Increase Monitor Refresh Rate: Reduce Flicker, Eye Strain and Headaches

Ever have headaches after staring at your screen?
Maybe your computers monitors screens refresh rate is too low and your screen flickers. Many users are used to the flicker, or your eyes are not sensitive enough to detect it, but the flicker is there. And till it flickers, it will irritate your eyes and cause eye strain. Higher refresh rates are less likely to cause eyestrain

Increase Monitor Refresh Rate

What is the refresh rate?
The refresh rate (or frequency) refers to the number of times per second that the video board redraws the entire screen.

How to change the refresh rate
In Windows XP

• Go to Control Panel>Display
• In Settings> Advanced>Monitor
• Always Check the box for ‘Hide modes that this monitor cannot display’ to avoid hardware disputes. This will then give a drop down list of refresh rates that your monitor safely supports and you may set it up without error. You may also check your manufacturer’s documentation for information about the settings that your monitor supports.
• And then increase the monitors refresh rate. Most users agree it should be 75 Hz or more for optimal results. My computer was set to 60 Hz, the minimum by default.

Note: If you specify a refresh rate that is too high for your monitor, your screen may become unusable and your hardware may be damaged. Also note, Some monitors shiver at higher rates and some of the higher resolutions and color depths may be unavailable at the higher frequencies.

My computer displayed resolutions from 60Hz to 200Hz. When I clicked the ‘Hide modes that this monitor cannot display’ box, the choices were only few from 60-80Hz. So I was glad I did not mess up by selecting a higher value which my CRT monitor did not support. I decided to select the recommended 75Hz. Increasing the refresh rate setting to 75 Hz has made a marked improvement and got rid of the headaches.