In response to this:
Within a year of starting visual effects work I needed glasses? Maybe I would have anyway, but I'm sure staring close up at a 30" screen all day doesn't help. What can be done to make my eyes better, or stop the rot? Are there any guidelines on monitor use, and should there be any pressure or enforcement on facilities to provide eye tests or insurance?
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dbr
[ Editor ]
The Wikipedia page on myopia is interesting - there's no concrete link between computer screens and the main cause of "eye problems"
If anything, at least we generally have decent, well calibrated monitors - not cheap TFT displays with the brightness/contrast at 100% and a dodgy flickering backlight, as I'm sure you'd find in many offices..
Regardless of the cause of eye problems, the "V" in "VFX" stands for "visual" - seems like it'd be in a companies interest to make sure it's employee's eyes are in decent condition..
Olivier Gagnon
[ Editor ]
I'm responding from what I learned in my biology sciences classes and my physics classes (I made about half of my engineering degree in physics).
Without glasses and with a normal sight, you do not "force" your eyes if what you are focusing on is one foot away. That depends of the person but when the object you are looking at is less than 20cm away from your eyes, your eyes lenses (in your eye) begins to force to make the focus and get a clear image on your retina. That's what we call the focal distance (i'm pretty sure you know that).
People suffering of myopia have problem with the curve and/or refraction in front of the eye. That makes the light (wavelenghts) focusing before the retina so the image is blurred up because the focal distance is not correctly accomodated on the retina.
When you have (normal) myopia, you have technically a good and a bad side: the good side is that you can focus on things nearer than other people (without glasses). You can focus without forcing your eyes on things that are about 5cm nearer than normal eyes. However, the distance from the eye and what we call the "infinite" (the distance we consider the light is coming straight into the eye in parallel rays) is out of focus. When wearing glasses (or contact lenses), you are accomodating the refraction index of the light to make it focus on your retina. The unit we use to calculate that is called "dioptrie" (in french). That's the -1. -2, -3 you get on your prescription for your glasses. By doing that, (accomodating your eyes with lenses), your are changing the distance we consider "infinite" (see above). That means that when you wear glasses, you see far things better but unfortunately, you augment the distance you can focus on near things depending of the dioptric accomodation. In my case, I lose about 10cm with an accomodation of -3.75 dioptrie.So I have to force my eyes to focus on near things 10cm nearer than normal people.
Ok, that was the theory. Now the pratical.
Myopia is NOT caused by screens, monitors, TV-sets, etc. It is a physical problem of the eye. It is the cornea that is not curved like normal people. You cannot induce myopia by forcing your eyes because when you look at a monitor that is 30" away, you are getting ligh rays we consider coming from the "infinite". That means your eye lens is not forcing at all. It is totally relaxed.
Myopia is a genetic problem caused by an "unusual" curve of the cornea. That's something you cannot control. It happens.
If you were seeing good before, that only means that you were not looking at a screen from the same distance. You began to look at it then you had to force your eye lens to focus, something normal people do not have to do. After some times, your muscles got fatigued and less strong and you began to see your myopia problem. When that happens, it's usually coming quickly, in a few months. You get from -0 to -4 in a very small time range. You then get glasses and the muscles of your eyes recover but not enough to get a normal sight.
So I think I explained it well with my bad english ! However, one thing I have to say to you: it seems there is a relationship between the IQ and myopia, from studies. So, we all glasses wearers are geniuses ! :-)
I hope my answer helped you.
ed caspersen
I don't have any problems with my eye sight, though some of the joints in my finger get stiff and I can't really use the touch pad on my laptop anymore. Everyone is different and I think it isn't unreasonable to think that some are more sensitive to the effect of computer monitors than others.
ciaran_73
Ive been doing cg for nearly a quater of a centry, and my eyes are fine.
However, my right hand has evolved into a mouse, my arse is the same shape as a Heman Miller Chair, and I break out in a rash if subjected to sunlight, fresh-air or 'people'.
In fact I'm rather hoping my eyes do packup soon so I wont have to look at my colleagues, many of whom have been grotesquely disfigured by inhumane working conditions.
hope this helps.
Francois Schneider
[ Editor ]
In the glorious days of CRT monitors, I tended to find the slight fuzziness created by the electron beams to be quite distracting and, in the long run, gave me headaches and eye fatigue, especially after long hours of reading text and looking at minute details on screen.
I don't feel this level of fatigue with a modern LCD monitor, but my wearing glasses may or may be not related to CRTs, since I began to notice loss of eyesight quite some time after I stopped using them.
markc
[ Editor ]
I started editing video with Sony CRT monitor in 1983 and am still at it. Feb this year I was prescribed my first glasses however they said its age related.
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I also worked approximate 10 hours on computer. You just take some precaution for your eyes. Take five-minute breaks every hour by looking off into the distance and looking away from the computer monitor. Keep the distance of the monitor from your eyes between 16 to 30 inches. Reduce the intensity of light source by providing louvres for luminaires, by covering windows or by choosing appropriate height panels.
“The (UK) Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, which were amended in 2002, place a responsibility on employers to attend to the eyecare of VDU users.”
http://www.eyecarevouchers.co.uk/Employer/Pages/corporateeyecare.aspx
Cheers Paul. I checked out the site and documentation about DSE regulations etc. There are regulations in place.but they say “despite these regulations designed to protect employees and particularly their eyesight, it is estimated that out of the 6 million VDU users in the UK, only one in five have exercised their legal right to an eye test paid for by their employer”. I don’t remember any company I worked for mentioning anything about eye tests. Nothing in any contract as far as I remember.
Cheers Paul. I checked out the site and documentation about DSE regulations etc. There are regulations in place.but they say “despite these regulations designed to protect employees and particularly their eyesight, it is estimated that out of the 6 million VDU users in the UK, only one in five have exercised their legal right to an eye test paid for by their employer”. I don’t remember any company I worked for mentioning anything about eye tests. Nothing in any contract either as far as I remember.
Giving credit where it’s due, I got the link from someone at dNeg where participation in this programming is apparently commonplace.
Again credit wheres its due Cinesite, in my experience anyway, were proactive in eye tests and health and safety for those chained to the work station