large touch screen monitors and eye strain factory

In the modern world, our eyes are constantly bombarded with information from displays. Whether it be from a laptop, smartphone, or some other device, many of us spend a significant portion of our day staring at some kind of display. As such, it is paramount that we should understand the strain placed on our vision and some steps we can take to improve and protect the health of our eyes.

Our vision is perhaps the most valuable tool at our disposal. While we learn about the world through its various sounds, smells, tastes, and textures, it is our sight that feeds the most information to our brains. Because of this, protecting our vision is one of the most important things we can do for our overall health. That"s easier said than done in the modern world.

Our eyes are constantly fed information through screens. Most of us have jobs that require us to look at a computer display of some kind for several hours a day. After work, we head home and stare at screens throughout the evening and well into the night. It"s no wonder, then, that many people complain of eye strain, blurred vision, or headaches after a long day of work. These symptoms and others, collectively known as computer vision syndrome (CVS), may affect as many as 90% of people who use a computer monitor, tablet, or other electronic display during the workday.

So what can we do about CVS? There"s no escaping the fact that many jobs require computers and, thus, require staring at a screen. In this article, we will discuss a few things you can do to reduce eye strain and alleviate some symptoms of CVS. We will also offer a list of laptop features that may adversely affect our eyes and what facets of notebooks may lighten the ocular load. Finally, we will offer a short list of some recommended laptops with high-quality screens that have some of these vision-saving features.

The good news is that there are several steps you can take to minimize or outright prevent symptoms of CVS. Our eyes work like biological cameras; they are constantly focusing on an image, taking in light, and transmitting visual data to our brain for interpretation. By understanding how our eyes look at electronic displays, we can better control the stress placed upon them. The following list is by no means exhaustive, but these tips should help you if you consistently suffer from headaches, blurry vision, eye strain, or other common problems associated with CVS. Best of all, these are simple solutions that shouldn"t require you to buy new equipment or change your working situation.

Refocus your eyes periodically. Perhaps the best way to protect your vision is to give your eyes a break. If you spend an extended period of time in front of a computer monitor or other display, look away from the screen every 20-30 minutes. Pick out a distant object or spot on a faraway wall and focus on it for about 30 seconds. This refocusing removes the immediate strain placed on your eyes, and focusing on a distant object will help relax the muscles that control your eye.

Blink often. Blinking coats our eyes with tears and helps clear out any dust or particles that have found their way past our eyelashes. While blinking is an automatic reflex, some studies show that blinking rate is significantly reduced when we actively process information, such as when we are working at a computer monitor. This can lead to our eyes feeling dried out and may damage them over time. Like above, take a break every 20-30 minutes and intentionally blink your eyes very slowly 10 or more times. This will spread new tears over your eyes. You may also want to purchase lubricating eye drops if you suffer from very dry eyes.

Adjust your lighting. Some lighting situations can actively damage our eyes, particularly bright environments. There"s a reason why we squint when we step outdoors on a sunny day; our pupils contract, which requires some muscles in our eyes to stay flexed. If you can, turn down the lights in your office and partially block any ambient light coming in from outdoors. Turning off overhead lights or fluorescent bulbs can also help. Incandescent and halogen bulbs are easier on our eyes, and placing them lower down to offer indirect light can help reduce strain.

Adjust your display"s settings. Most modern LCD monitors and laptop displays allow the user to edit some settings. Lowering the brightness of your computer"s display will reduce ocular stress, similar to turning down ambient lighting. There is a threshold, though; if the computer screen is too dim, it can actually cause worse eye strain. Find a good sweet spot by incrementally stepping down the display"s brightness until your eyes aren"t squinting or straining too much to read text or view images. You can also download software to filter out blue light. Blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light and thus can cause greater eye strain, particularly if viewed at night. Blue-light filtering software shifts the color gradient of your computer"s display toward the red end of the light spectrum, increasing the wavelength of emitted light and reducing stress. A good app for this is f.lux, which can be set to automatically shift your display throughout the day. F.lux is free for personal use and is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS (jailbreak required).

In addition to the tips listed above, there are some laptop-specific factors that can directly affect our vision. Laptop screens vary widely from model to model, and there is no one perfect laptop screen when it comes to eye health. Still, here are a few things to keep in mind when you purchase your next laptop.

Matte screens are easier on the eyes. Perhaps the most noticeable facet of a laptop"s screen is the finish across the panel. Laptop displays have either a glossy or matte finish to them. Glossy panels allow more light to pass through from the LCD backlight and are typically brighter and more color accurate. However, glossy displays have a major weakness: reflections. A glossy finish will typically show reflections at lower brightness levels, which can distract our eyes and cause them to constantly shift focus, resulting in increased fatigue. Matte finishes, on the other hand, are made specifically to cut reflections. Matte displays typically show no reflections, making them highly usable in almost any lighting condition (provided the backlight is bright enough). Matte screens do sacrifice some color accuracy and brightness, but most are more than good enough for users that don"t routinely work with color.

Higher resolutions make everything sharper. Most modern laptops come with either a 1366x768 or 1920x1080 resolution screen, which is acceptable for most work. However, users that suffer from eye fatigue may want to consider getting a higher resolution display. A higher resolution means a higher pixel density, which can make text and images look much sharper. While a high-resolution screen will make icons and other UI elements smaller at the display"s native resolution, both Windows 10 and Mac OS X have excellent scaling options. Text on a 4K screen set to 200% scaling will look much crisper than text on a 1080p screen at native resolution.

Screen size affects pixel density. Related to point #2 is screen size. Obviously, a smaller laptop screen will subsequently be harder to see from a normal viewing distance than a larger laptop screen. That being said, a larger laptop screen will have a smaller pixel density than a smaller screen of the same resolution. For reference, a 15.6-inch display with a resolution of 1920x1080 has a pixel density of 141 pixels per inch (PPI). Choose a laptop with a screen large enough for comfortable viewing from your desk chair. A larger screen would need a higher resolution to match this pixel density. It should be noted that Apple"s "Retina Display" moniker is a classification used by the company to describe a pixel density high enough such that individual pixels are not visible at a normal viewing distance. The iPhone 4 had the first "Retina Display" with a PPI of 326. Apple"s Retina MacBook Pros typically have a lower pixel density (~220 PPI) but are viewed from farther away than a smartphone.

Backlight brightness matters. While it"s important to control the intensity of light coming out of a laptop screen, making sure that the LCD backlight is bright enough to remain visible is equally as important. A screen with too dim a backlight can be hard to see in some lighting conditions, causing our eyes to strain to view the display. A backlight that can climb to 300-350 nits should be sufficient for most environments.

Poor contrast muddies up the display. Also worth considering is the contrast ratio and black levels of a display. Poor contrast can result in blurry or muddy images with ill-defined boundaries. This can subsequently force our eyes to constantly refocus in order to make sense of the boundaries of an on-screen picture or text. A contrast ratio of 1000:1 or higher will be adequate for most users.

Check the underlying display technology. The manufacturing process behind a display can heavily impact its quality. Twisted nematic (TN) panels are typically cheaper and offer faster response times but suffer from poor color accuracy, low contrast, and off-angle color shift/inversion. Panels that use in-plane switching (IPS) remedy these issues at the cost of slower response times. IPS panels are commonly found in most TVs and smartphones and are widely available in mid-range and high-end laptops. There are other display technologies, such as IGZO and OLED (Organic LED) that have their own advantages and disadvantages, but these are rare in the laptop world. For example, Aorus is one of the only laptop manufacturers that regularly uses IGZO displays, and one of the only laptops with an OLED display is the now-retired 2017 Alienware 13. It should be noted that IPS displays are significantly more expensive than TN panels, but the benefits may be worth the extra cost.

PWM can be a headache. Many laptops rely on pulse-width modulation to dim the LCD backlight. We have written a detailed article on the issue, so suffice it to say that higher PWM causes less strain on the eyes. Laptops with low PWM (<500 Hz) can cause eye fatigue, headaches, and other adverse symptoms in some users. We measure the PWM (or lack thereof) of almost every device that crosses our test bench, so be sure to check a specific laptop review before buying to see if PWM is problematic.

Now that we know what to look for in a laptop, here is a list of some suggested devices that meet most of the criteria listed above. Again, there is not one "perfect" laptop when it comes to eye health. Still, the following devices come close and should help alleviate eye strain. Remember, the best way to protect your eyes is to take action yourself.

The laptop display that ticks the most boxes perhaps belongs to the 14-inch HP EliteBook 840 G5. The FHD panel is reasonably pixel-dense (157 PPI), has a good contrast ratio (1170:1), and is fairly color-accurate. What really sets the EliteBook 840 G5 apart is its backlight, which is one of (if not the) brightest on the market right now. The screen shines at an insane 630 nits on average, and the backlight is very evenly distributed (93%). In addition, the matte finish across the panel eliminates reflections and allows for use in all but the brightest conditions. While the 14-inch display may be too small for comfortable viewing from a distance, the EliteBook 840 G5 offers one of the best displays for eye health on the market today.

The Dell XPS 15 has long been touted as the Windows alternative to Apple"s MacBook Pro line for many reasons, but the display is often one of them. While Dell offers an alternative SKU of the XPS 15 9570, its glossy panel readily shows reflections and is thus not as conducive to eye health as its FHD matte sibling. While PPI could be higher on the FHD panel, the screen is pixel dense enough for most users. What makes the FHD XPS 15 9570 a good choice is its bright and relatively even backlight, its excellent contrast ratio, and matte finish. PWM is high enough that it will not bother most users, although some very sensitive eyes may be affected. Despite these small compromises, the FHD XPS 9570 is perhaps the best balanced display when it comes to eye health.

For those that want a larger screen, it"s hard to beat the 4K Lenovo ThinkPad P71. The 17.3-inch display is large enough to be easily viewed from a normal working distance, and the 4K resolution packs 255 pixels into every square inch. The 4K P71 offers a good contrast ratio (1155:1), good viewing angles, great color accuracy, and a matte finish. Its main weakness lies in the display backlight, which is somewhat dim (~330 nits) and uneven, making outdoor use more difficult than with the EliteBook 840 G5 or the XPS 15. The P71 is perhaps the best large display and one of the best for eye health.

There"s a reason why Apple"s MacBook Pro devices are often praised for their displays. The panel on the MacBook Pro 15, in particular, is one of the brightest screens in the industry (~520 nits). The pixel-dense (~220 PPI), color-accurate screen has an excellent contrast ratio (1333:1). The device"s "Retina" display can be set to a wide variety of brightness levels for almost any lighting situation and has almost imperceptible PWM (>20,000 Hz). The one flaw in the display is its glossy finish. While the backlight gets bright enough to help reduce reflections in most lighting conditions, bright days outdoors turn the screen into a mirror, which can be highly distracting and fatiguing. If you rarely or never work outdoors or under bright lights, though, the MacBook Pro 15 should offer easy viewing.

Our eyes are one of our greatest resources, and keeping them healthy is important. As our lives focus more and more on electronic displays, the task of protecting our vision becomes increasingly difficult. Still, there are some laptop displays that are noticeably easier on the eyes than others. That being said, the most important thing to remember when it comes to keeping your eyes healthy is to take action yourself. Look away from your screen periodically and give your eyes a rest. This is the best way to ensure your eyes keeping looking good (pun intended) for years to come.

I"ve been a computer geek my entire life. After graduating college with a degree in Mathematics, I worked in finance and banking a few years before taking a job as a database administrator. I started working with Notebookcheck in October of 2016 and have enjoyed writing news and reviews. I"ve also written for other outlets including UltrabookReview and GeeksWorldWide, focusing on consumer guidance and video gaming. My areas of interest include the business side of technology, retro gaming, Linux, and innovative gadgets. When I"m not writing on electronics or tinkering with a device, I"m either outside with my family, enjoying a decade-old video game, or playing drums or piano.

Why we like it: The Dell P3421W has a sturdy adjustable stand, lots of ports (including a USB-C port that can handle power, display, and data over a single cable), and a three-year warranty. And it has a built-in KVM switch that allows you to easily swap your keyboard, mouse, and video between two computers. The 1440p display has a 60 Hz refresh rate, which is great for typical office work, web browsing, and casual gaming.

Most ultrawide monitors are also curved. This design helps minimize viewing-angle problems—when you’re sitting centered, things on the far edges of the screen won’t look as washed out as they would on a flat display of a similar width. But this also makes ultrawide monitors inaccurate for precision tasks requiring straight lines, such as drawing, photo editing, or similar design work.

Most people spend a lot of time looking at screens. The most recent research from DataReportal suggests the average adult spends about 7 hours a day using the internet on their computer monitor, mobile device or television.

Screen time is even higher for people whose jobs necessitate looking at a computer monitor for all of their work. An ergonomic desk chair can alleviate some physical strain, but it’s the monitor itself that can help — or hurt — the most.

A monitor that’s not designed with your well-being in mind can cause eye strain, migraines and even muscular problems in your back and neck. Naturally, these effects lead to reduced productivity, absenteeism and general job dissatisfaction. But more strikingly, computer blue light is linked to blurred vision, dry eyes, macular degeneration and cataracts. It can even cause significant sleep issues.

It’s possible to mitigate these effects by switching to a monitor with built-in eye protection. Samsung has made eye care a priority in developing a number of unique display technologies, including a blue light filter for its monitors and Flicker Free technology.

Of all the colors in the visible spectrum, blue light is the most harmful — with effects ranging from blurred vision to permanent vision changes. Blue travels as a high-energy, short-length light wave, and almost all of it travels to your retinas. “Computer vision syndrome” is increasingly common.

Samsung’s latest high-resolution monitors feature Eye Saver Mode, which actively reduces blue-light emissions. This feature minimizes immediate eye strain and helps prevent longer-terms problems like phototoxicity, a condition of particularly high light sensitivity in the eyes or skin.

The best monitors for eye health address more than just blue light. Another culprit of eye strain and headaches is screen flicker — common on many desktop monitors, and nearly imperceptible to the naked eye. This flicker is a result of the screen’s backlight rapidly turning on and off. You may not notice it happening, but you will notice its effects. Samsung’s Flicker Free technology helps remedy this.

A high monitor refresh rate — the amount of times the screen updates per second — can help reduce eye strain, but above 75Hz, the difference on the eyes is minimal.

Most of Samsung’s new monitors also feature Adaptive Picture technology. Through ambient light sensors, Adaptive Picture continuously assesses the lighting in your workspace and automatically adjusts your screen brightness for more comfortable viewing.

Together, these Intelligent Eye Care features have earned Samsung’s high-resolution monitors an Intelligent Eye Care certification from the gold-standard TUV Rheinland.

Besides the screen itself, your desktop’s physical aspects also contribute to its overall comfort. Samsung monitors’ ergonomic design offer height adjustment as well as tilt and swivel flexibility, so sitting in front of the computer is much less taxing on not just your eyes but also your neck and spine.

In the right environment, a curved screen offers considerable eye health benefits. You might even opt for a double-wide curved screen, like Samsung’s 49-inch S95UA. With a screen that imitates the curvature of the human eye, these displays mimic your natural field of vision — so your eyes don’t have to work as hard to focus.

Of course, not everyone’s workstation can accommodate a curved monitor, and not every job requires one. For smaller workstations, Samsung’s compact 24-inch T45F monitor comes with all the same protective eye health features. The monitor’s borderless design also makes the screen more immersive, to help keep distractions to a minimum.

With Samsung’s extensive range of high-resolution monitors, you can get the job done more comfortably — with eye-saving display features that let you put your health first.

You can get personalized recommendations on the optimal monitor setup for your space with this free assessment. Or make your own product comparisons by reviewing Samsung’s full lineup of high-resolution monitors, designed with the flexibility you need to maximize everyday comfort and productivity.

Touch screen monitors add an entirely different dynamic to your computer usage. Most of us are fairly adept with a mouse and keyboard, but screens with touch capability add a different dimension and new functionality beyond the typical input devices. Today’s touchscreen monitors deliver a type of tactile control that has been honed for technological generations. They allow users to scroll with a finger swipe, resize with a pinch, and sign your signature with a pen. They often deliver high resolution, precise color gamuts, and impressive refresh rates, all while supplying a simple intuitive interface. Whether you’re a photographer looking for great computer screens to help you with photo editing and collage, a business professional who’s looking for large computer monitors for presentations, or simply a touch oriented person who wants a new way to play, read on for the best touchscreen monitors of 2023.

Before you dive into the touch screen market, there are some features and terms you should understand. Doing so ensures that you find the right touchscreen monitor that’s right for your needs.

There are three main groups of LCD screen type used in touch screen monitors. IPS monitors (in plane switching) have great color reproduction and clarity at all viewing angles, they use LCD crystals positioned horizontally to the viewing plane. TN or twisted nematic monitors on the other hand, are less consistent across the whole screen surface, but are cheaper to produce and refresh faster. TN monitors are only really a thing to seek out if you’re looking for an affordable high-speed gaming monitor, or a monitor for a POS or business setting. VA, or vertical alignment monitors, use a technology that’s more often used in television, which involves LCD crystals that are perpendicular to the viewing plane, rather than parallel — as is found in IPS. Vertical alignment monitors are a decent choice in a touch screen monitor, even if IPS is generally the gold standard.

For the purpose of this list we highlighted premium capacitive touch monitors with ten finger touch. This is the same type of touch response used in a smartphone, and doesn’t require you to apply pressure to the screen. The other type of touch technology, called resistive touch, is used in screens aimed at the public, such as ATM machines, but doesn’t allow multiple points of touch.

IPS panels are capable of quite impressive color displays with wide gamuts and good sensitivity, and touch screen monitors should be no different. Monitors designed for photographers and designers will generally cover a wide color gamut that covers most or all of the standard web color space, titled sRGB, and deliver some coverage of other color spaces, including AdobeRGB, and DCI-P3.

Color accuracy is slightly more complicated. Manufacturers sometimes offer a Delta-E value, often written ΔE

Gone are the days where 1080p HD ruled the space. However, touchscreens generally prioritize other technologies rather than high resolution. Most touchscreen monitors are 1080p HD. None on this list stray toward 4K or even WQHD. Some larger HD touchscreen monitors actually use a 1080p design with larger pixels, keeping the same pixel count on a 27 inch screen rather than a 22 inch. When researching your future touchscreen monitor, consider the resolution and sharpness you need.

Designers might care about Delta-E, but for the competitive gamers it’s all about Hz and response time. Refresh rate determines how fast a screen refreshes. This is notated with Hz. A high refresh rate ensures that competitive gamers get that high frame rate they need to keep ahead of the action. 60 Hz is standard and totally fine for most common tasks. Hight-end and  dedicated gaming screens usually start at 120 Hz. Premium gaming screens can hit 360 Hz. Response time dictates how fast pixels change from black to white, or one gray to another. 5 milliseconds (ms) is a good rate for a gaming monitor, though premium gaming monitors can hit sub 1 ms.

We wanted our list of the best touch screen monitors to be as authoritative as possible. As a digital artist and tech reviewer, I use and review many screens. Currently I own multiple touch screen devices. It’s an important part of my workflow, whether I’m editing in Google Docs with my fingers and a pen, drawing in photoshop, or piecing together collages with my fingers in Procreate. To assemble this list, we researched numerous touch screens from leading manufacturers, perusing the spec sheets, and stacking them up against the competition, and compared them to the monitors and screens we know and use daily. We evaluated a few criteria to make our final choices:

Image qualitydoesn’t need to be stifled with touch screen tech. Theoretically touch screen IPS displays are capable of much the same image quality, resolution, and color quality as regular IPS screens. In practice this isn’t always the case. Touch technology takes money, and this means that touch screen monitors often don’t also put the premium on image quality. There aren’t many 4K touch screen monitors on the market. Because of this we highlighted the instances where touch screen monitors do achieve really good screen quality.

Form factoris always important, but when a product is designed to be used for tactile manipulation, this is more important than ever. We noted how each product worked as a touchable, tactile device. For a device to be reliable as touch-tech it needs to be sturdy, responsive, and positionable. We prioritized monitors that fold, sit flat, and can be positioned on angles.

Connectivity is ever important in the modern era, and yet many touch screen monitors suffer here. Don’t expect lots of thunderbolt ports, or necessarily more generic USB-C hubs. Still wherever we found it we highlighted monitors with versatile connectivity.

Budgetvaries when it comes to touch screen monitors. As touch screen tech is pricey in itself, touch screen monitors are often somewhat pricier than other monitors with equivalent feature sets. We looked for monitors that don’t skimp on features and cost significantly more, while highlighting a few that make sure to put the premium on a value price point.

Sizeis a bit more limited in the touch screen market. If you’re looking for large computer monitors, the largest touch screens designed for standard home use are about 27 inches.

Why It Made The Cut:With top-grade wide-gamut color and a powerful stylus, the Wacom Cintiq Pro drawing tablet easily has the best color and screen quality on the touch-screen market.

Wacom has been the industry leader in stylus and touchscreen art-tablets for years, and the Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 represents one of their biggest achievements yet. It delivers a vibrant, 4K screen with exceptional stylus support. The Cintiq Pro 16 is fully responsive to touch and pen, and … very beautiful. While monitors and drawing tablets have traditionally been classified as different categories of tech, they have slowly been inching closer and closer together over the years, until now, when crossover products such as the touch screen computer Microsoft Surface Pro havely largely rendered the category-differences moot.

There are only two functions that the Cintiq Pro 16 doesn’t perform well that the other monitor’s on this list do a good job with. Unlike other monitors, the Wacom is designed to be manipulated on your desk surface, either at an angle or flat, this helps with touch functionality, as well as giving you a natural surface for its electromagnetic pen. Those who want traditional mounted touch screen monitors should stay away. Its screen refresh time and pixel response is also slower than gamers will want. These differences make the Wacom good at what it is, a drawing-tablet with an immaculate touch-display built right in.

The Cintiq Pro has one of the best screens on the market. It delivers 98% AdobeRGB, which is a significantly larger color gamut than sRGB, meaning you’ll see colors that not even a Macbook Pro can display. Its 4K resolution is beautiful and crisp, delivering extremely detailed images. It isn’t all that fast, with a 30 ms response, but unless you’re gaming, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Because Wacom comes from a line of drawing tablets, rather than monitors, the Cintiq Pro 16 is an unconventional choice for a list of the best touch screen monitors. However, it’s hard to argue with the specs, especially when they handily beat out all of the competition. If you work in photo-editing, graphic design, or illustration, the Cintiq Pro is the best for work, even if it’s expensive, plus it works with Apple computers, unlike many traditional touch screen monitors. It should be noted that because it doesn’t achieve a vertical position, it is probably best as a second monitor, particularly when paired with a great graphic design or photo editing monitor. For more on the Cintiq Pro, read my review here.

Why It Made The Cut:Great image quality, easy touch controls, a solid anti glare coating, and an intuitive repositionable stand all work together to make this IPS Dell screen an easy pick.

A solid business-class monitor, the Dell P2418HT 24IN IPS delivers well on all fronts, offering impressive touch controls, as well as decent color and brightness. Perhaps the most immediate appeal to this monitor is its impressive folding stand, which intuitively transitions from a classic monitor position to an angled tabletop touch screen surface.

The monitor’s plastic screen uses an anti-glare coating, and pumps out about 250 nits of brightness. It’s responsive to touch, and intuitive. The plastic coating is both a perk and a detractor, and will appeal to some more than others. While the anti-glare coating is a nice feature, the screen smudges easily, and feels less sturdy than glass.

Across the rest of the specs, the Dell P2418HT does a good enough job to be the best 24 inch touch monitor out there. It has decent color that exceeds many business class monitors, even if it falls short of what’s on offer with most design or photo-focused monitors. Its HD resolution does a good job on the IPS screen, and its refresh rate makes it a viable choice for gamers who still want touch. All in all, the Dell does almost all of it right, in a way that makes it the most widely appealing touch-screen around, even if it doesn’t excel at the particulars to secure specific niches.

Why It Made The Cut:With a large screen, decent color, a webcam, and more, this is a great touch screen monitor for home offices that easily converts between flat and vertical alignments.

As monitors go, the Planar Helium PCT2785 27″ is the best for productivity for most people. It’s also a great choice for a second touch screen monitor for school. With a big bright screen that pumps out about 300 nits, its HD IPS screen is big enough to wow.

The monitor uses capacitive touch with ten points of manipulation.It also comes with a 720p webcam, speakers, and an audio in/out, plus two USB-A 3.0 jacks. Best of all, its stand easily transitions between vertical and flat positions, so you can use touch how you like to.

It has to be noted that this monitor is a bit tricky with its sizing, it is 27 inches diagonal, rather than horizontal. Factor that into your decision before you buy, still 23.54 inches is large — large enough in fact that the HD resolution looks a little pixelated. All in all, it’s a decent large touch screen monitor that does a good job at whatever you throw at it.

Billed for use in retail environments and setting up in the field, the ViewSonic TD2230 is a great choice for those who move around a lot. It sports an extra-hard 7H glass screen and solid overall ruggedness. Its stand offers easy conversions between vertical alignments and flat.

While the screen isn’t the most vibrant out there, it does have some decent features. It offers a 76 hertz refresh rate that’s better than average among touch screens. Its IPS panel sports an HD resolution, that looks a little pixelated on the monitor’s larger size, but won’t bug most users. It’s also easy to connect on, with a DisplayPort connection, two USB-A ports, a USB-B, HDMI, and audio In & Out.

All in all, the ViewSonic is a good choice if you’re looking for a moderately large touch screen monitor you can take on the go for presentations, or set up as a workstation at a retail establishment, it’s also the best as a second monitor.

Why It Made The Cut:Great for use as a POS machine, as a monitor for multiple cameras, or as an easy touch control station, this twisted nematic monitor crams a lot of great features into a highly affordable touchscreen body.

Sometimes a utilitarian, budget monitor is just what you need. The ASUS VT168HR doesn’t come with frills, but if you’re looking for the basics delivered with reliable touch, then this ASUS TN monitor might be just right for your business.

Make no mistake, the VT168HR’s screen isn’t going to wow you with media. With a resolution of only 1366 x 768, it doesn’t hit HD definition, and you’ll notice. It doesn’t have speakers, and its color is also nothing impressive. Instead of great visuals and sound, the VT168HR focuses on utilitarian function. It’s one of the cheapest monitors out there, but its TN screen still comes with flicker-free tech that reduces eye strain, and a filter that cancels out blue light. Its touch screen is responsive, and it connects via HDMI and VGA. This monitor is a good choice for businesses that need a reliable basic monitor for security cameras, POS, spreadsheets, or a second touch-screen monitor to supplement a main monitor. It’s not a monitor to brag about, but it could be the best small display for specific touch applications.

Touch screen monitors vary in cost substantially. The cheapest touch screen monitor on this list is under $200, while the most expensive is closer to $1500. This price jump reflects great variability in the feature set and the technologies that are included.

Most of the time, all one needs to do to connect a touch screen monitor to your computer is plug it into the correct jacks. Usually the monitor will then prompt you to download the appropriate drivers.

Touch screen monitors have the advantage of touch. While not everyone needs touch functionality on their monitor it can be a boon for many settings: POS systems usually use touch, graphic designers and photographers can find the control handy, and some people simply like it for the intuitive control it affords.

If you’re looking to add a whole new dimension to the control of your computer, consider a touch screen monitor. Touch screen monitors provide tactile control over your digital world, making for a great desktop monitor or a great portable controller. If you’re after the best 27-inch monitor, the Planar Helium PCT2785 27″ is about as good at touch as 27 inch monitors get. If you’re a creative, the pricey Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 is the top choice, and does about everything you need from a touch computer monitor, even if it comes from a family of drawing tablets (It also has the best screen quality out there). If it’s a desktop monitor for less, the ASUS VT168HR is a stripped down display that is rugged and affordable enough for business applications, like POS, and security monitoring. Finally, the Dell P2418HT 24IN IPS is the best touch screen monitor for most users, with its solid media delivery and good response.

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Perhaps when you were growing up, your parents limited the amount of television you watched because they thought it would hurt your eyes. It’s only natural then that you warned your own children to not stare for hours on end at their computer monitors, tablets, and smartphones. So does staring at screens really harm one’s eyes or is this an age-old myth? According to experts, staring at computers, tablets, and smartphone screens will not permanently damage your eyesight. However, doing so can cause some bothersome side effects, most notably computer vision syndrome (also called digital eye strain).

About 83% of American adults use digital devices more than two hours a day, and 53.1% say they use two digital devices at the same time. Of course, digital technology exposure isn’t limited to adults. Children use computers and other digital devices for playing the latest games, watching videos, learning at school, or doing homework. In fact, 72% of Americans say their children look at computer or tablet screens more than two hours a day.

Many adults and children experience eye discomfort and vision problems from prolonged computer, tablet, e-reader, and cellphone use. The American Optometric Association says vision-related issues are the most prevalent type of health complaint among computer workers. Studies indicate 50-90% of computer users experience symptoms indicative of computer vision syndrome. Moreover, the level of discomfort appears to get worse the longer one stares at a screen.

1. Set up computer screens so they are in the correct position in relation to your eyes. The top of the screen should be in line with eye level and placed about 18-30 inches from where you’re sitting.

2. Tilt the screen back slightly – about 10 to 15 degrees depending on individual preference. Maintaining this downward angle reduces the stress on eye muscles and also helps prevent glares from ceiling lights.

3. Balance the brightness of the computer screen to that of the room. Adjust desk lamps and window blinds so light does not shine directly on the screen. Glare screens can also eliminate this problem.

5. To help prevent or alleviate existing dry eye, use a humidifier to add moisture to the air. Try lubricating eye drops before using the computer and throughout the day. Your eye doctor can recommend appropriate eye drops and may give you samples.

6. Take the time to blink when you are looking at the screen. Doing so cleanses the eyes with naturally therapeutic fluids. In addition, follow the20-20-20 rule by taking a 20-second break to view objects 20 feet away every 20 minutes.

Proper vision correction is crucial on the job, in particular for complex and/or repetitive computer tasks such as data entry. A study showed small uncorrected refractive errors hindered productivity by 20%, even when the computer user didn’t notice symptoms. And if a child cannot see a screen properly, this can impede learning and lead to behavioral and developmental issues.

The EyeQue VisionCheck enables you to take a series of pixel-powered tests to determine your refraction error. It is a safe, affordable, and fun way to test your eyes any time anywhere, as long as you have a smartphone and are connected to the Internet. While the VisionCheck is not for children, the EyeQue Insight is an at-home 20/20 vision screener for all ages. The Insight will provide instant results for single and dual eye performance and lets you know right when you or your children are not seeing clearly as they should. Use these handy devices to help determine if prolonged screen time is causing your discomfort or an undetected or under-corrected refractive error is playing a role.

So many of us spend our days gazing into an array of LEDs. We click and type all day for work, and then unwind to the blue-lit drama of a TV show after dark. By the end of our workday, our vision is bleary and our eyes feel fatigued, while our distance vision is unfocused and fuzzy. What if there was a screen out there that didn’t leave you with that runny-pupil feeling?The Boox Mira E Ink monitor aims to help remedy digital eye strain. The Mira is a black-and-white E-Ink display that connects to your computer. Instead of displaying an image using LEDs, it uses charged microcapsules that fill with an electrically responsive ink to create images. This yields a display that’s easy on the eyes, uses little electricity, and is great for long days of reading and writing.

The Boox Mira is an E Ink monitor for your computer, with touch functionality, a folding cover that doubles as a stand, and rear sockets that enable it to screw onto a Vesa mount.

E Ink is actually a brand. The technology was developed at MIT in the mid-1990s, and appeared on a cover onNatureMagazine. The technology uses microcapsules, which when charged, fill with an electrophoretic ink. For those unfamiliar with the word electrophoretic, it means that this ink is responsive to charge in an electromagnetic field. When charged, the microcapsules intake or outtake ink to become black or fade to white.

E Ink was famously used in the Amazon Kindle, which made great use of its low-energy requirements and superior eye-ergonomics. Originally concepted as a solution to make a low-power paper-like display that could be used to make an electronic book, it was a natural fit for aneReader. E Ink’s application in the BOOX Mira only expands on it.

Most importantly, E Ink technology is better for your eyes. LEDs are all around us and they"re (almost certainly) not good for our eyes. Researchers atKey Laboratory Weifang Medical Universityfound that “blue light, with relatively high energy, can cause irreversible photochemical damage to eye tissue.” In astudy published inNature,it has been shown that blue light shortens lifespans in some organisms, However, other studies, such as thisAmerican Academy of Ophthalmology report, have found that blue light isn’t so damaging, but advocate for simple solutions to reduce eye strain instead, such as looking into the distance every 20 minutes.

While there is debate as to just how bad LED monitors are on our eyes, for many of us, our lived experience suggests that our eyes definitely do hurt from long sessions looking at an LED screen. E Ink monitors reduce this eye strain to a level that"s commensurate to reading a book or working on a type-writer.

The Mira plugs into your computer using an HDMI input in tandem with a USB-C. I use anAsus Zenbookwhich includes a USB-C of average power (approximately 10 Gbps transfer speeds), which is substantially less speedy than the road-runner class Thunderbolt ports you"ll find on a Macbook. My system has some connection latency. If I"m recording in Ableton in DirectX I have to correct for about 130 milliseconds of latency on my Focusrite Scarlett. On aWacom Cintiq Pro 16(which uses the same HDMI / USB-C connection) I experience a slight pen-lag when I"m drawing fast. This same lag is here on the Mira, when I move my mouse quickly the pointer trails where I expect it to be by about 1.75 inches. I mention all this because some of the latency I experience with the Mira is due to my computer"s latency (which isn"t Mira"s fault). However, the latency is there, and it can be distracting. Unless you"re running a system with a near-zero latency connection, you will likely experience latency on your Mira.

The Mira uses a somewhat odd resolution of 1400 x 1050 at first. When you plug in the display you"ll see your main screen mirrored in a small size with black borders to the top and bottom. This goes away with calibration, becoming a comfy 2,200 x 1,650 size that"s actually really nice for an office document in Word, Google Docs, or OpenOffice. It"s not as wide as my laptop monitor, but the depth suits writing well. The resolution isn"t great for images, but the monitor isn"t really meant for that anyway. For word processing, it"s a fine resolution that strikes a balance between detail and refresh rate.

The Boox Mira E Ink Monitor offers a few interface options. A square button on the bottom right delivers an instant refresh of the screen that sweeps away the almost omnipresent gray ghosting that fills the white space as you scroll through a document.

A small knob on the right side allows you to cycle settings, while a button on the left summons up the setting menu, all of which are controllable by touch. In my experience, the left button is somewhat redundant as the menu pops up immediately when you trigger the knob on the right. In practice, the settings menu seems to be the best way to tune this screen, whether you"re adding brightness, tweaking the refresh speed, or changing preset modes. I find myself using the refresh button consistently, but otherwise, the settings menu"s broad applicability makes it an easy place to go to tweak the screen to your needs.

Testing it out, the touch screen isn"t all that relevant. So far I have been unable to program it to accept simple touch commands like a two-finger scroll. Pinch zooming is similarly unavailable except in specific programs that allow it like Adobe Fresco. The device clicks and right-clicks with ease, but without an easy scroll feature touch, it just really isn’t that useful. Hopefully, Mira will update this.

As it is, I would rather have seen faster screen refresh times and no touchscreen. Since this tech is leagues more useful for text editing than any sort of image editing, the touch mostly serves as an alternate way to select the text, so in my experience, I think that a cheaper option without touch would be a better value.

This screen makes itself useful in a word processing suite or for reading. With no illumination, the Text setting still gives you enough contrast to comfortably work from. Read mode is great for reading e-books, but makes my mouse annoyingly laggy. You can see everything decently well with no illumination if you use a side lamp. Using a word processor, I consistently feel that my eye strain is lessened using the Mira.

Even with the built-in illumination on, I feel that my eyes relax when using the Mira in comparison to my laptop. That’s because the Mira’s illumination is achieved through reflective illumination rather than projected illumination, meaning even when the light is on all the way, light is not projected through the screen at your eyes, as it would be on an LED monitor.

However, the Mira’s benefits do require sacrifices. Depending on the settings, grays can be hard to see and somewhat confusing to navigate with this monitor. Bolds don’t always pop out, and in some settings (such as Read Mode) the light gray background in Google Docs is indistinguishable from the page, prioritizing clear text rather than anything else (the text in Read mode is very clear). This means that surfing the web on multiple settings isn"t quite comfortable, and gaming, photo editing, and video are basically all out. If I"m researching an article in my internet browser, I find myself using my standardmonitor, then typing on the Mira.

As I’ve incorporated it into my workflow, I’ve mostly used the Mira as a side monitor, dropping my OpenOffice window into the Mira, and keeping my browser open on my laptop. I think it’s generally true that for writers working in multimedia, this is best used as a supplementary screen. It"s not a replacement, but it is a good eye break and focus monitor.

I wanted to love the Boox Mira, but after a few weeks of use I think that the device is a mixed bag, both with fantastic qualities, and a few snags. It’s great when I lock in on Google Docs or OpenOffice for a few hours, and I leave that session with my eyes feeling much better than they would on my LED monitor, but its slow refresh times, ghosting, and somewhat confusing grayscale-contrast makes it hard to use for anything beyond typing and e-book reading.

I recommend buying this monitor with agood external keyboard. I find that when I use it next to my laptop, my eyes naturally attract to my bright laptop screen instead. This monitor is best used when you’re able to push your laptop away and focus exclusively on the document you have on your Mira.

I think that the Mira is a good buy as a supplementary monitor for writers and readers who spend all day in a word processing suite and are worried about LED damage to their eyesight. With its high price and technological limitations, I don"t think this screen is for everyone. As Boox continues to develop this technology, it has the potential to become truly incredible, with lagless performance, useful built-in touch commands, and faster refresh times. As it is however, I think this display amounts to a technical eyesight health monitor. Its drawbacks will outweigh its benefits for all but the eye strain-focused productivity user.

Still, eyesight damage from LED monitors is a real risk of the trade, and this technology is a capable tool for dealing with that specific concern. Considering that the cost of an eye exam with prescription lenses can often run into the many hundreds of dollars, and the eye-saving benefits of this monitor will make its hefty price point sound far more economical. If you need a real eye health monitor now, then the Boox Mira E Ink Monitor is worth a buy. All my friends who work on computers complain about eye strain, and I think that the Book Mira is currently about the best tool we have to deal with it.