4 ms·

Also not an Apple engineer, but I have worked for a different FAANG. I've never used two monitors; I prefer one large monitor with the top edge of the screen as

• jacobolus 6y ago
  > top edge of the screen as close to eye level as possible. Lots of people seem to jack up their monitors on a stack of O'Reilly books or whatever, This was based on some (completely bogus) "ergonomics" advice which somehow worked its way into European office furniture standards and various official seeming guides. It is (wrong) conventional wisdom that the middle of the display should be at eye level. If you track down stuff written by anatomy and vision experts, you'll find that among static positions it is best (causes least neck and/or eye strain) to keep the top edge at approximately eye level, push the display as far away from the head as possible given the desk and general context (it is much easier to focus on something 1 meter away for an extended time than something 20 cm away), and tilt the display so that the bottom is closer than the top, so that a perpendicular ray from the middle of the display is roughly aimed at the face. But keep the head upright and supported directly above the spinal column with the back straight (not tilting the head forward/back or resting it on a fixed external support for extended periods of time). This physical arrangement works because human eyes are set up physiologically to easily swivel down and to focus closer and converge with less strain in the bottom part of the field of view than the top part. (Presumably because when we evolved looking down typically involved closer objects than looking straight ahead.) Eyes are great at looking alternately straight ahead or substantially downward without moving or tilting the head. (Personally I appreciate having a second physical display next to the first, though how useful it is depends on the task and software.)
  • wyclif 6y ago
    Another thing I forgot to mention is that if you are constantly tilting your head back so that your eyes are not on a level plane (looking up constantly), it increases eye strain because they've found that your tear ducts have to work harder to moisten your eyes. Another reason why setting up your monitor as you describe is better ergonomics.
    • MichaelZuo 6y ago
      “constantly tilting your head back” Can you clarify what that means as in the ideal case the head is not tilted forward to begin with.
      • jacobolus 6y ago
        It is more comfortable to look downward than look upward, while the head is in a fixed position. If you often need to look upward for longer than a glance, you are likely to tilt your head back a bit to relieve strain on eye muscles (trading it for strain on neck muscles). Often people compensate by resting their head on a headrest and leaning back against a back rest. Often this causes shoulder and back strain. Then they use an armrest or palmrest to type, causing RSI from static loads on bent wrists. There are two main ways to avoid static muscle loads that cause discomfort and long-term problems. One is to regularly change position. Another is to default to a neutral and comfortable basic position.
        • MichaelZuo 6y ago
          Do you know what the relative trade off is between eye muscle strain and neck muscle strain? Although intuitively the head is a lot heavier than the eyeballs the neck muscles should be much stronger to compensate. Perhaps the neck spinal column will be deformed after a while?
          • jacobolus 6y ago
            You can reduce both by lowering the display so that its top is roughly at eye level (or maybe up to 5° above or something), and tilting it backward a bit. Ideally you want to find a neutral position where there is as little static load on any of your muscles as possible (including the eye muscles used for accommodation (focusing), convergence, and turning your eyes around). Temporary dynamic muscle loads are fine, but static loads get tiring and lead to long-term problems.