Anti-glare screen shields for M17x!

So with all the excitement around the CCFL and , especially, RGB LED screens, - do you guys care about your eyes? I mean everything is fine but I'm sure some of you couldn't help but notice the "retinas burning" and headaches, not to mention the poor outdoor usage possibilities.
So is there anyone who tried putting the protective AG screens on your aliens, and if yes, what is your impression.

I tried the ViewGuard anti-glare screen shields and they were a total waste of my money the quality of the display plunged to impossibly low levels.
I know there are some nice business notebooks with built-in AG protection, and I wouldn't mind sacrificing some angles and even gamut to at least be on par with those notebooks in terms of office/outdoors usage. Unfortunately the shields I used made the screen look really unacceptable.

So, ideas, suggestions are welcome!

 

I worked in ophthalmology as an assistant for over 6 years and i can tell you that the only reason you need an anti-glare screen is if you are in an environment that has lights overhead making it hard to see the screen because of the reflections of the lights themselves.

If you are getting headaches, itchy/burning/dry eyes, its because you are not blinking often enough, and you are locking your focus for extended periods of time.

You might look into getting a pair of computer-glasses, even with +0.25 magnification it could help with eye strain, if you have just a little bit of astigmatism, that will cause eyestrain also. Talk to an eye-doctor before you do this though. Wearing the wrong thing can cause more headaches and focusing problems.

Anti-glare screens will not lessen eyestrain or headaches for 90% of the users out there. The 10% will feel a little relief if they are getting light-reflections on their screen.

Get yourself into the habbit of breaking your stare at the screen and blinking. That will help you more then anything. Look out the window, across the office, get tears distributed over the surface of your eyes (blinking) and you will be much better off, for free.

 

+1 rep for the explanation.
I do have a habit of focusing without blinking for prolonged periods of time. Will work on it now.
However the problem with reflections is very big as even indoors it's usually very disturbing during the daytime.
I can even see the keyboard lights reflected in the screen and practically blinding. In my office the screen is becoming a mirror, can't work on it at all.
So the reflections should be dealt with anyway.

 

You might be that 10% then. If you are hyper-sensitive to any type of glare or reflection and find yourself "forcing" your stare through the reflections and glare then i would definitely say you'll benefit from the Anti-glare screen. having to force your way through glare is also going to reduce your blink rate as you are concentrating that much harder on the screen.

Despite what people might tell you, stay away from any type of moisture drops. Visene is the worst of all. Putting drops in your eyes is going to actually lessen your eye's output of tears (the moisture in your eyes is released as a response to them feeling dry when you blink). If you put drops in your eyes, then your eye wont make as many tears after a while, and you'll become dependent on the eyedrops to keep your eyes from feeling dry.

you can set a repeat timer to go off every couple minutes to remind you to look away and blink. a couple days of that at like 3 minute intervals and you'll subconsciously do it without even realizing it

 

The best thing you can get IMO for glare, btw, would be a MATTE screen filter.

side-by-side the matte filters (compared to glossy/AR) will be *slightly* less sharp, but the complete lack of glare from a matte screen is fantastic.

 

Thanx again, Zlog!
Yes, I'm looking forward to those matte filters. The only problem would be to find a good one for M17X without sacrificing too much of the quality. When I tried the ViewGuard shield the reflections were no more but the whole screen was as if rubbed with a rough sanding paper. I'd like to still enjoy the RGB LED screen...

 

Yeah the glossy screen fad is really annoying.

The only reason manufacturers are doing glossy screens is because they look better in the show room.

In the case of laptops, that edge-to-edge plastic raised slightly above the screen looks nicer but provides a bit of impact-protection too.

 

The glossy screen from what I have read is there to help the screen maintain brightness against highly lit ambient (not direct lighted) environments, like a sunny day outside your Starbucks assuming you have the brightness cranked on the lappy and not sitting with your screen facing the sun. They also get rid of the "screen door" black grid between the pixels as well creating the illusion of a more contiguous set of picture elements.

As for eyestrain and headaches, I think part of this is due to not adjusting brightness down as well; the RGB LED screens are very bright to my eyes.

 

What I don't get is the point of edge to edge. It's not like the screen just got bigger. If anything, the screen becomes smaller due to the bigger bezel. I mean, it would be really cool if the screen really was edge to edge with no bezel. Until that time comes, imo edge to edge is pointless. You can even get dust in between the screen.

 

Anti-glare shields/films work alot better when applied directly to the screen. Since the M17x has a glossy, transparent plastic type of thing over the screen, it won't work very well if at all. You'd probably have to remove the transparent cover on the bezel and apply the filter/film directly to the screen to have it work decently. If the film/filter is of good enough quality, that is.

 

Hmm, did you try removing the cover? Is it even possible to do @home?
It makes sense and I'd definitely try it. Also wouldn't the 1mm thick filter/film be preventing the cover from fitting back.
All in all the glossy screen, even if it's the best quality screen on our planet, is a deal breaker for me. Didn't think it would be that bad, but it's either find a way to fit a filter or buy a business notebook with a poor quality but perfectly matte'd screen

 

Uh, if you put the glossy cover back over the glare reducer, it'd be glossy again, that Is the gloss. Just removing that would get rid of the gloss, but you'd need to get some thin tempered anti gloss treated glass to replace it or something.

 

That could be a real problem.

 

I have a gen 1 m15x with a matte screen. I can use it in my brightly lit office as well as my patio. (I previously owned an ACER with a glossy screen and couldn't use it comfortabley in these places). I was all hyped to buy a new m17x until I found there was no matte screen option. I'll just have to wait until they come out with that option on a future notebook.

 

If you can remove the E2E plastic cover, you could always cut the center screen-covering portion out, polish the inner-edges to look nice, and then re-adhere it, essentially make it just a plastic frame that stops where the bevel stops... does that make sense?

essentially you'd still have a glossy factory-looking border, but the screen would be exposed. The LCD screen is actually a matte screen, so it would eliminate the issue.

The glossy screen doesn't help with lighting conditions like some one suggested, as the reflections on the glossy screen are harder to see through then if they were on the matte screen, and you dont get a screen-door effect on most computer LCD screens because the pixels are so small.

The reason you see screen-door effects on a 50" LCD is because the actual pixels are HUGE compared to a 17" 1920x1080 screen.

 

anyone tried any matte screen filter, id like to buy one but i dont want to cover my lcd with something that could ruin my the lcd itself

 

It works on the plastic...but while it kills glare that comes from light sources behind you, it also cuts the brighness from the LCD.

Much like the anti-finger print material used for iphones, the screen will not look quite as good. Its a trade off, and one I have not fully decided I will keep.

BTW...mine is on the m11x

 

I might buy another screen+lid (if it's not too expensive) to experiment. If cutting the plastic won't reduce any properties of the lid (ex. durability and shock resistance), that would solve me a lot of trouble. Even if the LCD itself is glossy too, I can always add a film/filter directly to fix it.

 

If you try that, you might want to experiment with something like testors dullcote, just spray it matte and see how it looks. It's REALLY clear and pretty much made for very smooth application, just be careful. I mean, worth a shot if you are going to try cutting it anyways, might not have to.

 

I see a couple of good suggestions for fixing the glossy screen problem. I would buy a spare off ebay or somewhere and try it on that. I think the cutting out fix sounds easy and doable on plastic. Plus the edges of the cut can be polished easily.

 

Yes, the only question is if the plastic cover has other functions like strengthening the entire lid. If it's there for looks only, then let's do it.

 

i doubt it, it likely is just the glossy fancy look and the slight protection from impact.

 

Ok then, there are used M17X LCDs on Ebay for around 300$, but will see if I can find just the plastic glass cover to begin with.

 

I wonder if you could order it from dell for cheaper?

Or see if theres a place that would fabricate a sheet of plastic for you. Gotta be cheaper then $300....

I'm friends with a lot of the guys at Dangerden, and if the reflective screen is really that bad, I may ask them for some ideas on who could fabricate something for me.

 

Update.
Got another filter. This time it's a privacy anti glare shield from Ergoware.

Pros:
Anti glare works wonders.
Lowest graininess I've ever seen with filters.
Noticeably more pleasant in gaming, no visible contrast reduction (in games).
Less pressure on my retinas

Cons:
Some blurriness when working with code or any office work with small fonts and white background.
Brightness reduction ( Without the filter I'm on 30% most of the time, with the one - 50 - 70%).

That is my last attempt to find a filter for the glare type screen.