If you suffer from tired eyes after using your laptop or tablet, don’t put up with the discomfort. Arren Sayers explains how to prevent eye strain
Ever notice how a few hours spent staring at your computer or tablet’s screen leaves your eyes feeling sore and tired? That’s because looking at the backlight behind a screen is like staring at a low-intensity light bulb for hours at a time.
What makes computer displays especially damaging is that they produce ‘blue light’– a type of light that suppresses the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. This not only makes it hard for us to nod off at night, but also leads to a disturbed night’s sleep when we finally do.
Here we’ll show you how to limit the effects of harmful light to keep you, and your eyes, in fine fettle.
Improve your room’s lighting
It’s a simple tip, but the first thing to do is to ensure that the environment where you use your computer is well lit. Comfortable ambient lighting will help to diffuse the damaging effects of the screen. Just make sure that any lamps you place are positioned so that they don’t shine directly on to your monitor, because this can cause reflections and glare that can be equally as harmful for your eyes. Avoid using fluorescent lighting too, as this may cause discomfort, particularly if you have sensitive eyes.
If reflections and glare on the screen is a problem that moving your lamp can’t fix, you should consider buying a matte screen protector and fitting it to your laptop or tablet.
Tech Armor, for example, makes anti-glare covers for a wide range of tablets, from the Google Nexus 7 to the iPad Air. While EPHY makes similar covers for laptops and PC monitors. Just be sure to check what size you need.
Optimise your screen settings
By default, most monitors are set at their maximum brightness. While this may be ideal for a brightly lit office or store showroom, it’s far too high for home environments. To give your eyes a break, set the brightness as low as is comfortable, while still maintaining sharp contrast. Monitors usually have physical controls that let you adjust their brightness.
The same applies to the screens on phones and tablets, although you adjust the brightness through the operating system, not the device’s buttons. On Android, swipe down from the top of the screen to access brightness settings. On iPhones and iPads, which run iOS, swipe up from the bottom.
You can further reduce eyestrain by enlarging onscreen text so that it’s easier to read. To do this on a PC, open Control Panel, select Appearance and Personalization, click Display then choose your preferred text size. You can also change the font size in many programs by holding Ctrl down while pressing the plus or minus symbols on your keyboard.
Upgrade your monitor
If your desktop PC came with a monitor it’s unlikely to be a particularly good model. That’s because PC stores routinely include poor monitors as a means to keep costs down.
A new monitor could be the perfect tonic to eye fatigue and we have no hesitation in recommending AOC’s Q2778VQE monitor – our current Buy It award winner (£215). If that’s a little pricey, then take a look at the impressive AOC I2369VM monitor, which you can buy for £120 on Amazon. It has an anti-glare coating designed to keep reflections to a minimum.
Best free eye-care software for Windows
F.lux
Any version of Windows (XP to 10)
https://justgetflux.com
F.lux adjusts the colour temperature of your screen to match the day and night cycle. Its cleverest trick is to reduce the amount of blue light your screen emits in the evening, replacing it with less harmful red light. To do this it subtly switches your screen to a soothing sunset colour, hopefully contributing to a good night’s sleep.
You can access F.lux’s settings by clicking the program’s icon in your system tray. Here you can change how dark you want the sunset glaze to get and select how quickly it changes – either in just 20 seconds or over the course of an hour.
EyeLeo
Any version of Windows (XP to 10)
http://eyeleo.com/download
EyeLeo is a take-a-break reminder tool that prompts you to step away from your PC.
The program’s “adorable” pop-up leopard will demonstrate eye exercises to try during your breaks, while an optional ‘strict mode’ will actually lock your PC, therefore ensuring that you actually do take that break rather than continuing with your work regardless. EyeLeo is simple to use, with a combination of tickboxes and dropdown menus controlling the frequency and length of breaks.
PangoBright
Any version of Windows (XP to 10)
www.pangobright.com/download.htm
PangoBright lets you reduce the brightness levels of your monitor beyond the minimum that your monitor’s and Windows’ settings usually allow.
Once it’s installed, you’ll see an icon for PangoBright in the taskbar (you might have to click on the expand arrow to see it). To adjust the levels, just click the PangoBright icon and then set the level at anything from 100% to 20% of the current brightness.
Another string to PangoBright’s bow is the ability to control the brightness on different screens that are part of a multimonitor setup. If you have multiple displays attached to your PC, click ‘Affect Monitor 1’ or ‘Affect Monitor 2’ to change the settings for each display. The downside is that PangoBright’s installer needs to be downloaded through Download.com, so watch out for unwanted extras.
Best free eye-care apps for Android
Twilight
www.snipca.com/19817
Twilight applies a red tinge to your phone or tablet’s display to reduce the red light.
By accessing your location, the app will synchronise the colour temperature and brightness of your device’s screen to match your local day-night cycle, minimising blue light in the evenings. The settings and interface are simple and straightforward and there’s an option to assign settings on up to two profiles, so that if you share your tablet with other members of your family you can set different levels based on personal taste.
Handily, Twilight also integrates with Android’s Quick Settings menu, so you can pause it anytime with a quick swipe down from the top of your screen.
Best free eye-care apps for iPad and iPhone
Apple currently doesn’t allow on the App Store any apps that change screen colours, so apps that help fend off eye fatigue are currently in short supply for iPad and iPhone. In fact one such app, FlexBright, went on sale on the app store recently for all of a day until Apple removed it.
However, owners of Apple’s tablets and phones will not have to suffer blue light forever. Apple will address the problem when iOS 9.3, the next version of its mobile operating system, is released (this may have happened by the time you read this).
If you have an iPhone 5s or newer, or an iPad Air or newer, the iOS update will add a new mode called Night Shift. Like Twilight for Android (see above), Night Shift tints the display to limit the amount of blue light produced by the screen.
When iOS 9.3 becomes available, update your phone or tablet in the usual way (tap Settings, then Software Update and follow the instructions) and then head to Display & Brightness within Settings.
You’ll see Night Shift mode listed below Auto-Brightness. Tap it and you will be able to change the colour temperature so that it suits you. You can also choose the time frame that the colour shift takes place during the day and night.
READING ON A TABLET? CHOOSE AN E-READER INSTEAD
Though you can read ebooks on phones and tablets, e-readers are much kinder on the eyes.
The display of an e-reader is designed to mimic paper, even down to how it remains reflection-free in direct sunlight. Certain models, such as the Kobo Aura H2O, are even waterproof and ideal for using by the pool.
Most e-readers, with the notable exception of the basic Amazon Kindle, have a built-in backlight too, so you can use them at night without disturbing your other half by having to leave your bedside lamp on.
And don’t worry, the dim, eye-friendly backlight of an e-reader should mean you’ll still be able to get a good night’s sleep.