I recently tried contact lenses after wearing glasses for about ten years. (Astigmatism, FWIW) Everything seems to be OK, except for this odd observation: Computer monitors now appear trapezoidal. It’s not slight; it’s moderately noticeable.
I noticed this on the laptop I use at home and on the desktop monitor at work. This doesn’t happen with any other square objects, just monitors.
I explained this observation to the eye doctor at my follow up visit. He was puzzled, having never heard of such a reaction. He is not, however, too concerned about it. I am not concerned about it either, but I am curious as to why this is happening. Any ideas?
I know in my case, when I used to wear contacts, I also wore glasses at night (or when I was lazy, or…). Whenever I switched from one to another, I noticed a lot of distortion, mostly in the way that the world “moved” when I turned my head. I think in each case, my brain adjusted so that whatever I was looking through seemed normal. Glasses, especially with a strong prescription, cause a lot of distortion, while (AFAIK) contacts don’t distort the image you see. This may be what’s happening to you, except it’s even more dramatic since you’ve been wearing glasses for 10 years prior to now.
I also have distortion issues when I switch between my contact and my glasses. I wore glasses for 5 years before my first set of contacts, but then and now I only were my contacts sporadically. The world seems closer in when I’ve got the contacts, and pushed back when I switch to glasses. But, this effect wears off in about 5 minutes. And my perscription is pretty steep.
Nothing as particular as described in the OP, though. Does it happen with the TV? Is it constant, or are there maybe any patterns? Like is the space around the monitor lit or dark? Any preference to state of awakeness/tireness?
Are they soft lenses or gas permeable? The two types deal with astigmatism in different ways. The rigid gas permeable lenses automatically deal with astigmatism by trapping tears under them that compensate for the asymmetry of the eye. Soft lenses, which follow the curve of the eye, have to be shaped to compensate and have to always orientate themselves the same way. (Apologies to any contact lens practitioners if this is wrong or too simple minded – I’m a user not an expert.)
The result is that soft lenses do a less than perfect job of correcting astigmatism and this maybe – emphasis on the maybe - causing the effect you are seeing with conditions of high contrast (bright screen/dark background). I have to say that I have not been aware of this problem (I wear toric soft lenses) but now you have mentioned it the screen does seem a bit skewed …. Aaargh - you swine!
One thought, do you get the same affect when looking at a piece of white paper on a dark background?
My thought is that your lenses are not made for correcting astigmatism. Soft contacts that correct for astigmatism are called toric lenses and are made to turn to the same position in your eye every time you wear them. They have varying amounts of correction at different parts of the lens to compensate for astigmatism. Many times, optometrists just prescribe regular soft contacts and use a kind of split-the-difference tactic in selecting the prescription. Toric lenses cost more than standard lenses so people generally avoid them.
It is usually angled slightly away from me. However, it was always slightly angled that way. Same for the desktop. I tried adjusting the laptop monitor, with no changes in results.
The lenses are Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism. So - soft lenses I guess?
This happens, strangely, only with monitors. The eye doc had me look at a dark square frame on the white wall to see if the effect was present. It was not.
**kaylasdad99 **may be on to something; I don’t think I’ve ever used computers without glasses. All my monitors may be trapezoidal after all.
I just recently (as in yesterday,) got my first pair of glasses (never had contacts either.) I also have astigmatism, and am noticing this (thankfully my eyes aren’t that bad, so I just take them off when using my computer.) It’s a trapazoid flipped ninety degrees. The right side looks smaller than the left, and if I close my left eye (that’s the one that’s worse,) it almost goes away.
That’s interesting. The trapezoids that I see are small on top. I hadn’t tried closing my eyes at all, so I just did. When I close my left eye, the left edge straightens out. When I close my right eye, the right edge straightens out.
Does it also happen with TV sets?
Does it happen with both CRT and flat-panel monitors?
How about video billboards?
How is the trapezoid oriented–narrow side at top, for example?
Because of perspective, a rectangle angled away from you will appear to be trapezoidal if the nearest side is parallel to you. Perhaps this effect was masked by the distortion of your glasses before?
Just a FWIW, but many years ago (1975 or so) I got a new eyeglass perscription and for quite a long time everything on my desk leaned toward me, with the upper left corner being the closest. Really weird but eventually, my brain figured it out and everything snapped back to normal.
I don’t notice it with televisions, but I also noticed that if I am far enough away from the screen (say, two and a half feet, like when leaning back in my chair,) the effect is reduced, and all the TVs I regularly see are further than that away.