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After you have decided whether you want to mount
your monitor with a LCD
arm to your desk, wall, a pole,
or ceiling mount, consider some setup and
positioning tips. First of
all, center your monitor,
because the best position of
your monitor is directly in
front of you. If you
position your monitor to the
left or right of center,
shoulder or neck discomfort
may result as a result of
the twisting posture that
will result. The best positioning is
where your muscles can stay
in a rest or neutral position. As a good
work practice, always pay
attention to any body
discomfort and avoid
sustained, awkward postures.
There is one exception to
the rule of centering a
monitor - If you are working
in a job that requires you
to communicate with
customers, you don't want your monitor to
block your personal
interaction with your
customer. In this case, LCD
arms that swivel
are a great help.
Mounting your monitor on a
monitor swivel arm will
enable you to move your
ergonomic computer monitor out of the way while
talking with a customer, or
turn the monitor towards
them when you wish to share
information with them. Most
arms also offer the
capability of viewing the
screen in either landscape
or portrait positions which
is a great convenience.
Place your LCD at the proper
viewing distance
When sitting at your desk,
avoid a straight up-right
posture. Instead, adjust
your ergonomic chair so you
are sitting slightly
reclined, with your lumbar
properly supported. Studies
have proven that
sitting in a slightly
reclined position reduces
pressure on the discs in the
lower back.
Once you know where your
comfortable sitting position
is you can arrange your
monitor placement. Often, monitors are placed
too close or too far away
from the viewer. Both
situations result in eye
strain and can also cause
the user to shift posture
and tilt their necks or hold
their shoulders and arms in
uncomfortable positions that
eventually lead to
repetitive injury. You should
center your monitor at a
comfortable viewing distance
that still provides clear,
unstrained visibility of the
screen. In the past, the
"rule of thumb" had been to
place your monitor an arm's
length distance in front of
you, but this generality has
given way under study. It's
now known that a greater
distance is often best for
many people. Here
again, LCD monitor
arms are
extremely helpful is
providing easy,
comfortable and ergonomic
positioning.
You can also free up desk
surface by using a wall
mounting LCD arm, pole mount
arm. Ceiling mount units are
also available. Proper
positioning is essential, no
matter how your LCD is
mounted.
Important: height
adjustments of your LCD
screen are made easy with
ergonomic LCD arms
Your monitor's height is
important to healthy
computer work. You should be
able to view the screen
without having to tilt your
head up or down or turn your
head to view the screen. As
a guideline, when seated
comfortably, a user's eye
should be in line with a
point on the screen about 2"
to 3" below the top of the
monitor casing. Is
this comfortable viewing for
you? Make any minor
adjustments in screen height
and angle from that starting
point. If you use bifocals,
you will probably need to
position your monitor
somewhat lower than usually
recommended to gain the same
ergonomic advantage.
Monitor height can be
manually adjusted if you are
using adjustable height
computer work stations. An easier solution is to place
monitors on adjustable LCD
monitor arms that accommodate to a
variety of workers and work
postures.
Tilting your LCD monitor
Opinion among experts about
tilting your LCD monitor for
the most ergonomic benefit
are contradictory. Some say
that the base of the LCD
should be tilted slightly
closer to you than the top.
Others say the screen should
remain upright and not be
tilted. However, when your monitor
is mounted on an LCD arm
you can easily adjust what
works best for you.
Also
consider the impact of glare when
tilting your monitor in
order to to
avoid eyestrain from
direct/indirect glare. LCD's
have the great advantage of
being able to
produce clear, crisp
screen images without flicker or
major glare problems due to
a higher luminance factor.
However, depending on your
work setting, using an
anti-glare computer filter
specifically designed for
LCDs might
be a good ergonomic
investment.
Other Ergonomic Tips for LCD
computer users...
There are several more
recommendations for healthy
computer usage including
taking regular "micro
breaks" to move around and
do 1-2
minutes of stretching after every 30
minutes at the computer.
Other ergonomic factors
include correct positioning
of your forearms, elbows and
wrists to avoid developing
conditions such as
"carpal tunnel syndrome",
and other Repetitive Stress
Injuries (RSI). and
Cumulative Trauma Disorders
(CTD). We
at Ergo In Demand have
compiled for you some important health tips on
both issues. Check the links
that follow:
Ergonomic Adjustment of your
Keyboard Tray and
Ergonomic Aspects of using
Glare Filters and
Anti-Radiation Filters
Furthermore, you can find
comprehensive information on
LCD computer work practices
on our page
Computer Work Practices
as well as a large
bibliography on ergonomic
articles under
Ergonomic
Resources.
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