Archive for January, 2010

Screen Cleaning Tips

Monday, January 25th, 2010

It is almost impossible to get every screen manufacturer to agree on a cleaning method. Here we offer guidelines to help you avoid the greatest mistakes and hopefully allow you to clean your screen without fear of ruining its appearance or function.

Do Not:

  • Work with the monitor turned on
    Press on the screen with your fingers or other objects
  • Apply excessive wiping pressure
  • Use dirty, abrasive or linty cloths
  • Use any alcohol
  • Use any cleaners, such as acetone, which contain ketones as they will destroy plastics and the antiglare coatings quite quickly.
  • Use ammonia as a cleaner
  • Allow liquid to run into the edges under the frame of the screen or display
  • Use Kleenex, paper towels, sponges or other coarse shop towels! These materials may contain abrasives that can scratch plastic, acrylic, poly carbonate surfaces or surface coatings. Also, you will find many fabrics to be quite dusty or linty, leaving the same on your screen.

    • Do:

  • Work with the screen display turned off and cool.
  • Wipe the screen using light pressure.
  • Use clean, lint free cotton, microfiber cloths or low-lint wipes.
  • Use water, diluted isopropyl alcohol (in moderation) or, ideally, a specially formulated, low impact screen cleaning solution.
  • Apply solutions to the cloth, then wipe the screen with the cloth to avoid the possibility of excess moisture running into the frame of the device, thus the possibility of screen damage.
  • Use canned air or a soft brush to remove dust from edges or corners.

    • Most screens have an anti-glare coating that can be permanently scratched or easily worn by excessive wiping pressure or from improper cleaning solutions. Make certain that the cloths you use are clean and do not contain any sand or grit.

    Every situation is unique and may require different methods or cleaners to get the job done. Please be sure to check back as through the whole month of February we will be posting different types of screen cleaning tips.

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    Posted in Clean A Screen, How to, Screen Care | Comments Off

    Improved Screen Viewing Part 3

    Monday, January 18th, 2010

    Doctors who specialize in Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) can be found at www.doctorergo.com. This site offers a comprehensive test that asks you questions about your viewing habits and environment, then gives you suggestions to correct any problem areas.

    You may not have the correct screen resolution set for your monitor. Consult your owner’s manual and adjust, if needed.

    Remember to get up and walk away every now and again! Give your eyes and head a break for a while.
    It’s also a good idea to lift your gaze or change your focal point to a more distant object for short, frequent periods. Focus on a picture on the wall (at least a few feet away) or out a window for about 20seconds every 20 minutes.

    The color green is said to be a restful color for the eyes to look at. Maybe keep something green on your desk or maybe use a desktop background with green in it.

    Don’t forget to blink! It’s important to keep your eyes moistened to help avoid strain and of course drying out.

    Please keep in mind that these are only suggestions! We hope that this information was helpful to you.

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    Posted in Clean A Screen, Microfiber Cloth, Monitor Hoods, Monitor Topics, Personal Care, Screen Protective Film | No Comments »

    Improved Screen Viewing Part 2

    Friday, January 8th, 2010

    Some screens have the ARAG® (anti-glare) treatment. This specially formulated anti-reflection, anti-glare screen treatment uses a multi-layer process to refract unwanted light away from the user while maintaining the highest quality display image. If you have a highly reflective screen you may want to consider antiglare film which is available at Photodon.com.

    An older monitor may become dim and/or out of calibration. Check the manual or monitor calibration software.

    If you are running Windows XP, ClearType delivers improved font display quality over traditional forms of font smoothing or anti-aliasing. Clear Type improves readability on color LCD displays with a digital interface, such as those in laptops and high-quality flat panel displays. Readability on CRT screens can also be somewhat improved. I have used it on my CRT flat screen with a noted improvement. In fact, I can read without my glasses. This is a feature of Windows XP that needs to be turned on and then tuned to your needs. It can be done online in your browser window. Just go to Microsoft Page and follow the instructions. It really is simple.

    Proper posture and equipment setup are essential to good ergonomics. Use the guidelines from Cornell University, Work-station Ergonomics Check List
    to evaluate your situation.

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    Posted in Clean A Screen, How to, Microfiber Cloth, Monitor Hoods, Monitor Topics, Personal Care, Screen Protective Film | No Comments »