Every day, our eyes spend on average 6 more hours interpreting light from screens than we do in natural daylight.
While it is widely accepted that content shapes our mood, we often overlook how the way we engage with that content affects us too. In today’s world, we need to understand that vision is not just about processing light or pixels; it’s also about how our brains and bodies respond to light itself.
VP and GM for Lenovo’s Visuals Business, Intelligent Devices Group.
We can’t change daylight, but we can change our screens. The monitors we choose in our tech ecosystem are central to our experience.
For example, the difference between 60Hz and 144Hz refresh rates isn’t just a number — it determines how fluidly we perceive motion. Choices in color temperature, brightness levels and screen contrast influence not just what we see, but how long we can sustain attention without strain.
Beyond pixels and numbers, there are hidden wellness implications. Poor-quality displays can contribute to eye strain, posture problems, disrupted sleep cycles and even reduced attention spans.
While monitors alone are not a health solution, thoughtful choices can ease daily discomforts and support healthier habits – without sacrificing performance.
User-centric innovations — such as adjustable stands, low blue light technology and adaptive brightness — represent the shift toward user-centric displays that enhance our mood and reduce strain.
How light affects human vision and health
The display format, especially how monitors manage light, plays a key role in user comfort and wellness. The way light is emitted and filtered from monitors influences how users see, focus and feel over time.
Photobiomodulation (PBM), also known as low-level light therapy, is based on how specific wavelengths interact with cells, particularly mitochondria, to influence biological processes. Studies show that PBM can enhance adenosine triphosphate production (ATP), reduce oxidative stress, and promote tissue repair.
While much of this research has focused on healing and neurological conditions, the same principles highlight how display light may impact user experience and wellness over time. It’s not unlike adjusting the lighting in your living room. If they’re too bright, it’s uncomfortable; if they’re too dim, it’s hard to focus.
While I’m not an expert in light therapy, one can suggest that monitors that manage light more naturally, can create that ‘just right’ balance that decreases stress and keeps users comfortable for hours at a time.
We already have monitors that significantly reduce blue light without compromising the quality of screen content, and I know systems that will mimic natural daylight are the next step to innovating for enhanced user comfort.
Vision and perception
Human vision responds to refresh rates, brightness and color balance in ways that affect comfort and productivity. Therefore, our choice of monitors silently influences us.
Refresh rates above 144Hz are essential to reduce motion blur and visual fatigue in fast-moving work. This is key to designers, video editors or gamers across the board looking for a monitor that can keep up with their needs, but not for users primarily looking at text.
Inadequate refresh rates could cause flickering, screen tearing and stuttering, which adds unnecessary strain to the users’ eyes and even headaches or nausea after prolonged exposure.
Adaptive features such as automatic brightness and contrast adjustment help maintain visual comfort without sacrificing performance. Equally vital are color accuracy to ensure true-to life visuals and reduce eye strain from color inconsistencies.
Smart visual systems enable users to process light in ways that influence both perception and wellness. The blue light spectrum spans roughly 380–500nm, with a peak around 435nm.
With the right monitor, users don’t need to compromise on the performance of their displays. Advancements in technology are creating displays that limit blue light while projecting images that feel more natural to the eye without the yellowish tint of traditional software filters.
While the current industry is primarily focused on blue light in the 415-455 nm range, hardware-based filtering in monitors make it so that there is no yellowish tint and enables a more realistic viewing experience.
Unlike software-based solutions, hardware-level blue light modulation is built directly into the LCD panel, ensuring even and consistent light output that remains comfortable during long periods of use. This marks a major evolution in how display technology addresses the intersection of vision science and human wellness.
Understanding these effects helps explain why some monitors feel effortless to view, while others quickly lead to visual fatigue — highlighting how thoughtful engineering can make screen time more natural and sustainable.
Wellness implications
The design of monitors also quietly influences wellness. Excessive blue light can disrupt circadian rhythms, while flicker and glare may contribute to fatigue or headaches.
Although all light exposure can inhibit melatonin production, nighttime blue light has a particularly potent effect – much like drinking coffee late in the evening; it can delay the body’s natural signal to wind down.
Features like low blue light and adaptive brightness aren’t medical fixes but can make daily screen use healthier and more sustainable. Today, monitors are being designed to reduce blue light emissions to below 1% while maintaining realistic visuals, representing a new frontier in aligning displays with long-term comfort.
The ongoing innovation in the visuals design space underscores the notion that monitors are becoming more than static panels. They are intelligent tools designed to support wellness, creativity and productivity simultaneously.
Conclusion
The future of monitors lies in designs that reflect how people actually see and work. While the most innovative displays may come at a premium, the cost is small compared to the hours users spend in front of them each day.
Just as companies invest in ergonomic chairs or standing desks, investing in high-quality monitors pays dividends in comfort, focus and reduced fatigue over time. By combining visual science, wellness-minded features and intelligent adaptation, displays can help users stay focused, comfortable and creative in a digital-first world.
We’ve featured the best monitors for home working.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro
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