A clear view on proper eye protection

MANILA, Philippines - To many people, enjoying the latest advances in home entertainment such as LCD TVs is a pleasurable form of relaxation and recreation. But this electronic pastime, according to recent studies, can be disadvantageous to the eyes. Although the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) rules out extensive home viewing as causing permanent physical damage to the eyes, common discomforts such as eye strain and blurred vision can adversely affect one’s sense of concentration.   

But before jumping for the switch-off button of the remote control, ophthalmologist and glaucoma specialist Dr. Jonathan Soriano provides these important pointers on how to establish viewing essentials that can minimize, if not prevent, eye stress. 

• Pay heed to mild symptoms. “Asthenopia or eye strain is a collection of symptoms that may include eye fatigue and discomfort, tearing, blurring of vision, and headaches arising from use of the eyes.  It may be genetically or developmentally acquired. Granting that there are no other ophthalmologic problems such as refractive or eye muscular disorders, eye strain can be due to tedious visual tasks like reading, computer work, and watching television,” says Soriano.  

• Beware of too much glare. Soriano maintains that watching television in a room with poor lighting poses greater visual discomfort than sitting too close to the display, “due to the large difference in luminance between the television screen and the room’s dark background. Especially when there is too much glare being emitted through the screen, the natural tendency of the eyes would be to work extra hard to be able to create a clearer image.”

• Mind proper distance. Even though there is no fixed rule to determine the optimum viewing distance, in an ophthalmologist’s point of view, it is dependent on personal preference and comfort. “You can move away from the TV if your eyes begin to tire, but stay at a distance where you can comfortably read the text in the screen without squinting,” prescribes Soriano.    

• Check out if your LCD has beneficial features. But the debate whether prolonged TV exposure is bad for the eyes is a different matter, says Soriano, “especially so with the current advancements in LCDs which hold beneficial advantages to the eyes.” One such breakthrough for him is the invention of TCL’s NaturaLIGHT technology (NLT). 

As an eye doctor and a father of two young kids, Dr. Soriano is keen on ensuring the healthy eyesight of his family even through simple leisure activities such as TV watching. “As affirmed in the AAO research which said that the polarization of light reduces harmful glare, TCL’s NaturaLIGHT technology works perfectly along the same ideals by converting horizontal light waves emitted by the LCD to circularly polarized light. By eliminating harmful glare, it dramatically reduces the LCD panel light stimulus on the eyes and avoids visual fatigue caused by long TV watching,” Soriano notes.  

Compared with ordinary television sets whose glare causes the eyes to tire and eventually cause drowsiness to the viewer, TCL’s NaturaLIGHT makes TV viewing more comfortable to the eyes, thus viewers get to enjoy their favorite programs or movies even for extended hours.  

Among these remarkable user-friendly attributes is the LCD’s high dynamic backlight control, which aids in providing suitable brightness based on the eye’s normal vision. Thus, by controlling the emitted amount of brightness, chances of experiencing eye fatigue are lessened, if not totally eliminated.

“This control feature also provides great power savings, slashing electricity consumption by up to 50 percent,” Dr. Soriano adds.

For more details on NaturaLIGHT technology, call 02-567-3904/567-3803; visit www.tcl.com/main_en or e-mail zhengming@tcl.com.