Refresh rates on LED monitors and eye strain

Question

In the old days it was simple, anything less that a 75 Hz refresh rate on a CRT monitor hurt my eyes. Now things seem more complicated. As a programmer I spend a lot of time in front of my monitor, or using an android device (usually Nexus 7 (2013) or 10). I have upgraded my Samsung T260, for a Dell U2713HM. There is certainly a significant difference, but I still get eyestrain and headaches.

I tweaked all the settings, font size etc., use a program called f.lux. Should I get a monitor with a higher refresh rate? (I was originally told that refresh rate makes no difference to LCD, but that seems to be contradicted by some modern monitors and TVs) And what about Android - don't think I've seen anything about their refresh rates?

Obviously it may be something other than refresh rate, but I am at a loss...

Answer 1

I reduced the brightness of my monitor to match the brightness of my white wall in my office and set the text to medium size. Both these things helped me.

http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/irritated.htm

Answer 2

Eye strain has nothing to do with the refresh rate. The paper books have infinite refresh rate, yet, you strain reading them much more. The issue is the distance to the monitor.

There is a focal distance and your eye strengthens not to combat the refresh rate but to shift the focus from infinity (no muscle strained in the eye position) to your 1 meter to the monitor. The closer is the monitor the stronger your eye muscles are stressed. Books cannot be placed as distantly as monitors and cause more strain.

More than tired, too long stress can relax the spring that brings your eye focused back to infinity. For this reason, you cannot focus at distant objects after a while. I can give you a proof in Russian lecture about the eyes.

Stop following the myths, get real!