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iMac making me blind

MacHiavelli

MacHiavelli

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 17, 2007
1,255
920
new york
Have had a new 24 inch iMac for the last few days and it is making me blind. The light is so bright and the glare is so strong my eyes are drying out and are blood red. I have turned the thing down low and have changed the lighting on and around my desk. But it is just so painful. Anyone have any other ideas ... or this thing is going in the bin.

I need to turn down the brightness in boot camp/XP Pro. I have used the buttons to their lowest position.

Thanks
 
Southernboy said:
Sunglasses? ;)

Seriously, doesn't the F1 key turn down the brightness?
Click to expand...

Indeed, but even at the lowest setting my eyes are drying out and feeling gritty and painful. Was hoping someone might have another idea (software solution)? If not, YouTube will have a video of a new iMac being smashed to pieces.
 
What sort of machine were you using before? Could you move it to another room? Do you have access to store that sells Macs so you can see if yours is an anomaly?
 
mad jew said:
What sort of machine were you using before? Could you move it to another room? Do you have access to store that sells Macs so you can see if yours is an anomaly?
Click to expand...

No anomaly, I have the exact same issue - and yes I do wear sunglasses! I often turn on the Universal Access mode too, to make it black with white text; two white docs side by side is a just killer.
 
mad jew said:
What sort of machine were you using before? Could you move it to another room? Do you have access to store that sells Macs so you can see if yours is an anomaly?
Click to expand...

Was on a Dell. I know there's a big difference which needs some adjustment but this is crazy. The thing glows. It is a lovely performance machine and typical of all the ones I tried in the Apple store before I bought it. Problem is that the store lighting and size just isn't the same as sitting at a desk and working at eye level (in the store, you stand up and look down on the iMacs).

I love the performance, but the brightness is causing me so much pain. I have tried setting the colours in Windows to yellows rather than whites and that helps a little but not enough.

If I open Google, for example, the white of their home page is so bright my eyes instantly sting.

I'll seriously end up taking a pick axe to this thing if I can't find a solution soon.

I should have bought a MacPro and an external ACD which (I hope) could have been turned down more.

Santabean2000 said:
No anomaly, I have the exact same issue - and yes I do wear sunglasses! I often turn on the Universal Access mode too, to make it black with white text; two white docs side by side is a just killer.
Click to expand...

You're right. Why don't they just offer a way to turn the brightness right down.....
 
That sounds excessive, they're bright but turned right down it shouldn't cause you physical pain. Have you seen a doctor (eye doctor ideally) about this?

Do you have other lights on in the room? I find the contrast with the screen and a dark room to be uncomfortable so I have to have a light on. Does it hurt straight away or after you've been looking at it for a while?
 
iBlue said:
That sounds excessive, they're bright but turned right down it shouldn't cause you physical pain. Have you seen a doctor (eye doctor ideally) about this?

Do you have other lights on in the room? I find the contrast with the screen and a dark room to be uncomfortable so I have to have a light on. Does it hurt straight away or after you've been looking at it for a while?
Click to expand...

I had my eyes checked 2 weeks ago - they're fine... but a good thought.

I have tried a bright room, low lit room, desk light, no light, etc. I have tried every possible combination of lighting I can think of. I have turned the thing down as low as it will go using the F keys, but it still glows too much.

My eyes start hurting as soon as I look at the thing. I can't bear to look at the screen whilst typing this. I just have to look at the keyboard and then check what I've written afterwards.

Was just reading about the ACD screens and people saying they find those too bright as well. Perhaps a MacPro and a screen from another company would have been a better idea. It's going to be expensive, but taking a pick axe to this thing will relieve a lot of stress and get a load of hits on You Tube ;-)
 
it being a 24", maybe it's the size of the brightness that makes it overwhelming. <shrug>

It's more than an arm's length away from your face, I'm assuming?

I'm not entirely sure what to suggest here but I can understand the irritation brightness can cause on the eyes just from being a migraine sufferer.
 
MacHiavelli said:
...my eyes are drying out and are blood red...
Click to expand...
The more I think about this, the more I think you should see your optician again. I work in front of a 30" ACD set to full brightness, for 9 hours a day (with regular breaks) without a problem. I do recall that when I first got the screen (having had a 21" CRT) it took some getting use to, but I had no choice. See this article
 
Southernboy said:
The more I think about this, the more I think you should see your optician again. I work in front of a 30" ACD set to full brightness, for 9 hours a day (with regular breaks) without a problem. I do recall that when I first got the screen (having had a 21" CRT) it took some getting use to, but I had no choice. See this article
Click to expand...

My eyes look like the ones in that article but redder and they have only started since I got the iMac. Will check with the optician again. Have made an appointment for tomorrow morning.
 
Yeah this thing can be a little on the bright side but it only makes me want to turn it down if that happens for extended periods of time and usually after my eyes have been adjusted for darkness, but turning it down works for me.
 
They're bright, but they don't cause any pain with me. Maybe you're susceptible to migraines? Check with your GP as well as the optometrist, he might at least prescribe some eye drops.

In the mean time
* Turn down the brightness
* Calibrate your monitor (use supercal or something) and try a darker gamma
* Follow the "official" advice and take short breaks from the screen at least once every hour.
* Don't forget to blink!
 
Calibrate the display in your System Preferences>>Display applet. Make sure you do it in Expert Mode to get the best results. The default settings for an iMac screen are awful, even when you turn the brightness down. Calibration makes a massive difference.

Saying that, I still run mine no brighter than the third setting off the bottom unless I'm watching a DVD on it, but it is now usable for several hours at that setting.
 
Yeah I'd say something might be wrong with you. You should definitely see a doctor. Unless your iMac is seriously screwy, I can't imagine the display causing the problems you're describing without something else going on.
 
MacHiavelli said:
Have had a new 24 inch iMac for the last few days and it is making me blind. The light is so bright and the glare is so strong my eyes are drying out and are blood red.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I just bought this machine and haven't received it yet. My eyes are sensitive too. I'm 27 years old, you mind sharing your age? Not sure if that's a factor or not.
 
Ambient Light Sensor ?

Does anyone know if the Alu iMac has an ambient light sensor - I only ask because if I use my 24" in a dark room the whites seem less harsh - its only when I turn the room lights on that the iMac seems to really start to glare - as I'm writing this I'm wondering if this additional glare is perhaps reflected light ?
 
My eyes had to adjust as well to the strong brightness of my 20 inch alu iMac.
Possibly the 24 inch is even brighter.

I almost instantly used the program Shades after searching google for a solution to the extreme bright light that came of the screen.
(Currently I am using a similar program, DarkAdpted which eats less CPU)

But after working and playing wih my iMac for a couple of weeks I noticed that (with DarkAdapted running) I slowly started to increase the brightness almost back to the systems default brightness level.
My eyes obviously are adapted to the screen and right now I don't feel the need to use DarkAdapted for its dimming purpose, I mainly use it because it improves the viewing angle of my iMac's TN panel.
 
Thanks to all.

I'm 36.

I have used expert mode to tweak the colours/settings - it helps, but I still find it too bright.

I also need to calibrate it DOWN in boot camp when running XP as I have to use XP for some apps. If running Fusion would be better, I'd buy that. Would something like 'shades' work on a Fusion window running XP?

Never had any probs with my eyes before .. odd coincidence that they have started to hurt since using the iMac. Looking at the mac screen, my eyes sting. If I go over to the toned down Dell screen (even though my eyes are permanently red at the moment) I don't get the same stinging feeling in them. When I look at the iMac I feel like I am staring at a light bulb.

But thanks for all the advice. Appreciated.
 
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