Logos and Hardware . . .

Greetings,

I don't know if this is the proper place but it being the General category, I'm hoping it is a qualified question.

I recently bought a new PC with a little more power than my old one. I actually bought it for the specific purpose of using it for Logos bible study and reading.
The following is my machine:
3.2 GHZ
64 Bit Win 7
32 GB RAM
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3930K CPU

It's a great machine, however, I bought a Toshiba 24" monitor. But for reading text it is not so good. My eyes are tired after reading. Can anyone suggest a good monitor for reading text? Of course, I need it to be a sharp text and clear.
I'm looking at the Dell Ultrasharp models. For example: U2410 & U2412M. I'm more looking at the U2412M. But, I'm at a loss. After reading many pages of customer reports, I'm still no-where to making a decision.
So, I thought I ask the Logos Forum. Somebody must have a wise opinion as to the best value for dollars and viewing all my Logos books without eye strain.

Thank you for reading

God Bless.

Al Sosa

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Comments

toughski

symptom of eyes being tired after reading from computer screen can have many causes, not all of them are hardware related:

your posture
viewing angle and distance of monitor from your eyes
monitor glare and type of glasses you may be wearing
lighting in the room
amount of time spent at the computer
your age and overall eye health

as far as monitors go, LCD monitors have only 1 ideal resolution which would be clearly marked on the box. Getting a monitor with better resolution (bigger numbers) is generally better. Now, this will make fonts crisper, but smaller. There is a setting in OS Display Properties to make fonts bigger, so there is less eye strain. There is also a setting in Logos for Default Text Size - I put mine on 140%. (as a side note - in many browsers and other programs "Ctrl" & "+" would increase font size, while "Ctrl" & "-" would decrease it).

Also IPS (In-Plane Switching) are much better monitors, but more expensive than Twisted nematic (TN) types and are mostly used by Graphics professionals. I would go with just a regular and cheap TN monitor, but research proper ergonomics for your computer reading.

Ward Walker

Al,

Your machine is probably great--I think you are hitting a human machine interface issue, probably more due to the effect of too much brightness into your eyes than the clarity of your monitor. Try putting a light behind your monitor; that may help in relieving eyestrain. Also see if your monitor will let you decrease the brightness.

I've got an aging set of eyes and stare into monitors all day long--it is hard on the eyes; especially since my eyes won't focus on text after being in strong (sun)light. I wish the Logos main program had the white test/black background "night reading" mode that the mobile apps do--I find that much easier.

Wild Eagle

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/345012#Comment_345012

Be careful with monitors. I purchased LG 23' LED and it hurts my eyes bad. I have old monitor on a different PC and it works well.

Mark Smith

Al,

The critical figure is pixels per inch. The way to maximize ppi is to buy the highest screen resolution available for a specific size monitor. I wrote about this in another thread: http://community.logos.com/forums/t/45247.aspx Page down to my response to David Moore.

Both the Dell monitors you referred to are 1920x1200 which will appear grainy at 24 inch size (my previous 17 inch laptop was this same resolution and the screen was the best I've ever had). Spread those same pixels out over a much larger screen and it would be hard on the eyes.

I referred to the HP ZR2740 monitor in the thread above. It have a resolution of 2560x1400 pixels and a screen size of 27 inches. That will produce decent but not great viewing of text.

You'll need to look around for a higher resolution monitor if you want to do much reading.

Rosie Perera

Another thought is increasing the font size. In Logos you can do that on a per-tab basis, or program-wide via Tools > Program Settings. You can increase the Default Text Size which only effects resource text, or even better increase the Program Scaling which will increase the size of everything (icons, menus, etc.).

Also whatever monitor you end up getting, taking rest breaks for your eyes every 15 minutes or so, just to blink a bit and look off into the distance out the window, is a good idea.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

Can anyone suggest a good monitor for reading text?

Suggest visiting a store with many computer monitors on display. What feels comfortable to read varies between individuals; however have noticed font size on screen seems to correspond with preferred handwriting size. For me, the letters on my screen approximate my normal handwriting size.

For backlight, recommend LED for brighter illumination. Also, LED's can be dimmed without becoming noisy.

My dad with older eyes like a Vizio E260MV 26" HD 1080p LED TV for computer monitor use (1920 x 1080) or watching TV. The screen magnification is easier for his focus. My eyes now prefer 17.3" over 15.6" for displaying 1920 x 1080 on a laptop screen (11 % larger is a bit easier to my reading).

Also remember a co-worker changing screen resolution from native 1600 x 1200 to a smaller setting (1280 x 960), which magnified everything on screen for easier reading (personally could see fuzzy edges since not using optimal resolution). Also aware of a person who returned a 17" laptop with 1920 x 1200 resolution since the sharp letters on screen were too small to read comfortably.

Moving a monitor closer or farther away also affects apparent display size of letters. Related to monitor placement is space needed for writing and other stuff.

Keep Smiling [:)]

Wild Eagle

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/345032#Comment_345032

This link might be helpful:

http://reviews.cnet.com/monitors/

Al Sosa

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/345012#Comment_345012

Hi Toughski,

I have done all these things you mentioned. I do have a decent office and furniture. Even my keyboard is ergo. Still the monitor has been a poor resource. The text is poorly drawn on the screen. My resolution is max. Still the text looks poor.

I am still looking for a good monitor. There's a sea of monitors and it is not an easy task looking for the right one. I have time.

Thanks very much.

Al Sosa

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/345032#Comment_345032

I've tried this already. I went to Staples and looked at several monitors. But they all had poor fuzzy text. And the salesperson did not take any effort in showing me the best monitors. He really didn't care if he didn't sell any of them. So, I did not buy one. I'm still looking for a monitor. It's a long process.

Thanks.

Paul N

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/346076#Comment_346076

Al I see you are getting a lot of feedback here; How is your power supply or wall outlet that the monitor is plugged into? I've noticed on occasion, with different computer setups, my monitor is asking for more than an old surge protector or outlet is ready to give. This would make more sense in older housing/apt units.

Ward Walker

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/346097#Comment_346097

The persistent fuzziness is odd; perhaps a graphics card / connector issue rather than a monitor issue?

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/346076#Comment_346076

I went to Staples and looked at several monitors.

Wonder about visiting an Apple Store or Fry's electronics or MicroCenter ?

Apple has a 27" display with 2,560 x 1,440 resolution => http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC914 (caveat: could look at a 27" iMac, which has the same screen)

When looking at monitors, ideally would like to browse some web pages or type something so could look at readability.

Keep Smiling [:)]