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[Chopin Trusty Balls]

The question i was asking myself for a long time: Does GBASP damage eyes?
I mean i was playing Fire Embled looking at all the small details on characters and thats where i asked myself.

Are there any studies about it?

 

[Ranger X]

play and don't mind your eyes

 

[nubbe]

tiny pixels kill your eyes

all the tiny text here is also bad for you

 

[Funky Papa]

Just sue Nintendo and let the judge decide

 

[Chopin Trusty Balls]

Just sue Nintendo and let the judge decide

Bingo,i only need smash someones skull with a GBASP first,then tell them Yoshi ordered me to do so.

 

[GDGF]

This is similar to asking if reading books damages your eyes. Lots of small text in those books too.


In other words...huh?

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Being close to the TV and playing GBASP does not hurt your eyes, no matter what your grandma told ya. If you have bad vision, then blame her.

However, playing GBASP, watching TV at a close range and shoving a fork in your eye at the same time will negatively affect your vision. Draw your own conclusions.

 

[God's Hand]

LCD panels don't damage eyes at all. Like the guy above said, reading a book up close isn't damaging. You have nothing to worry about. Besides, GBA:SP's screen brightness is pathetic in comparison to upcoming LCD panels (50,000:1 contrast ratio... almost enough to blind you).

 

[Chopin Trusty Balls]

Ah,okay *back to GBASP*

 

[emerge]

Well, that's not entirely true. Recent studies show that shortsightedness is more common nowadays than it was two decades or three decades ago. This observation is attributed to people spending more and more time in front of monitors - when the primary focus of your eyes for 8 hrs a day is only 2 feet away you are prone to adaption. Maybe this is not so bad though, might help to offset presbyopia.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Its only damaging if you look at it for hours without looking elsewhere, its because your iris will be dilluted or whatever is the english word for it and if it remains like that for long periods, it can "start" to have permanent effects since it will think that being dilluted at close proximity is "normal". Its something that can take years before seeing any changes.

Just take some breaks here and there and look outside the window, the horizon and try to see as far as you can, then resume gaming.

Its not just GBA SP, its anything, books, monitors, TVs. Gameboys are mostly nasty because you fix a very small area which means you barely move your eyes.

 

[Chopin Trusty Balls]

Aha,thanks guys

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Well, that's not entirely true. Recent studies show that shortsightedness is more common nowadays than it was two decades or three decades ago. This observation is attributed to people spending more and more time in front of monitors - when the primary focus of your eyes for 8 hrs a day is only 2 feet away you are prone to adaption. Maybe this is not so bad though, might help to offset presbyopia.

Most nearsightedness is caused by a natural variation in the shape of the eyeball that makes it egg-shaped rather than round. This causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on the retina. Nearsightedness is usually inherited. If one or both parents are nearsighted, their children are likely to be nearsighted as well.

Many people believe that too much close work, such as reading or sitting too close to the television, causes nearsightedness. Until recently there has been little evidence to support this belief. However, a recent study suggests that people whose professions involve large amounts of reading have higher degrees of nearsightedness.1

Other than the natural variation in the shape of the eyeball, there are a few rare causes of nearsightedness:

http://my.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/hw124119.asp

That would suggest that reading to close worsens the condition but doesn't cause it. And it doesn't prove a direct link. What's not to say all the smart nerdy kids happen to have a family history of bad eyesight, and the professions lend a bias to selection.

That and the fact that myopia will stabilze usually:

Nearsightedness most commonly begins in childhood or the early teens, between the ages of 8 and 14. Most children are born slightly farsighted, but this is corrected by the normal growth and lengthening of the eyeball during childhood. However, if the eye grows so long that light rays focus in front of the retina instead of directly on it, the child becomes nearsighted.

* During the teenage years, as the eyeballs continue to grow, nearsightedness may develop or worsen quickly. Teenagers may need new glasses every 12 months or even more often.
* Nearsightedness usually stops getting worse by age 14 to 16 in women, and by the mid 20s in men.
* Most nearsightedness stabilizes at a mild to moderate level (less than 6 diopters).

It kinda contradicts the theory that professions where reading small print is prevelant causes worse myopia. Wouldn't the myopia not stabilize during the years when you are a professional or worsen, (ie 20+)? Either way, the biggest reason is your family history. Your mom and dad were four-eyes, then you'll be also.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Well, that's not entirely true. Recent studies show that shortsightedness is more common nowadays than it was two decades or three decades ago. This observation is attributed to people spending more and more time in front of monitors - when the primary focus of your eyes for 8 hrs a day is only 2 feet away you are prone to adaption. Maybe this is not so bad though, might help to offset presbyopia.

Well you have to remember, there's no longer a stigma to wearing glasses. Many people 20 or 30 years ago with borderline myopia may have not bothered getting glasses or even getting an examination. With what passed for "spectacle fashion" back then, I wouldn't blame them.

Myopia is primarily a hereditary defect, it is after all a change in shape of the cornea. Monitors won't cause that.

The only thing staring at a monitor can do is give you eye strain, which with a good night's sleep will be rectified. The only thing I can think of that would have an adverse affect would be if you have a tendency to dry eyes. People concentrating on something tend to not blink as often. But even then, there shouldn't be any permanent damage.

So keep playing away on your SP, nothing bad is going to happen.

 

[FortNinety]

Well it can't be any worse that a game of Virtual Boy; after five minutes of that shooter game (forget its name) I always got a headache.

 

[Gattsu25]

heh...playing the GBA in the dark makes my eyes irritated

 

[radios shipping overview]

The more important battle for me was GBASP vs. hands. My hands lost.

 

[Chopin Trusty Balls]

The more important battle for me was GBASP vs. hands. My hands lost.

weaksouce!

 

[explodet]

Well it can't be any worse that a game of Virtual Boy; after five minutes of that shooter game (forget its name) I always got a headache.

That's because the Virtual Boy NEEDS YOUR EYES

That headache is the visor actually trying to extract your eyes from their sockets.

 

[Dyne]

I find it funny. Here I've been, looking at a monitor or a screen for 8+ hours a day, since I was at least 6.. and I've had 20x20 vision ever since. I'm living proof of the fact you won't be affected. I don't feel strain at all.

 

[cvxfreak]

I've become more farsighted over the years, so now I have distance glasses. But it ain't that bad really.