Are you sitting comfortably? - Part 2

In this second part of our mini series on how good health and computers can go together, Ian Waugh looks at eyes...

The eyes have it

• Your eyes are arguably the most important part of your body as we receive over 90 percent of information about the outside world from them so you need to look after them.
• The monitor should be about an arm's length away, maybe even further. It should not be positioned immediately behind the keyboard - that's too close.
• Place it directly in front of you, not to the side otherwise some part of you will be twisting in order to view it.
• Adjust the height so your eyes are approximately level with the top of the screen area. if the monitor is too low, use a monitor stand or those trusty accessories - old books - to raise it.
• Beware of placing the monitor on top of the computer as many systems encourage you to do. It may well work but beware of it making the monitor too high and too close.
• Tilt the monitor back slightly so it and your eyes and face are square on with each other.
• If you use different postures such as sitting and reclining, the angle and distance between your eyes and the monitor will vary. Ideally, you should adjust the monitor each time you change position although this is not always practical. However, if you have a tilting monitor you should at least change the tilt.

Glaring mistakes

• As well as being annoying, glare can cause you to squirm around trying to find a glare-free position in order to read the screen. Position the monitor to minimise glare. This usually means not with a window directly behind it or a light directly above it, particularly a fluorescent light.
• It is also not a good idea to place the monitor in front of a window so you are sitting facing the window. The ambient light will likely be far greater than that given off by the monitor causing you to squint. Blinds and curtains may help here.
• If the room has windows which cause glare and reflection, the ideal position for a monitor is place it so its side faces the window.
• This may seem obvious but if glare is being caused by an overhead light, see if you can switch it off and use table lamps for illumination if required.
• If glare is coming from a light directly overhead, try putting a "baseball peak" on your monitor - something as simple as a sheet of cardboard overhanging the top of the monitor by a few inches may reduce glare considerably.
• Most CRTs with their glass fronts are an invitation to glare. Try using a glare filter but be aware you may need to adjust the brightness and contrast.
• Most modern TFT monitors are anti-glare and their compact size and small footprint means they can be more easily moved and adjusted. For text and graphics and charts they will often outperform a traditional CRT but may lag behind with high speed graphics.
• Whatever your monitor, adjust its brightness and contrast controls to achieve a clear text and graphics display. It's worth checking this every six to twelve months.

In the third and final part of our mini series on comfort at the computer we look at the mouse and consider the special problems of working with laptops.

Ian Waugh
Read More of Ian's music reviews and tips at www.making-music.com