UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Can anyone help.

I'm back at work today for the first time since Dec 23rd (lucky me).

I am having real trouble adjusting to looking at a screen again. Can anyone offer any advice as to how to make the screen more gentle to look at, clearer etc.

More red/blue/green...not much of a techy, any help out there???

Hi Paul ,

not much of a techie myself but I have my computer set up with a pale lilac background as this stops the glare of the screen. As well I use verdana font as it is clear to read . If you go into control box, display, desktop, advanced settings you should be offered a spectrum of colours to make what suits you - just try different ones. hope this helps .

Happy New Year

Sally

Thanks Sally...I have followed your advice, that seems to help quite a bit.

Paul

Hehe i don't work with pcs, but like to play with the settings and colours here at home most days! Even with my twin sister having KC, we are both so different in what we find easier to look at so seem to annoy each other most days by readjusting this screen!! LOL!! I have toned the red down again!

I guess this just says that everyone is different and you need to play and see what you find easier. I guess having your own office space means that you won't have to keep changing it like me!

Take care, Sweet X x X

Paul,

Here's another tip for you: with KC, we see multiple images (ghosts), and with that, the sometimes blocky PC fonts can be difficult to read.

What we really need is a high resolution - but that means smaller text by default. The trick is to "go large" with the text as well.

In Windows XP:

• Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Display (or right-click on a blank bit of desktop and choose "Properties")
• Go to the Settings tab, and drag the Screen Resolution slider to the right.
• Still on the Settings tab, click the "Advanced" button.
• The "DPI" setting will then increase the size of all Windows elements by the amount you set.

You do need to be careful though, as a reboot is sometimes required; and one or two applications won't behave very well with large fonts set. But well over 95% do.

Best of luck,

John....

Even more useful advice.

I have tried what you suggest and yes it is easier on the eye again.

It's a bit wierd to look at, at first, but I'm going to give it a go today and see how it goes.

Many thanks John.

Paul

Paul,

If you have a flat screen monitor, most have a menu button on the screen that is independent of the rest of the computer. If you can change the colour settings, it is likely to be under custom settings.

Not back at work my self, but I was working Boxing Day all the way to and including New Years Eve.

Gareth

If the total glare from the screen is too much, the most radical reduction of that glare is to make as much of the screen as possible **non-light-emitting**.
That means, black background.

If your screen is a CRT type (like a older-generation telly, large, warm box), then is it lit up using a combination of red, green and blue "guns". Sometimes these get slightly out of alignment and the letters, etc, aren't as sharp as they may be. You can improve the sharpness by using only one gun - green is normally better on the eyes than red or dark blue) - or the better-aligned pair (yellow, cyan=pale turqoisey colour) or magenta) rather than white which needs all three guns.

If you have a glare screen, take it off, and tape a flattened cardboard box round the monitor to cut out reflections from windows, etc.
Turn the contrast up full, if you have poor contrast vision. Then turn the brightness down as far as you can before the letters, etc are too poorly defined to read.

Remember to take regular breaks from the screen to rest your eyes (and your mouse/typing hands).

Agree with the others about higher resolutions and larger writing.

Resist all colleagues whose fixed idea is that eyesight problems = great big screen, unless you're sue that's going to help. It will increase the total amount of emitted light and so increase problems with glare.
A smaller, higher *quality* screen may help.
Rosemary

And if you live in a Unix world using something like FVWM to manage X display session (like yours trully), you are on your own for setting that up to work in a sane manner!

Endless of hours of fun to be had from time to time. Still its a good excuse to tinker and waste an hour or two during a slack afternoon.



Paul
[post edited to make a tad more sense]

Paul

I use a Mac and have the resolution set high and icons, text etc adjusted to large sizes. I can also change the background to yellow and the text to blue which I find tires my eyes less than black on white. I sometimes switch it to yellow on blue, and that works too.

I am red-green blind, but I do know some people who find combining them a help.


Andrew