Queensland University of Technology is warning its faculty and students about the potential health hazards of glossy computer displays which are found in many laptops on the market today. Reflective and glossy displays have been marketed as having improved color and clarity compared their matte counterparts. The concern is that abundant reflections and glare can cause the user to unknowingly adopt ergonomically unfavorable positions, especially in the head and neck, that can lead to musculoskeletal injury. Have you had an unfavorable (or favorable) experience with these glossy screens?
June 17, 2009
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Having worked as a visual, interaction, and product designer I was flabbergasted when glossy screens started displacing matte screens a few years back, given the inherent unpredictability of light situations encountered by mobile computers.
Initially I had assumed that this shift had been driven by consumer demand but apparently not so: in a recent poll by Lenovo 86% of participants expressed a preference for matte screens and only 8% for their glaring counterparts.