MBP retina eye strain/adjustment issues. Will I get used to it?

I haven't experienced any eye strain using my rMBP. I've had it for 3 weeks. I don't use any of the scaled resolutions. Just the 'Best for Retina' resolution.

The glare is less on the rMBP than the glossy MBPs.

My parents got a new 3D TV to replace one they had that was flawed (SONY replaced the flawed TV with an equivalent size but better one for customer satisfaction), and I can't stand it: When viewing 2D material, it uses this technology to enhance moving objects against more stationary background objects in an attempt to make even 2D images look somewhat 3D, or, put another way, "for better picture quality". The problem is it messes with my eyes -- and apparently only mine, of my family -- that I cannot adapt to the way they're altering the image: It looks to me like the image becomes distorted with the moving object sliding somewhat across the screen in a warped kind of way. (I can't quite articulate it, but I notice visual distortion of the image relating to movement.)

I've got no experience with the new MacBook "retina" displays, but it could similarly be that you have a problem where others don't, due to particular physiology.

I never use new technology unless it's necessary, solves some problem (without introducing more), or I have no choice. I would recommend taking it back and getting something simpler. Generally, the less technology we use, the better off we are ...

You may be not used to how font smoothing takes place on a Mac, or the color calibration, or the brightness of the backlight, or if you have any light that glares on the screen, that could cause you problems. Try not to have light shining into the screen from any angle. Apple menu -> System preferences -> General lets you adjust the font size smoothing takes place. Apple menu -> System preferences -> Displays lets you adjust both the screen resolution, brightness and the color temperature of the display. Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Universal Access lets you adjust a black on white, versus a white on black interface for the windows, magnification of the screen area, and even give you text to speech for screen areas. If you wear glasses, it may be time for a better perscription that isn't as sensitive to light.

I think the problem is not the resolution itself but how tiny text becomes as you use higher resolution settings. It's like reading a screen on a far away desk.

Hey, (name's Ben),

I bought my retina macbook pro too recently and I have experienced the same problem.

I openned a post/discussion on it today, since I hadn't gone by yours .

I wondering if other people have the same problem.

Will try to come back to keep you updated if I get anything.

Let me know also, if you have anything new or any new suggestion

on how to handle the problem.

Ben

I have the same problem with my retina macbook pro, a lot of eye strain and just feels weird looking at the screen. I've tried brightness settings and different resolutions but the only thing that helps a little is to dim the screen way down. A few years ago I experieneced this with a 13" MacBook, but since then I haven't had a problem with any other mac (including the high resolution macbook pro). I really hope it is just a software setting and not a display issue.

Not sure if this helps but you can paste this command into terminal to determine the manufacture of the display. Mine is an LG. If the number starts with LSN its a Samsung, if it starts with LP - its an LG.

ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

When I first got my MBP Retina in June I experienced eye strain and then it just went away, returning once in a while, but generally not an issue anymore. Was not looking at text any different size than my old 15" MBP. Glare is definitely reduced on the newer machine.

Did not have this problem at all with the Retina iPad.

When my 15" Early 2008 MBP croaked last Dec. (1280x800 native), I insisted as always on having an antiglare screen. So widescreen it had to be perforce (1680x1050 native). The first few days were daunting, but I eventually got used to it after fiddlng with the brightness and gamma adjustments.

With a Retina (2880x1800 native on 15"), it is evidently unusable at that resolution for working with text. I would suggest 1440x900, which is an exact multiple of native resolution, as the next best thing for clear and readable text. Else it would have to be an approximation resulting in blurry edges and possibly even slower video performance.

If you use eyeglasses, there are a number of advanced lenses in the market nowadays (Essilor comes to mind) that have extraordinarily good antiglare options that help too.

I have no problem with eye strain or glare and I use this machine 8+ hours per day. I also expose full native resolution for the display but I will use HiDpi resolutions when I need to work with text and don't require the extra workspace.

PS: I have a samsung display and having seen a LG display side by side it is much better. I have also recently had the screen replaced by apple and they replaced the screen with a samsung panel also. I don't know if it is panel related but maybe you are barking up the right tree.