Flatscreen Monitors

When I first saw one of these sleek and slender monitors, my first reaction was that I must simply have one of those. It would create much more room at my desk and would be a lot easier to move if I had to. Years later, I have a 30 inch flat screen monitor by HP that moves up and down and can even be rotated from landscape to a portrait position. I have room for a document holder that sits between the monitor and my keyboard. But there are other advantages to these marvels of technology (taken from our Office Ergonomics manual document, Flatscreen Monitors):
• The picture is brighter and generally text and graphics are easier to see on brighter displays
• The image on the screen is clear, vivid, high-quality and undistorted from any viewing angle
• Flat CRTs have high refresh rates and, therefore, do not flicker
• Typically offer increased opportunities for adjustment including height, tilt and swivel
• The non-reflective surface minimizes glare in bright environments
• Potential savings on energy cost because flat panels use only 30-40 watts of electricity
If your staff is still utilizing the traditional monitors, there is no need to replace all of them right away – that can be costly in times where we have to be budget conscious. But there is a need if the monitor is causing obvious issues such as lack of space on the work surface, or the monitor is so old that it is causing a flicker, distorted display or unclear images. In the case of the latter, this can lead to eye strain. While glare can be fixed through closing blinds or tilting the monitor, sometimes it might be best to invest in a flatscreen monitor that has the non-reflective surface.
Need more information if you’re shopping around? Give us a call and we would be more than happy to give you some tips and guidelines. You can also find recommended specs through the CSA Guideline on Office Ergonomics (Z412-00) where you can find guidance for screen size, character size, viewing distance, brightness, contrast, uniformity, reflections, and displayed colours (which applies to all types of monitors).