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What are the recommended room lighting when you work with computer monitors?


A. Einstein

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Doctors don't know. They don't work on computers all day. Probably the best think is to use as much ambient light as you can. I don't believe I've ever seen a "computer light," but if there was any even pseudo-scientific basis for one, someone would be marketing it. Maybe there is such a thing already.

 

In the days of the CRT monitor, some optical company had developed a special way of making glasses that worked better on a monitor, something about having better resolution of the dots that formed the characters on the screen. They were very expensive and nobody but the maker ever said much about them.

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It seems silly to ask this question on a Music Forum so thats why I wrote, "Ask your doctor."

 

With that said, my only "advice" is to experiment. My eyes are really sensitive to light, I wear sunglasses whenever I go outside, even if its cloudy sometimes. In the studio, I usually use lamps that are several feet away. My monitor is very dim as well.

 

So.... go with what feels comfortable. Only you know the answer Angelo... I mean A. Einstein.

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It seems silly to ask this question on a Music Forum.

 

 

I don't know any musicians who don't use computer monitors and besides, never underestimate what people here do "on the side"...wouldn't surprise me if someone here would know the actual, definitive answer.

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Nah, nothing silly to ask on this forum because we all bring different experience and background to the table.

 

Some guidelines are the same as for watching a TV and have been around for decades. Soft indirect lighting, but not too dark for one thing. Don

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Just came home from the eye doctor... everything normal with my eyes, was only a migraine, something many people have, some daily, for me it was the first time.

 

 

 

The light at my studio is goodd during the day time, it has windows, but for the night I should use what is called "DIN 18032-3" lamps as they use in offices mounted on the ceiling, this:

 

126573.jpg

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I don't know any musicians who don't use computer monitors and besides, never underestimate what people here do "on the side"...wouldn't surprise me if someone here would know the actual, definitive answer.

 

:lol:

 

I`ve been on forums for over a decade, nothing definitive has come from any of it except nothing is definitive. ymmv

 

:D

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Glad to see you got checked out and that all is OK. I get migraines about half the days in a month; not a lot of fun. I don't get the aura anymore, but still not a lot of fun. Hope yours was a one time event.

 

Only thing I'd add to the advise above is to avoid having a lot of light from behind you. My last office was set up so I had the floor to ceiling window behind me. I didn't have direct sunlight coming in, but even so, I found the glare on the LCD monitor made my eyes ache. I rearranged my desk so the monitor was on the side wall angled away from the window and the eye strain was greatly reduced. The lights in the ceiling were similar to that in your picture.

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I had a friend who kept getting migraines. She slowly discovered it had something to do with work, because when she was on vacation, the symptoms seemed to go away. It turned out to be the CRT monitors on the work stations. Up close, her brain and eyes tried to keep up with the ray gun dot on the CRT. It's a condition that some people have. At that time, there were no other options, and there were no other jobs available that didn't use monitors, so she had to retire on disability. Yeah, the nineties were the dark ages. Another friend gets uncomfortable around most fluorescent tube lighting. He's lovin' the LEDs.

 

I just wondered if that was what you might have experienced.

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I had a friend who kept getting migraines. She slowly discovered it had something to do with work, because when she was on vacation, the symptoms seemed to go away. It turned out to be the CRT monitors on the work stations. Up close, her brain and eyes tried to keep up with the ray gun dot on the CRT. It's a condition that some people have. At that time, there were no other options, and there were no other jobs available that didn't use monitors, so she had to retire on disability. Yeah, the nineties were the dark ages. Another friend gets uncomfortable around most fluorescent tube lighting. He's lovin' the LEDs.


I just wondered if that was what you might have experienced.

 

And then of course, some are just allergic to work. ;)

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I visit allot of art studios where people are in front of monitors all day.

What seems to be popular are those small bulbs thet run on 12v or so.

They run the wires across office ceiling and the bulbs just clip to the two

wires and act as mini spotlights. They may be halogen cause they are fairly bright.

 

The rest of the room is fairly dark in comparison. I guess it gives enough light for keyboards and all

but it keeps their focus on the monitors details and not whats around them.

 

I found a great option for my studio I like allot. I have those white christmas lights, the icicle types.

I stapled them flat against the ceiling vs letting them hang down at different lengths and they

are great for ambiant lighting. I supplement the room with those new halogen colored bulbs.

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I visit allot of art studios where people are in front of monitors all day.

What seems to be popular are those small bulbs thet run on 12v or so.

They run the wires across office ceiling and the bulbs just clip to the two

wires and act as mini spotlights. They may be halogen cause they are fairly bright.


The rest of the room is fairly dark in comparison. I guess it gives enough light for keyboards and all

but it keeps their focus on the monitors details and not whats around them.


I found a great option for my studio I like allot. I have those white christmas lights, the icicle types.

I stapled them flat against the ceiling vs letting them hang down at different lengths and they

are great for ambiant lighting. I supplement the room with those new halogen colored bulbs.

 

 

Can you post a pic? I have something similar...

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Can you post a pic? I have something similar...

 

 

I'm at work right now so I'll have to think of it tonight. My studio is a very odd shaped room because its a converted

garage and one side has a dropped ceiling and shorter wall. I'm able to run the garage door up and keep the lawn gear in a

short cubbie hole the width of a side door. I stapled the lights up under that shorter ceiling and thats where I keep my recording desk.

For some reason I get better sound for mixing under that shorter ceiling.

 

The ceiling is much higher around the dropped ceiling where the amps and drums are. When playing its kind of like the lighting in a bar

where the bar is brighter than the rest of the room. Then I use those colered neon bulbs with reflectors from dual recepticals from the

higher ceilings as spots on the gear setups to give a stage effect for the players. Works out pretty good considering.

 

Another cool item I came up with is I have a couple of 18" black lights mounted to the music stands.

Its kind of like this one I picked up at Home Depot http://www.eliminatorlightingdirect.com/18_Blacklight_Fixture_p/el-bla18.htm

It lights up the print on the music books so you can see the print from a long distance.

It avoids having to have a bright white light coming down from the ceiling which is a mood killer for playing.

The ones I have are light enough to be held in place with some velcro from above and I use some alluminum tape as an

overhang to keep the bulb from striking the eyes directly. They do make the flourecent screw in type now which may work well.

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These are the recommendations for accurate perception of colors on a monitor:

 

Room Color and Lights

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) re-evaluated and revised imaging industry standards and practices for the use of electronic displays in the professional community They were concerned about the physical and perceptual affects that viewing conditions had upon technicians performing critical analysis of video programs for hours on end. SMPTE found that room decor and lighting impacted the viewer

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Just came home from the eye doctor... everything normal with my eyes, was only a migraine, something many people have, some daily, for me it was the first time.




The light at my studio is goodd during the day time, it has windows, but for the night I should use what is called "DIN 18032-3" lamps as they use in offices mounted on the ceiling, this:

 

 

Those fixtures use a T5 flourescent tube. Flourescent tubes are not recommended for lighting where intensive computer work is done and they can, and will, cause headaches and migraines as well as tired eyes, blurred vision & etc.

If there's a way to baffle the lights to an indirect lighting it may help. Other than that relamping with different fixtures that are non-flourescent is the only true relief.

I would also suggest using a halogen desk lamp set above the work area along with indirect lighting to brighten the rest of the room and leave the flourescents off when doing computer work.

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