What Is Glare? Causes and Ways to Reduce It

In today’s digital world, many people spend long hours using computer monitors, laptops, and mobile screens. Prolonged use of digital devices can contribute to Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), also known as digital eye strain. 

Common symptoms include eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision, dry eyes, and neck or shoulder pain. According to the American Optometric Association(AOA), these symptoms may result from poor lighting, glare on digital screens, improper viewing distances, poor seating posture, uncorrected vision problems, or a combination of these factors. 

Among these factors, glare is often underestimated. It does not only occur when a light source feels excessively bright. Glare can also result from light entering your eyes directly, reflecting from the screen, or creating a large brightness difference between the display and its surroundings. 

Understanding these different forms of glare is an important first step toward creating a more visually comfortable screen-based workspace. By controlling lighting and reducing glare around the screen, users can create conditions that better support extended computer use.

According to the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), glare is a visual condition that causes discomfort or reduces the ability to see details or objects clearly due to an unsuitable distribution or range of luminance, or extreme luminance contrasts.

In a screen-based workspace, glare can occur when light enters your eyes directly, reflects off a monitor or another glossy surface, or creates a large brightness difference between the screen and its surroundings. Directional light reflected from display screens is also recognized as a common source of glare in workplaces. 

Not all glare comes from the same lighting problem. To reduce it effectively, it is important to identify whether the issue is caused by a visible light source, reflected light, or an imbalance in brightness. In computer workspaces, these conditions can generally be understood as three types: 

❶ Direct glare: Light enters your eyes directly from a bright source.

❷ Reflected glare: Light reflects from the monitor, desk, or another surface into your eyes.

❸ Contrast glare: The screen is significantly brighter than the surrounding environment.

Direct glare occurs when light from a bright source enters your eyes directly or remains within your field of view. Common sources include exposed bulbs, overhead lighting, sunlight from a nearby window, or a desk lamp positioned too close to eye level. 

Even when you are not looking directly at the light source, excessive brightness within your field of view can make it harder to focus comfortably on the screen. This may cause squinting, visual discomfort, or difficulty maintaining concentration during extended computer use.

Reflected glare occurs when light bounces off a monitor, glossy desk, printed material, or another reflective surface before reaching your eyes.  

On a computer screen, reflections can reduce contrast, obscure details, and make text or images harder to see. Users may respond by changing posture, tilting the monitor, or increasing screen brightness to compensate, which can create additional discomfort during extended work.

Contrast glare occurs when the screen is much brighter than its surroundings. This is especially common when using a bright monitor in a dark or dimly lit room.

According to All About Vision, pupils dilate in low-light conditions to allow more light into the eyes. Similar to a wider camera aperture, a larger pupil reduces depth of field, which can make fine screen details appear less sharp. Combined with the strong brightness difference between the display and its surroundings, this may make prolonged screen use feel more visually demanding. 

Once the source of glare is identified, the next step is to choose a lighting solution that addresses the specific imbalance. Direct and reflected glare are mainly caused by uncontrolled light direction, while contrast glare comes from an excessive brightness difference between the screen and its surroundings.

Direct and reflected glare can both be reduced by controlling where light travels. The CIE defines direct glare as glare caused by bright objects within the visual field, particularly near the line of sight. Workplace guidance from OSHA also recommends using shielded lighting and positioning task lights so that light is directed away from the user’s eyes and does not reflect on the screen. 
 
Asymmetrical lighting applies this principle by directing light forward and downward onto the working surface instead of allowing it to spread toward the user or display. By keeping the brightest part of the beam below eye level and away from the screen, it helps reduce direct brightness and visible reflections while still illuminating the keyboard, documents, and desk surface.

Contrast glare requires a different approach. Instead of controlling only where the front light falls, the goal is to reduce the excessive brightness difference between the screen and its surrounding environment. 

OSHA notes that high contrast between light and dark areas around a computer workstation can contribute to eye fatigue and headaches. Display-screen workplace guidance also recommends maintaining an appropriate contrast between the screen and its background.  

Bias lighting supports this principle by placing a soft light behind the monitor to gently illuminate the wall or surrounding area without shining directly onto the screen. This helps create a more balanced field of view, particularly when working in a dark or dimly lit room.

The right glare-reducing solution also depends on how your monitors are arranged. With a single monitor, lighting mainly needs to illuminate the desk while keeping light away from one screen surface and the user’s eyes. 

As the setup becomes wider or more complex, controlling the light becomes more difficult. Dual-monitor setups may include screens angled inward, positioned at different heights, or arranged in horizontal and vertical orientations. These variations create more reflective surfaces and make it harder to illuminate the center gap and both sides of the workspace evenly. 

For this reason, effective dual-monitor lighting requires more than simply using a brighter or wider lamp. It needs precise light direction and consistent coverage across the full working area.

ScreenBar Halo 2 and ScreenBar Max both combine controlled front lighting with rear backlighting to help reduce direct, reflected, and contrast glare, with each model designed for a different monitor setup.

ScreenBar Halo 2 is designed for single-screen setups, including curved and ultrawide monitors. Its 24° adjustable lamp head allows users to fine-tune the front light direction based on monitor height, seating position, and desk depth, while its rear light helps create a more balanced lighting environment around the display.

ScreenBar Max is designed for wider and more complex dual-monitor arrangements. Its broader light distribution helps illuminate the center gap and both sides of the desk more evenly, including setups with angled screens, different monitor heights, or horizontal and vertical combinations.

Reducing glare is not simply about making a workspace brighter. Effective screen lighting needs to keep light away from the eyes and displays while maintaining a more balanced brightness environment around the monitor. 

The right solution also depends on the complexity of your setup. ScreenBar Halo 2 is designed for single, curved, and ultrawide monitors, while ScreenBar Max provides more precise light control and broader coverage for dual-monitor workspaces.

By choosing lighting that fits both the type of glare and the monitor arrangement, you can create a screen-based workspace that is clearer, more comfortable, and better suited to extended use.

The three main types of glare are:

• Direct glare: Light comes directly from a bright source within your field of view.

• Reflected glare: Light bounces off a screen or another reflective surface before reaching your eyes.

• Contrast glare: The screen is significantly brighter than its surrounding environment.

Position lights so they do not shine directly into your eyes or reflect on the display. Asymmetrical lighting can help direct light onto the desk while keeping it away from the screen, while bias lighting (backlighting) can reduce excessive brightness contrast around the monitor.

A dark room doesn‘t necessarily create direct or reflected glare, but it can increase contrast glare when the screen is much brighter than the surrounding environment. Adding soft ambient or bias lighting behind the monitor can help balance this brightness difference. 

Lighting designed to control both light direction and brightness balance can help reduce glare around a monitor.  
 
A monitor light bar can direct light onto the desk while keeping it away from the user’s eyes and display, while a dual monitor desk lamp provides more precise control and wider coverage for more complex two-screen setups. Models with rear backlighting can also help reduce contrast glare by balancing the brightness around the screen.