Office Ergonomics: The Monitor and Copyholder
Other Topics: Mouse and Pointers | Chair | Keyboard Tray
This fact sheet provides helpful information on using your monitor and copyholder. Follow the instructions below to adjust your monitor and copyholder to help make you more comfortable and productive, and possibly help prevent injury.
How should I adjust my monitor?
What should I do to prevent glare and reflections on my monitor?
Excess glare and reflections makes images on your screen hard to see clearly. To fix these problems start in a working position with the monitor off. Next, see if lights and windows make reflections on the screen. Then:
- • Adjust the monitor screen to vertical, with
no tilt, to minimize glare from ceiling lights.
- • If glare remains, move the computer to
another part of the workstation that places glare sources to the side of the
monitor, not in front or behind.
- • If this is not feasible:
- Try taping cardboard shields to sides or top of the
monitor to block the light
- Try installing an anti-glare filter, which may
reduce glare but may also reduce the clarity and/or coloring of images and
may not be effective at reducing direct glare from lights or windows.
- If using a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor consider switching to a flat screen monitor, which is better at suppressing glare.
How can I adjust the controls on my monitor or computer to make it easier to read my screen?
- • Adjust each program to increase the size of
the image as much as needed (“zoom” feature in most Microsoft applications).
- • Adjusting the pixel size (Windows
Settings>Control Panel>Display>Settings>Screen Area) can enlarge
the images on the screen. Generally a setting of 800x600 is acceptable for
most users. Increasing this setting reduces image size but may be necessary
for some programs (such as mapping or other graphics-oriented programs) to be
viewed on one screen.
- • If you find yourself leaning forward, you may
need to shorten the distance to your monitor, or adjust the contrast,
brightness, or image size of your screen.
- • Adjust contrast and brightness controls to
your preference. A “washed out” effect may be due to poorly adjusted settings.
- • If you see flickering (primarily a problem in
older Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors), your refresh rate may be too low and
needs to be adjusted (Windows Settings>Control Panel>
Display>Settings>Advanced>Monitor).
- • Note that a laptop does not allow for some of these adjustments. Regular laptop users should obtain a docking station (port replicator) with a separate keyboard, tray, and input device.
What can I do to help prevent eyestrain?
- • Properly position the monitor, eliminate
glare, and adjust monitor and computer controls (as described above).
- • Use a task light to illuminate copy to about
the same brightness as your monitor.
- • Perform alternative work tasks that don't
involve looking at the monitor screen. If possible, build alternative tasks
into your routine work schedule.
- • Use 1-minute “mini-breaks” to help prevent
fatigue and stress. Close eyes or focus them on a distant object while
stretching or moving your body. Break programs are available to cue computers
users to take needed “mini-breaks”.
- • If you use bifocals or progressive lenses, consider replacing with them glasses dedicated for computer use.
How should I place and adjust the copyholder?
- • Keep the copy as close to the monitor as
possible, either to the side or just below the screen.
- • Keep the distance between the eyes and the
copy similar to the eye-monitor distance.
- • Avoid laying hardcopy flat on the desk
surface, which requires you to crane your neck into an awkward position.
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