I assume that you're talking about a flatscreen CRT monitor here,
rather than an LCD of some kind? I have noticed that 60Hz is often not
good enough for flicker-freedom, even though 60Hz is supposed to be
non-interleaved. It is the lowest of the non-interleaved refresh rates,
if you can get it upto 72Hz or higher it is better. I think the 60Hz
refresh makes it synchronous with the office lighting system, especially
the white fluorescent lamps. If the fluorescent lamps and the CRT are
just slightly out of sync with each other (e.g. one is at 59.9Hz, the
other at 60.1Hz, or something like that), then you'll see lines riding
up and down the screen. It's best to put the refresh rate up much higher
for the monitor to avoid this slightly-out-of-sync issue.

Yousuf Khan

"Yousuf Khan" <bbbl67@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4866bbd8$1@news.bnb-lp.com...
> NoName wrote:
> > I recently purchased a Dell widescreen, flatscreen monitor, maximum
> > refresh rate of 60 Hz. I could swear I'm getting eyestrain. I
> > thought the flatscreens (unlike the old CRTs) were not supposed to
> > have flicker problems, because the pixels should stay illuminated
> > between screen updates. Is my understanding mistaken? I'm trying to
> > figure out if I'm just imaginging the problem or not.
> >
> > This is also a concern because the company I work for is offering a
> > choice between two 17" monitors or one 24" monitor -- but the 17"
> > monitors have 75 MHz refresh rates, while the 24" (again, a Dell) has
> > a 60 Hz refresh rate. (I think the model on the 60 Hz is the E248WFP
> > 24-inch Widescreen Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor.) So again, does the
> > 60 Hz cause eyestrain?
> >
> > Thanks in advance for all replies....

60 Hz refresh on an LCD is not the problem it is with a CRT.

Try enabling ClearType (see Help & Support) to see if it
helps with your viewability issue.

"Yousuf Khan" <bbbl67@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4866bbd8$1@news.bnb-lp.com...

>>
>> Thanks in advance for all replies....
>
> So I assume that you're talking about a flatscreen CRT monitor here,
> rather than an LCD of some kind? I have noticed that 60Hz is often not
> good enough for flicker-freedom, even though 60Hz is supposed to be
> non-interleaved. It is the lowest of the non-interleaved refresh rates, if
> you can get it upto 72Hz or higher it is better. I think the 60Hz refresh
> makes it synchronous with the office lighting system, especially the white
> fluorescent lamps. If the fluorescent lamps and the CRT are just slightly
> out of sync with each other (e.g. one is at 59.9Hz, the other at 60.1Hz,
> or something like that), then you'll see lines riding up and down the
> screen.

If you see lines moving up or down the screen, etc., on a CRT,
it's a sign of magnetic interference from local power cords or
AC equipment such as motors, etc. - it has nothing to do with
the lighting per se, unless it's the power line to those lights that
is the source of the interfering field.

Bob M.