Which TV type is best for eyes – LED, OLED or QLED?

After researching for hours and hours on the topic “which TV Display is best for eye care”.

I bring you this article.

Most of the data that I found on the internet was just marketing and absolute BS which is prevalent among consumers.

Let’s bust some myths.

Don’t have enough time to read the entire article then refer to the short answer below.

Any type of TV – LED, OLED, QLED, or 4k does not matter for eye care. What matters is the room lighting, TV brightness, viewing time, viewing distance, viewing angles, etc for eye care. You should not watch TV for longer periods and set your TV brightness to low.

Cause of Eye Strain from a TV Display

Whatever be the TV display all produce light which enters your eyes and is perceived as an image in your brain.

If you constantly watch directly towards a light source – lamp, led bulb, sunlight, TV screen, etc it will strain your eye.

Even if you read a book in low lighting for hours can strain your eyes.

Glaring at the sunlight can cause eye pain within a few minutes.

So it does not matter whether you have an LED or OLED TV, both produce light.

Both can make your eye strain.

1. Prolonged Viewing Time

It is a known fact that prolonged periods of watching TV or a phone or laptop constantly is not good for eyesight.

After long use, your eyes may show symptoms of dryness and irritation. 

Remember the saying of your parents or grandparents. They warned us about the adverse effects of higher usage of TV.

2. Screen Flickering

A show or movie that you see on your TV is made of frames or pictures.

These pictures are continuously painted and removed repeatedly from the display in a few milliseconds to trick your brain into believing that objects are moving on the screen

But in reality, pictures are just shown and changed very fast.

There is a gap of a few milliseconds between two pictures where the TV light is not present.

This fast changing of pictures and gaps in between makes your eye strain with time.

With modern displays having higher and higher refresh rates this is becoming less of a cause for eye strain.

However, TV’s generally come with a lower refresh rate.

3. Blue Light

The light coming from the TV screen contains some blue light.

This is also true for a phone or laptop.

There is a general assumption among masses that blue light causes eye damage and eye strain

Manufacturers and companies are profiting from this claim.

There is no strong evidence that shows that blue light causes eye damage with time.

The claim that blue light is not good for the eyes has come from the fact that UV rays are harmful to both eyes and body(which is a fact). 

And blue light being closer to UV rays on the light spectrum may show the same properties.  

blue light and UV in light spectrum.png
Source

Refer to this page which covers this topic in more depth.

With modern smart TVs, you can easily lower the blue light emission from the screen using the TV settings.

This setting will defer from model to model.

4. Proximity to the screen

watching tv from too close

The closer you watch your TV from, the faster your eyes start to strain.

It is not that you should sit very far from the screen.

But you should maintain some distance from your TV.

Unlike a monitor, TV’s are not meant to be viewed from close. 

For a 720p TV, you can easily observe the individual pixels on the screen from very close.

A pixelated image is not good for viewing and puts strain on the eyes.

Depending on your TV screen size and resolution you should maintain a range of viewing distance from it.

With a less resolution screen this distance is higher and with a higher resolution screen this distance is lower.

For HD, Full HD resolution screen

Just multiply your screen size(in inches) by 1.5 times and you get the ideal viewing distance

For 4k resolution screen

The screen size is the viewing distance in the case of a 4k resolution TV.

Why this is less in the case of a 4k screen is because of more pixels on the screen.

Other factors to consider for eye care

  • Room Lighting

There should be ambient lighting in the room.

You should not watch TV in a dark room.

  • TV Display Brightness

Lower the Better

There are two benefits of watching a TV in a low brightness setting.

One is better contrast ratio and colors.

Another is less strain on the eyes.

  • Viewing Level

With a poor viewing angle, the picture quality starts to become weird and puts strain on the eyes.

Maintaining a good viewing angle is crucial.

The TV should be placed at the level of your head, neither high nor low.

What about OLED TV 

oled display

There is hype from manufacturers around the globe that OLED displays are better for eye care but I think this is just a marketing gimmick for selling more products.

Why?

This claim is backed by the adverse effects of blue light on our eyes that is, it can cause eye damage and eye strain. 

For which there is no strong evidence.

However 

If we consider the adverse effect of blue light on our eyes to be true then

OLED TVs are shown to have less blue light emission than the LED TVs.

Source:
https://www.oled-info.com/oleds-emit-less-third-blue-light-lcds

And so OLED TVs are better than other TVs for eye care.

Does the Screen Size matter for eye care

Not necessarily

A big TV screen other than giving a better viewing and cinematic experience does not matter for eye care.

But you do have to care about the sitting distance from the TV screen.

You will have to maintain some distance for better viewing. 

This depends on the TV screen size and resolution.

Refer to the proximity section in this article for getting the ideal sitting distance.

Tips for preventing eye strain when using a TV

  • Don’t use TV as Monitor
  • Don’t watch TV for too long
  • Maintain a right viewing angle 
  • Sell your OLD CRT or LCD TV with CCFL lighting
  • Watch TV in a room with dim lighting and low brightness setting

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