Question about monitor safety?

[catmojoman]

Hello before I post I am well aware that this may sound like an odd or silly question. However, I don't know much about displays and would like some peace of mind.


I recently got a laptop from a friend and installed Ubuntu on it to use as a junk computer to play games and watch movies on. However, the screen started to bother my eyes and the way it looked was sort of unfamiliar to past computer monitors I've used in the past. It looks very bright and colors looked washed out. When looking at either side of the screen with the color black pulled up on the sides, it looks sort of white'ish.


Is this normal for a laptop computer monitor and is it defective? Will this negatively affect the health of my eyes?

Here is the laptop brand and model: ASUS R500VJ-MH71 15.6" Laptop

And here are some pictures of the washed out screen:

https://imgur.com/a/lrUCjdo

As I previously mentioned, the side bars to the side of the main window are suppose to be black but come across lighter.

[patio]

Likely a failing display from what you describe...use an external monitor is simplest solution.

[DaveLembke]

One solution might be to adjust the brightness control of the display to be dimmer than it currently is. Not sure if because your running Linux if this will be a problem with adjusting this or not. Some laptops have hard coded function keys that ignore the OS and others require the OS to have drivers/software that support function key use. If you look at the laptop there should be a brightness intensity function key to dim and brighten the display.

If you cant get it to dim from being washed out your other option is to add a VGA or HDMI display to the available port on the left side of it to use an alternate display for better viewing.

As far as eye health; no prolonged use of monitors is considered healthy, but you have to listen to your body. If your eyes or brain doesnt like what you see then dont force yourself to suffer through its use. You said that this is just a junk computer, so you have a better computer to use that may not strain your eyes and maybe the games and movies can be watched on that instead if your unable to dim the backlight to the display to sharpen the picture quality from being washed out from an over driven brightness back light.