The ideal viewing distance for a 17.3'' monitor?

Well, I just got a mechanical keyboard and have been using it on my G73JH after getting fed up with the built-on chiclet one. This has necessitated that I sit farther away from the the computer screen, and I just can't believe how much more enjoyable my overall computer experience is. I used to sit with my eyes a little over a foot away from the screen and would occasionally get headaches during long stretches of use and when playing shooters. Now, I sit about 3 feet away and my headaches are gone, not to mention the fact that I have better peripheral vision across the entire screen and have been seeing things on the edges of the screen in games that I never would have seen before. Anybody else have a similar experience or a recommendation for idea viewing distance?

 

I think it's more preference than anything else, for shooters either I'm getting old and need glasses that I need to at least be a foot away from the screen to hit my targets lol.

 

Exactly. I've recently been playing a lot of Modern Warfare 3, and despite it being a very twitchy shooter, I've very surprised that moving farther away from the monitor has actually made me a better player. My accuracy hasn't improved (or regressed) but my ability to spot enemies on the outer edges of the screen has really gotten better.

 

I'm sort of the opposite. I find myself getting... twitchy... if I'm more than 18" away from the screen while playing a fast-paced shooter.

 

Probably because the FOV in mw3 is the same as the console and feels better from further away.

 

Well there is a recommended ratio for sitting in front of a screen of a particular size. I don't remember exactly what is it but it's along the line of more than 1ft (around 2, i think) for each ft of screen size to avoid putting too much strain on your eyes.

 

There's a good DPI scale at notebookcheck.net that will let you figure out, roughly, your preferred DPI. From that, you can calculate where you'll need to sit to be most comfortable.