Tips for failing eyesight? PC use

[tomos]

Hi all, an older relative of mine is having problems with his eyes. He can currently only easily read printed text when it's above 40 point size. He's coping quite well, considering, on a 17" laptop -- as he knows the menu basics in the software he uses, and can touch type. He mostly writes letters (Softmaker Office) or emails (Gmail).

I was looking at ~ 27" monitors, that we could connect one to the laptop (4k resolution doesn't seem to be any advantage, so probably 2560 x 1440).

Does anyone have any tips or advice that might be helpful in this situation?

[mouser]

It will absolutely make a big difference to have a 27" monitor.
As you say the resolution is not important, don't need 4k.
And set windows font size (dpi) higher.
Windows also has a magnifier tool but I think if you set the resolution to a reasonable value, and windows font size higher (150%?) that may be good enough.

[MilesAhead]

I notice for myself that on some web pages there is not much contrast as the background colors are often close to the foreground text color.  Depending on the browser you may be able to have it load a css page by default that may make reading text easier by overriding the background color of the page.

Just a thought.   

[BGM]

You could try "reading mode" which many browsers have.  That would help out the contrast and background colours, and you don't have to mess with addons.

[MilesAhead]

You could try "reading mode" which many browsers have.  That would help out the contrast and background colours, and you don't have to mess with addons.

-BGM (March 02, 2022, 03:37 PM)

A better idea for sure.   

[Vurbal]

No advice, but I'm interested as well. My eyesight is reaching the point where everyday tasks are challenging. I'm mostly okay with a decent size computer monitor today, but I'm not so sure I'll be able to say that in 6 months.

OTOH looking at a 7 segment LCD display, ie a digital clock, is like waterboarding my eyes.

[Stoic Joker]

Got a client that has a pair of 32" curved monitors running at 1920x1080. I'd originally panned the idea (but lost the debate) because I thought the height would be hard on the neck … But it wasn't. It's actually a really nice setup, and very easy to read on.

[tomos]

Belated thanks for the responses. Got a 27" monitor and have it set to show same as laptop screen (which is set to 175%). So, we'll see how that goes.

The monitor is so nice btw, I said I'd buy it off of him if he decides he needs a bigger one. ASUS PA278QV (Newegg) -- it has some weaknesses (uneven backlighting) but comes colour calibrated, has good brightness and contrast (in its current location at any rate) and good ergonomics. And if you're just used to FHD, the extra pixels makes it really sharp.