Work is getting dual monitors, and I'm getting a headache.

EmperorSeth

Basically, everyone in our customer service department is getting an upgrade consisting of a second monitor. I don't have a problem with that, and the extra screen room is very useful. However, one of the monitor is HDMI, and the other is VGA. So during my entire workday, I'm staring at one clear screen, and one with exactly the same material, but darker and blurrier.

This seems like a perfect recipe for eye strain, and in just the two days since we've had it, I've noticed some symptoms, like headaches, frequent yawning, and possibly even slight nausea, that could possibly be based on the monitors. Is this a frequent problem with dual monitor systems? I didn't find anything specific on Google. More importantly, how can I fix it? Are there workarounds I could use, or do I have to hope they'll just upgrade the other monitor eventually? Hell, can you even dual monitor with two of the same input type?

mts

You will get used to it, but I would try to mess with monitor settings to joist the brightness etc on it to match the other

Figgy

Like mts said, have you tried changing the monitor settings?

It shouldn't be blurry, either.

It is certainly possible to have dual monitors on the same input type. It's a matter of what your computer has for outputs and your monitors for inputs. Chances are you have onboard video and a dedicated video card, so they're running VGA from your onboard and HDMI from your dedicated. Not a great setup, but running two monitors from your dedicated card might not be possible if it doesn't have two outputs.

Check what cables your monitors can take. Some DisplayPort capable monitors can be daisy chained.

Veevee

Or he may not get used to it and it will eventually give him debilitating migraines. At least that's what it would do to me.

The only way to really solve the problem is putting both monitors on VGA or HDMI. You can try messing with settings, but because it's two different connections on two different monitors it will be very difficult to get the same picture quality on both monitors. My TV, which has both VGA and HDMI inputs, will produce drastically different pictures from the same source and no amount of messing with the settings will change that. Talk to your boss, explain what's going on while also explaining it is very detrimental to your production and hopefully he can get a replacement for one of the monitors.

As a last resort if your boss can't (or wont) and you don't mind being on the bad side of management, you can get a doctor's note saying this is a problem and will continue to be a problem until it's fixed and then force the issue if it doesn't get fixed. Again, odds are this will not go down well with management and put you in the "trouble maker" category so I'd only go the medical route if it really is a problem that is making you think of looking for other work. When I worked in a call center, anyone that brought in doctor's notes were usually fired within a couple weeks for petty but real reasons (such as not using all caps in call notes as required, while others who never used caps continued on as if nothing was wrong. I know this because I was part of the call QA process). Unfortunately for most workers the squeaky wheel doesn't get the grease, it gets replaced.

ASimPerson

Do you have to use VGA for the other monitor? Can you use DVI or HDMI for it?

Unless they're the exact same brand of monitor with the exact same settings they won't look exactly the same, but using a digital connection will help tremendously with the blurriness.

Lilnoobs

Would one of those adapter plugs (vga > Hdmi) degrade the signals to equal quality levels?

MrDelish

The connection type is likely not the issue. As mentioned by others, adjust the brightness, contrast, sharpness, and other settings on the new monitor and you will be able to adjust to it.

bowen

The issues are probably because you've got two different monitor types.

What would be better is to take an old one and put it with another old one, and take a new one and put it with another new one. This way they're the same style on the same workstation.

Neurotika

bowen wrote: »

The issues are probably because you've got two different monitor types.

What would be better is to take an old one and put it with another old one, and take a new one and put it with another new one. This way they're the same style on the same workstation.

Yeah, switch with a neighbor if you can.

Lindsay Lohan

I had the exact same issue - and my monitors mostly matched (one is brighter than the other no matter what I've tried, but otherwise same everything).

It took about a week for the eye strain headaches to stop, and occasionally I did resort to my stupid yellow Gunnars to help reduce the eye strain but it worked. I'm very prone to migraines and I believe I had one or two during the adjustment period that were probably linked to the extra real estate, but in the end I adjusted.

For me the key was to sort of "bundle" my windows together to reduce strain. The stuff I'd use during a call or email with a customer I keep on the left hand screen. My admin stuff, email, basically everything else is on the right screen. That way I reduce how much I'm bouncing around between monitors.

EmperorSeth

Unfortunately, I only have one of each output type, so even if I had two of the same monitor, it wouldn't help. I did talk to my boss, who said she would see what she could do, but it wouldn't happen right away.

I tried changing the VGA monitor to a higher resolution. The screen is clearer now, but the smaller font might not be any better.

Kharnastus

unplug the vga one.
Whine that it broke and you need a new one.

see317

EmperorSeth wrote: »

Unfortunately, I only have one of each output type, so even if I had two of the same monitor, it wouldn't help. I did talk to my boss, who said she would see what she could do, but it wouldn't happen right away.

I tried changing the VGA monitor to a higher resolution. The screen is clearer now, but the smaller font might not be any better.

Can you change the font size in the applications you're using? Not sure if you access them through a browser or not, but if you do, it might help in the short term.
Hold Ctrl and use the mouse wheel to adjust the zoom in the browser.

Either way, follow Lindsey's advice about organizing your windows to minimize bouncing back and forth between the screens as much as possible. You may be surprised how much it helps.

It does sound like classic call center/customer service management though. "Hey, doing X can massively increase productivity!" "Great, now do X for as little money as possible."

JihadJesus

EmperorSeth wrote: »

Unfortunately, I only have one of each output type, so even if I had two of the same monitor, it wouldn't help. I did talk to my boss, who said she would see what she could do, but it wouldn't happen right away.

I tried changing the VGA monitor to a higher resolution. The screen is clearer now, but the smaller font might not be any better.

I use two monitors on different connections and it drove me god damn nuts...until I traded my newer 2nd monitor to someone so I had two of the same model, and it has never been an issue since.

BlindZenDriver

I think there is a good chance you can get to a good result with some tweaking. I have been using a multi-monitor setup since around 1992, back then I was combining a VGA and a EGA monitor :-)

It would be easier to give advice with some more details. What resolutions are you running on the two screens, what size are they and what operating system are you using. Still here is a bit of info.

• A VGA connection is good for up to 2048x1536 so that alone should not cause blur. Have you checked if you can perhaps switch which monitor runs with the VGA cable?
• With LCD screens you should always set them to run at their maximum resolution (or a half that in each orientation), otherwise you will get some blurriness as the mesh they are made with means pixels are of a fixed size.
• On the one running the VGA connection the signal is converted from digital to analog and then back to digital before you see the result. Your monitor should have a bunch of possible adjustments to help ensure the best possible clarity - often there is also some auto adjust setting one can trigger that may do the work for you.
• If you can get the clarity next you should go for the brightness and color balance. If the monitors doesn't have that many adjustments for that then you can look into what can be done with the graphics driver software on your computer. What is available depends on your system, but chances are if you run Windows then one of the small icons next to the clock will let you access graphics settings. Another way to access those settings can be to right click on the screen and look for something named AMD or Nvidia.
• The more recent Windows comes with something called ClearType, it's a special way that Windows will display text which can improve readability - usually you can set this up under "personalize" or something similar in the Windows settings.
• If text gets too small with a high resolution you can tell Windows to scale text and some screen elements, that is also in the personalize settings. Scaling means things take up more space so some of the reward of running a higher resolution is lost, however everything is more clear that way. Unfortunately not all programs scale equally well, so you may find some applications looks a bit of a mess or simply stay small.
• If what you're working with for software is like internet browsers, e-mail and the usual office applications then you should be able to have them zoom in a bit if things are too small at the higher resolution. Normally you'll find such settings in a View menu and on you internet browser simply trying holding down the CRTL-key and then turning your mouse scroll wheel a click or two to zoom in or out, to reset press CTRL-0.

hsu

Can you buy and install your own hardware?
Because, if you can, bring in an old GPU from home, one with dual HDMI/DVI outputs.
If you're a gamer, you've probably got an old one lying around (or know a friend with an old one lying around), which would still beat the pants out of your work GPU.

I've come to realize that, at a certain point, not spending your own money to make your workspace better is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Yes, work should cover it, but if they don't, well, you spend 2000 hours a year at work, so at a certain point it still makes sense to spend your own money.

zagdrob

The type of connection really shouldn't matter that much when it comes to brightness or crispness. A monitor is going to work at a given resolution and brightness or it's not - you shouldn't really notice much of a difference.

Before you do anything, I'd recommend swapping the monitors (i.e. VGA -> HDMI and HDMI -> VGA). Does the one that's crappy now still look crappy? Also, check the resolution you have the monitors set at vs. their native resolution (thirty seconds of Google should find that).

Also, try playing with your monitor settings - you should be able to change the brightness / sharpness to get the picture you need (even if they might not be the exact same tints / colors).

Final choice would be to have work give you two of the same monitors. I'm using an HP and Dell right now and it's fine, but if I had a problem I'd probably swap out one so they were the same make / model.

bowen

d-sub not being a digital signal theoretically could suffer from fuzziness and brightness, but at 1080p you should be fine. Most "business" monitors don't go above that anyways.

Tofystedeth

I'm thinking along the lines of @BlindZenDriver‌ 's 2nd and 3rd points. It's either not running at the optimal resolution (I know on our monitors we had to actually add a custom resolution in in the display settings since by default the optimal resolution for our monitors wasn't listed) or the monitor is slightly out of phase with the signal and needs adjusted.

EmperorSeth

I wonder if this is more a personal problem. Like the difference in quality between the monitors affects me more than most, rather than a technical problem.

For now, I was able to "brute force" solution. I changed the VGA monitor to the highest resolution, making the text clearer but too small. So I moved the VGA mod closer and the HDMI monitor behind it, so they look about the same size. I'll have to see how it works in the long-term, but I didn't have headaches this afternoon at least.

kaliyama

EmperorSeth wrote: »

I wonder if this is more a personal problem. Like the difference in quality between the monitors affects me more than most, rather than a technical problem.

For now, I was able to "brute force" solution. I changed the VGA monitor to the highest resolution, making the text clearer but too small. So I moved the VGA mod closer and the HDMI monitor behind it, so they look about the same size. I'll have to see how it works in the long-term, but I didn't have headaches this afternoon at least.

the thread is trying to tell you that the difference is more due to the screen than the wire connecting it, so try using two of the older models instead.

EmperorSeth

kaliyama wrote: »

EmperorSeth wrote: »

I wonder if this is more a personal problem. Like the difference in quality between the monitors affects me more than most, rather than a technical problem.

For now, I was able to "brute force" solution. I changed the VGA monitor to the highest resolution, making the text clearer but too small. So I moved the VGA mod closer and the HDMI monitor behind it, so they look about the same size. I'll have to see how it works in the long-term, but I didn't have headaches this afternoon at least.

the thread is trying to tell you that the difference is more due to the screen than the wire connecting it, so try using two of the older models instead.

...oh, I see what you're getting at. I honestly thought that you couldn't use an HDMI monitor with a VGA port, and visa versa. I'll have to try switching them on Monday.

BlindZenDriver

EmperorSeth wrote: »

...oh, I see what you're getting at. I honestly thought that you couldn't use an HDMI monitor with a VGA port, and visa versa. I'll have to try switching them on Monday.

Unless said monitor have both HDMI and VGA inputs then that is a no go. However some monitors will accept both HDMI, VGA and then likely also DVI inputs.

Often you will also find that on the computer the VGA output is actually there due to a little adapter plugged into a DVI port, so it's possible your computer really has both the VGA and HDMI you are using now and a DVI as well. And to make the confusion complete HDMI is really DVI with extra connections for sound(which many computer monitors just ignores), so you can find cables that go from DVI to HDMI or vice versa.

To check if your computer has VGA or really DVI/VGA, official name is DVI-I, simply look at where the VGA cable is connected now. If the VGA cable is plugged into a blue D-shaped connector then that is VGA, but if the VGA cable is connected via a adapter then you'll find the adapter is connected to a white connector on the computer (that is then a DVI-I).

Here is the hard info on DVI: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

azith28

They probably bought the new monitors to resupply the inventory of the old monitors. call whoever is installing the monitors, tell them your getting eye strain from your current old monitor and ask that they replace it, they probably will replace it with another of the new models.