WHAT PROPER MONITOR POSITIONING PREVENTS: At the end of a long day at our computers, so many of us experience nagging aches and pains. We hunch over our keyboards trying to read the text on our computer screens and the muscles in our face tense up as we squint at tiny letters on dark backgrounds. It is no wonder that upper back pain is becoming such a problem and that over 9 million people in America suffer tension headaches every single day.DISTANCE: It is recommended that you stay at least 20 inches away from your computer screen. Experts would like it if you stayed back as far as 40 inches. For an easy way to estimate appropriate distance, just make sure you are an arm’s reach away. If you have trouble reading from the distance, adjust your computer so that fonts are bigger. Getting too close, will cause your eyes to converge and makes them have to work harder. This causes too much tension in around your eyes and in your upper back. Not only will maintaining a proper distance prevent this pain causing tension, it has been shown to increase production.
SCREEN COLORS: Contrast and brightness are more important than you may know. Contrast makes the eye’s job of discerning shapes much easier. Eyes also don’t like a monitor being any brighter than its background. Since a black background reflects more than a white background does, it is recommended that you read black text on a white background.
LIGHTING: The brightness of the monitor is not the only source of light you should be concerned with. Make sure to position your monitor so that glare from windows or lighting fixtures does not interfere with your vision. Blinds and shades can assist with diverting outside light. Investing in fixtures that provide indirect light will greatly improve your ergonomic environment as well. Keep light at a low, ambient level.
ANGLE: It may be tempting to tilt your monitor down to avoid the glare of ceiling fixtures, but experts are adamant that the top of a monitor should be farther back than the bottom. Our peripheral vision works this way, so our entire visual system evolved to perform better this way. This is why we position a book the way we do. Also, if you position a monitor downward, this will lead to neck discomfort, since you will be craning your neck for a better view. If tilting the monitor upward leads to problems with glare, consider the indirect light fixtures previously mentioned or a high-quality glass anti-glare screen.
HEIGHT: The rule of thumb about monitor height is that your eyes should be level with the top of your screen. Eyes are most comfortable with a gaze angled 15 degrees below the horizon and perform even better with an angle range of 20 to 50 degrees below the horizon. If you wear bifocals or trifocals, position your monitor accommodate your lower lenses. If you have a very large monitor, the top of its screen should be 3 inches above eye level.
EXTRA TIPS: First, remember the 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes, you should take a 20 second break from looking at your monitor and look at something else that is at least 20 feet away. Secondly, keep your screen clean! Lastly, the ergonomic rule that applies to everything, the best posture is the next posture. Change up your position once in a while!
MONITOR ARMS: If you have a flat screen monitor, you’re in luck. Monitor arms allow users to easily adjust the flat screen’s position. They can also reposition a monitor away from the center of your vision, when you need to focus on a coworker or client. We currently have three on display right now!
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