Why Are Monitor Ergonomics Important? We Made It Simple For Yous
Have you ever had headaches, dizziness, or a stiff neck after long gaming and work sessions? As we spend more and more time in front of our screens, getting the right ergonomics is essential to maintaining good posture and health. The easiest place to start is by adjusting your monitor’s position and angle.
Risks Of Poor Monitor Placement
Viewing your monitor at the wrong angle could lead to poor posture, which could cause several health issues in the long run, such as:
Neck Pain
Joint Tightness
Lower Back Pain
Upper Crossed Syndrome
Tension Headaches
Dizziness
Eye Fatigue
Adjusting Your Monitor
Fortunately, getting the right monitor position is simple and only requires about 10 minutes to set up. In this article, we will focus on monitor height, distance, and tilt adjustments to achieve the perfect viewing angle for your body build.
Monitor Height
Generally speaking, if you need to tilt your chin or bend any parts of your body to view the monitor, the height needs to be adjusted. Prolonged periods of abnormal posture can lead to stiffness and joint pain.
The top one-third of the monitor should be at least eye level regardless of monitor screen size. Make sure that your neck position is neutral and your back is not hunched while using the monitor.
Monitor Tilt
Once you have adjusted the height of your monitor, you should next adjust the tilt angle. Your eyes should look downwards slightly when viewing the centre of the screen. The screen should tilt upwards slightly at about 5 - 10° to accommodate your eye level.
Monitor Distance
Ideally the monitor size and its distance to your face should be the same, i.e: a 24 inch monitor should be placed about 24 inches away from you. Regardless of screen size, the monitor should not be closer than 20 inches (about an arm’s length) as that distance will force your eye muscle to remain constricted in order to focus on what is being displayed, leading to eye strain and fatigue.
If you are using ultra-wide monitors however, the distance should be just enough to cover your peripheral vision to strike a good balance between comfort and immersion.
Dual Monitor Setup
While the principles of setting up your monitor position largely apply to a dual monitor setup, there is one caveat: the percentage of time spent on viewing each monitor.
If you use one monitor more than the other, let’s say an 80:20 split, the primary monitor should be in the centre while the secondary monitor can be placed on the side angled towards you.
However if you view both monitors equally, both monitors should be placed as close to each other as possible, and the inner bezels should be centred towards you. They should also be slightly concave, creating a rough semi-circle around your peripheral vision.
To make dual monitor adjustments easier, you can use dual monitor arms like the Neotez Sagitta Pro Duo that frees up desk space and offers more flexibility to get the right viewing angle.
Glare
Ah yes, glare. The worst enemy of every monitor. The last thing you would want is to get everything right, only to squint when the light reflects off the monitor.
Your environment plays a more important role to your viewing comfort than you may think. Extreme glare will force your eyes to squint, and your eye muscles to contract. Most users will just increase the brightness to compensate for the glare, only to exacerbate the problem.
Make sure that your light source is behind the screen or at least 90 degrees from the monitor. When you turn off the monitor, light should not reflect off it.
If you are looking for a gaming monitor that has all the ergonomic features, the Neotez AQUILA series of gaming monitors comes equipped with a height, tilt, and swivel adjustable stand to help you maintain good posture while you game.