Placing your monitors incorrectly can cause all manner of poor coping behaviors such as slouching, leaning, tilting your head, and just generally bad posture. This can have a long term impact on neck, back, and eye strain.
Proper height and positioning of your monitors is key for long term health and productivity.
Monitor Distance
It is actually strains your eyes to focus on objects that are too close. But if objects are too far then you can’t make out enough detail, for example reading text on a screen.
The optimal distance for everyone is slightly different. In general for humans with good vision, the optimal distance will be somewhere between 40 cm (15 in) and 75 cm (27 in). Those with 20/20 vision or lenses that have corrected their eyesight, you will want to start with the monitors farther away from you.
If you find yourself leaning in toward your monitor to read or make out a detail of an image, start by increasing the font size or default zoom instead of moving the monitors closer.
Monitor Height
The most common mistake people make is placing their monitors too high. The natural direction for your eyes to look is straight and slightly downward.
A good rule of thumb to follow is to make sure the top of the monitor is not higher than your eyes. Higher than your eyes when sitting with good posture that is.
If you want to get extra precise, you can break out the protractor. According to the CA Occupational Health Centre the ideal viewing angle is about 15 degrees downward. Obviously this varies from person to person. Experiment and find a height that allows you to view the whole screen comfortably without tilting your head.
Multiple Monitors
If you are serious about productivity, you have more than one monitor.
With two monitors that you use relatively equally, you should position them as close to each other as possible at the same height. Ideally they would be touching at the edges and would meet directly along your center vision line.
If you are using one much more than the other, place it as if you are using just one monitor. The second monitor should be turned at an angle but keep the same height and distance. It is recommended to place your secondary monitor on the side of your dominant eye.
If you don’t know which eye is dominant, with both eyes open point at a object about 10 ft away, then close one eye. If it still looks like you are pointing at the object, this is likely your dominant eye. If not, check the other one.
Monitor Arm Mounts
Often times it is hard to get your monitors at the right height with the stands they come with out of the box. Thankfully you can find monitor arm mounts that allow for a wide variety of heights, distances, and angles.
As a bonus, using these mounts often frees up space on your desk and gives it a cleaner, less cluttered feel.
Key Takeaways
In general you want your monitors further away and use larger fonts and zoom to make up for loss of clarity.
Your eyes naturally look down, so try to keep the top of your monitor no higher than eye level.
If you have two monitors that you use equally, try to place them and treat them like one big monitor. For a spare monitor, place it angled slightly on the side of your dominant eye.
Experiment some to determine the most natural height and distance.
Enjoy less neck, back and eye strain as you level up your workstation.