With more people working from home for reasons such as the pandemic, gaming has experienced an unprecedented upsurge. The launch of exciting new titles and gaming consoles also contributed to this as people started spending more time locked to their screens. While turning to games did help people cope with loneliness and isolation, the increased screen time created a host of other problems. As people spent more time staring at their monitors, pain cases in the eyes, neck, and other parts increased. A critical factor in all this is monitors, particularly regarding ergonomics.
Ergonomics refers to the customizability and adjustability to better suit a user's needs. The position of your monitor becomes a critical factor in the well-being of gamers because of the various health concerns linked to the issue. Some of the health issues that are attributed to improper positioning of your monitor include:
1. Digital Eyestrain.
It refers to any discomfort, irritability, or tiredness experienced after using electronic appliances, particularly monitors and screens. If you experienced these after long gaming periods, your monitor position might be the problem. Eyestrain can result in issues such as headaches that can completely disrupt your gaming experience. The blue light emitted from monitors is the main culprit, however, which means that you need to reevaluate the positioning of your screen.
2. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
It is a condition that plagues many computer users and gamers. It is marked by applying pressure on the median nerve of your wrist, which forces it to shift through the carpal tunnel at the bottom hand to the palm. Excessive use of the tissues in your carpal tunnel causes compression of the median nerve that leaves you experiencing pain, numbness, and tingling in the wrists, hands, or fingers. If left untreated, you cannot do tasks that require frequent wrist movement. Wrong monitor location causes you to lean and bend your back, wrongly positioning the hands and wrists to develop Carpal Tunnel syndrome.
3. Musculoskeletal Disorders.
These are injuries to your muscles, joints, nerves, spinal discs, and even tendons. Failing to properly position your monitor while playing video games can force you to strain your neck, arch your back or even compress your spine. Such effects are alarming as they can reemerge later in life as severe health conditions like a hunchback. It is thus crucial to remain keen on the positioning of your monitor because failure to do so can affect you extensively. FlexiSpot's ergonomic office high back mesh chair with an adjustable headrest H3005 can help reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders.
4. Insomnia.
It refers to a distinct lack of sleep for reasons such as prolonged exposure to monitors. Monitors emit blue light that is harmful to human eyes. When poorly positioned can contribute to an inability to fall asleep for being too close while gaming for extended periods. For this reason, a number have settings that enable you to filter blue light while in the dark to ensure you can fall asleep when you retire to bed. It is essential to pay attention to the monitor’s positioning because sitting too close while gaming can leave you tossing and turning despite being tired from playing video games for long periods.
Aside from the benefits described above, ensuring your gaming monitor is positioned correctly is crucial because it reduces the amount of glare reaching your eyes. Glare results in severe eye strain that may cause extensive damage in the long run; it also forces you to constantly adjust the monitor to have a better view which, as mentioned earlier, gives you a plethora of issues. Having understood why the position of your monitor during gaming is so important, it is vital to comprehend the precise details of the best possible position. The position incorporates various aspects that collectively ensure your monitor is positioned correctly.
So then, what are the aspects of the best monitor position for gaming?
Height
It is one of the most important factors regarding the monitor position during gaming and refers to its height. Different people have different tastes, and part of them may feel they prefer larger monitors to life while others go for the average-sized ones. However, a rule of thumb in this is to avoid any monitor that forces you to tilt your head or bend any part of your anatomy to see better. These positions will cause you discomfort and leave you with severe musculoskeletal disorders.
What is right for me may not necessarily be right for you, meaning that the aspect of height is very dynamic; tall people will naturally feel more comfortable with giant screens and vice versa. A recent trend involving content creators and online gamers having two monitors in their setup may require you to have purchase FlexiSpot’s dual monitor mount for the safety of your monitor and comfort. Gaming for extended periods requires comfort, and constantly fidgeting in your seat looking across the other edge of the monitor will leave your neck in pain and your gaming session less fun.
Distance
Distance refers to how far away the monitor is from you. It is imperative because it determines the amount of light reaching your eyes. Monitors emit blue light, and if you are not careful, being too close could result in the gradual degeneration of your sight. It is an essential aspect for avid gamers as they are notorious for spending long hours in front of their monitors participating in missions and quests. For this reason, the monitor should be positioned at a distance that is not too close in a manner that causes you to strain while playing your favorite game and not too far away that you end up struggling to make out the graphics on the screen.
Regarding the distance between you and your monitor, the key is to figure out your “sweet spot” and stick to it. However, distance to the monitor is not only essential because of the well-being of your eyes; your body is also at risk if you get this wrong. Being too close, for instance, can result in you having to lean back for better viewing; being too far away, on the other hand, could see you lean forward, bend your back or overextend your arms. These could have harmful effects on your neck, back, arms, and even wrists, resulting in many other issues. So, to set up a perfectly positioned monitor, ensure you understand involuntary eye movements, such as convergence and ocular accommodation. They are responsible for eye strain. To address this, make sure the monitor is precisely as far away as the entire length of your arms and check its specifications to confirm the distance is correct for the resolution and screen size.
You can purchase the ergonomic gaming desk with a mouse pad EC1 from FlexiSpot, which can help you adjust your monitor to the correct height and distance for a better experience.
Angle
Angle, in this case, refers to the degrees at which your monitor is placed under your eyesight. Besides putting it directly in your sight, your monitor has to be positioned at the right angle concerning your sight. In gaming, a poorly placed monitor could mean looking at the screen at an uncomfortable angle for up to 8 hours straight. It could be catastrophic, as you might even develop neck damage. To avoid this, ensure the monitor is placed such that it is at eye level or otherwise thirty degrees below it to accommodate your eyes which look downward or directly ahead at rest.
Glare
Glare refers to light reflected by the monitor from external sources and into your eyes. The light is then scattered inside your eyes, resulting in an uncomfortable feeling and difficulty in seeing, particularly sharp images. It may be caused by some things such as sunlight or light from in the house and can be a nuisance during gaming, sometimes causing your eyes to tear up. To address the issue of glare, the most straightforward trick is to adjust the angle of the screen. Here a previously mentioned concept emerges, ergonomics. It refers to the adjustability of a system to suit its user, and with an ergonomic monitor, you can swivel the display while keeping a keen eye for an angle that has no glare.
Aside from the aspects described above, there are other minor ones that you should also consider to find the prime possible position for your monitor. The first involves the quality of the monitor, whereby a higher rate lends you more liberty as the quality of the picture displayed will not be affected too much. A low-rate monitor means that while you may position it at the proper distance initially, poor picture quality while you’re gaming can see you keep trying to readjust it to one that is bad for health.
Other considerations include the font size of the game you are playing and the set-up of the game station. In conclusion, monitors are a big part of gaming and this coupled with the long hours that gamers spend each day immersed in quests necessitates the need for proper positioning. In addition, the health risks associated with poor monitor positioning, such as disorders of the musculoskeletal system, highlight the importance of considering aspects such as height and distance to find the best position. FlexiSpot has got you covered with the adjustable gaming computer desk for a classical experience.
