Eye strain from PC

Over the last 4-6 months I've been getting a lot of headaches which
are getting steadily worse. I'm now pretty sure they are due to
eyestrain caused by my excessive PC usage. I'm my own worst enemy in
this regard, spending 10-12 hours per day at my PC, 5-6 days per week,
but I'm addicted!

I had an eye examination (all OK) and eyesight test leading to a small
change in the prescription of the glasses I use specifically for the
PC.

Short of the breaking out of this regime is there anything I can do by
way of screen height, distance, posture, etc, to reduce the problem?
And are there any exercises I can do to help my eyes recover from long
periods staring at a 24" widescreen LCD monitor from about 65 cm?

In case it's relevant, these headaches are almost always on one side
(my left), and I'm wondering if I'm using the left eye significantly
more than the right? For instance, as I type this in my newsreader
program, Agent, the text occupies less than a third of the screen, so
I'm obviously looking leftwards.

Is there any reason why an LCD screen should cause eyestrain more than
a CRT? My previous 19" CRT monitor, used just as much, didn't cause
such serious headaches. I'd have expected the opposite, given the
inherent flicker. Regarding that, there seems no way to change the
refresh rate (60 Hz) of this Iiyama monitor. But what does 'refresh
rate' mean for an LCD/TFT screen anyway?

Any advice would be much appreciated please.

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

"Terry Pinnell" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Over the last 4-6 months I've been getting a lot of headaches which
> are getting steadily worse. I'm now pretty sure they are due to
> eyestrain caused by my excessive PC usage. I'm my own worst enemy in
> this regard, spending 10-12 hours per day at my PC, 5-6 days per week,
> but I'm addicted!
>
> I had an eye examination (all OK) and eyesight test leading to a small
> change in the prescription of the glasses I use specifically for the
> PC.
>
> Short of the breaking out of this regime is there anything I can do by
> way of screen height, distance, posture, etc, to reduce the problem?
> And are there any exercises I can do to help my eyes recover from long
> periods staring at a 24" widescreen LCD monitor from about 65 cm?
>
> In case it's relevant, these headaches are almost always on one side
> (my left), and I'm wondering if I'm using the left eye significantly
> more than the right? For instance, as I type this in my newsreader
> program, Agent, the text occupies less than a third of the screen, so
> I'm obviously looking leftwards.
>
> Is there any reason why an LCD screen should cause eyestrain more than
> a CRT? My previous 19" CRT monitor, used just as much, didn't cause
> such serious headaches. I'd have expected the opposite, given the
> inherent flicker. Regarding that, there seems no way to change the
> refresh rate (60 Hz) of this Iiyama monitor. But what does 'refresh
> rate' mean for an LCD/TFT screen anyway?
>
> Any advice would be much appreciated please.
>
> --
> Terry, East Grinstead, UK

You can't change the refresh rate of most LCD's. It needs to be at 60 Hz.
Some of the higher-end LCD TV's are now offering 120 Hz refresh rates, but I
have not seen this in a computer monitor yet.