60 Hz in consoles doesn't seem to hurt my eyes

[Treason]

I've always been a computer person. I have never owned or played a console until I won the XBox360.

I own a CRT monitor. I always run it at 85 Hz. 60 Hz will strain my eyes and cause tearing if I look for long hours, especially web browsing. However, the XBox360 via the VGA cable outputs at 60 Hz on my monitor. I spent around 6 hours playing Kameo and Hexic HD staring at the monitor. I found that it didn't hurt my eyes at all. I don't know what it is, but is it the fact that there are no large empty spaces (white background) for the 60 Hz flicker to become noticeable?

Just my observation since it's really made my XBox360 experience enjoyable.

[Mathesar]

Yea I noticed the same thing with Xbox360 connected to my PC CRT, I dont notice the flicker during gaming ,I can sort of notice if Im looking for it while in the dashboard / xbox live menus but overall its not an issue at all.

[Edge]

Hmm, that's odd...this is one issue that I was somewhat worried about, so I'm glad to hear that it apparently isn't a problem. But it shouldn't be a lack of blank spaces that makes you not notice the flickering, even in full-screen PC games I notice a 60hz refresh rate right away.

[Greg]

The four main reasons TVs do now exhibit flicker like a PC monitor are:
1) The TV uses longer persistance phosphor so flicker blanking effect is reduced.
2) You sit further from TV.
3) The images on TV and console games are much larger relative to the screen size. Your eyes do not have to focus and strain as much on large images.
4) The TV is not usually black on white, so the flicker is reduced due to lower contrast.

In your case, your eyes can handle 85hz. Unfortunately my eyes are slightly more sensitive and I still feel tired at 85hz, and see flicker in peripheral vision. At 60hz, I feel pain almost instantly and have a headache ater 15mins. I always use 100-120hz to keep a pain free head. I envy friends at work who sit in front of 60hz, never adjusting it from the time they first used the monitor and not caring. On the good side, most new display technologies like LCD eliminate the flicker effect, helping to keep future display costs down.

[Medion]

The four main reasons TVs do now exhibit flicker like a PC monitor are:
1) The TV uses longer persistance phosphor so flicker blanking effect is reduced.
2) You sit further from TV.
3) The images on TV and console games are much larger relative to the screen size. Your eyes do not have to focus and strain as much on large images.
4) The TV is not usually black on white, so the flicker is reduced due to lower contrast.


He's talking about his CRT VGA monitor, not a television.

[Greg]

He's talking about his CRT VGA monitor, not a television.You're right. Apart from #1, those reasons still apply. I'd be interested to know if he sits 50cm away from his CRT screen as if using a PC? I used CRT monitors with console dev kits at work and TVs at home and in both cases, can't stand it for any length of time. I ran the xbox through video in (of a Radeon Allinwonder) and upsampled to 100hz.

[Treason]

Hi, in response to your query, I sit 60 cm (or more) away from my monitor when using a PC. It is a 22" CRT monitor running 1600x1200 at 85 Hz.