I guess I need computer glasses. All this SDMB is starting to kill my eyes! I did a bit of online research to find out a bit about them, but what I couldn’t find out is where to start shopping. Does one buy computer glasses at a drugstore? At a computer supplies store?
In addition, Mr. Pug says the whole idea of computer glasses is bulls**t. He says all you have to do is find out what appropriate power of regular reading glasses will work for you and to buy those.
IANAD, but if I were you I would go and get my eyes checked out. I don’t think there are any “computer glasses”, just regular glasses that people are advised to use when they are using a computer.
If you go and have a full eye exam they will be able to tell you if you need glasses and they might tell you to wear them while using the computer.
Well, ‘computer glasses’ unlike regular reading glasses can be purchased with a special anti-glare coating, from what I’ve read. I’m not sure, but you might be able to wander on down to your local Wal-Mart optical center and pick some up.
Having just had an eye exam a few weeks ago, here is what I was told about computer glasses.
I was diagnosed for the first time as needing progressive lenses. These are glasses that have one perscription value at the top and another at the bottom, giving different strengths at different positions. This means when I look straight ahead (like driving) everything is in focus and when I look down (like reading) everything is still in focus. Of course, if I try to read while looking straight ahead it isn’t in focus.
Now, how do you normally look at a computer screen?
Right now I have to tilt my head backwards and look “down” in order to see my screen clearly. Of course, this is still better than before when I had to either sit at arms length from my keyboard or take my glasses off and hunch over the screen.
The doc also talked about “computer glasses” . These have an intermediate prescription relative to the progressives. They are designed so that your screen and stuff on your desk is in focus, but if you look across the room or out the window it won’t be.
You can get by with regular reading glasses if both of your eyes need more or less the same perscription and you do not have pronounced astigmatism. Too much of a difference and you will wind up with eyestrain headaches. Generic reading glasses are, well, generic. They have the same properties for both lenses. Perscription lenses will be correctly matched for each eye.
In my case, my computer/reading prescription reads:
In my case, I could probably get by with a generic -1.5 reading glasses (splitting the difference). I’d probably try that for a while before getting a prescription pair.
OTHO, it is probably a good idea to have an eye exam anyway. That way you will know if you have any other problems and you will know what the correct prescription is if nothing else.
Another recommendation for an eye exam. I’ve also found that an anti-reflective coating on my glasses drastically reduces my level of eyestrain by the end of the day.
Human eyes can’t focus on anything close up for very long. You should take five minutes every hour to look at something distant. Anti-glare might not be bad either.
My computer glasses are equivalent to the bottom part of my bifocals. They are optimized to the distance at which I usually sit from the computer screen or hold a book.
You absolutely want a real eye exam to give you the right prescription, especially if you want them optimized for a certain distance.
I used to work as licensed optician a few years ago. IIRC:
[ul][]Progressive lenses DO have an intermediate viewing range in them but it is very small and narrow. May need to use lots of head movement when looking at screen.[]antireflective coating is great stuff, but it can scratch easily. Scratch resistant lenses won’t help because it is applied on top of the lens.[]As earlier mentioned by tanstaafl, generic reading glasses will only work well if both eyes are the same and there isn’t a lot of astigmatism.[]The power you choose should be half of that you use for reading only glasses. This is figuring that the computer screen is about 3 feet from your eyes.[]For many patients who read and worked on the computer at the same time, I would make up a pair of bifocal or progressive lens glasses with the computer prescription in the top part and the regular reading prescription in the bottom part.[]Again, a Dr’s prescription and a consultation with him or an optician is best to make sure the glasses work best for what YOU want to use them for.[/ul]
Thanks for all the replies, guys. I had seen my eye doctor within the past year, and he had approved my selection of drugstore reading glasses. After reading your advice, I hied me to Walmart on the way to work this morning and chose a pair which was about half the power of my existing reading glasses (thanks nebco9). I am wearing them now for the first time.
Wow! I never realized how beautiful and crisp the message board looked. Now I have a pair of reading glasses and a pair of computer glasses at my desk. Hopefully I’ll remember to switch back and forth as appropriate and not lose my mind.
Hey nebco9, maybe you can help me answer a question on this subject.
I’m looking for some either non-scrip or computer readers and I’ve come across two kinds: anti-glare and melanin coated lenses.
What’s the difference and which is better? The anti-glare seem to be translucent lenses, and the melanin are tinted in either a beige or yellow color. I’d like to get some without tint, but the tinted ones seem like they’d work better. Anyone know which is best?
I forgot to mention in my previous post that a very light tint(#1) works very well for a lot of people against glare from a computer screen. This is usually a lot cheaper than antireflective coating. Is melanin the color of a tint or a new coating I haven’t heard of?
Antireflective coating was usually a $50 option and could scratch easier. Tint was a $15 option and a scratch resistant lens was still so.
Personal preference has a lot to do with the choice.
Thanks, nebco9. From what I’ve read, they make lenses now with a layer of artificial melanin (same stuff that’s in our skin pigments, and protects our retinas from light damage) to block out UV rays, same thing that glasses like BluBlockers and many sunglasses have. Most glasses with this I’ve seen run in the $30-40 range.
I’ve actually seen anti-glare specs around $30 as well, so I image they probably have a more efficient/cheaper way of applying it now.
Thanks for the input, I wasn’t sure if there was one product that was better than the other, prescriptions aside.