A Research on Curved Display Comparing to Flat Display Regarding Posture, Tilt Angle, Focusing Area and Satisfaction

Objective: This study is conducted on the differences between flat and curved displays with respect to location of focused points, posture and satisfaction as well as preferred tilt angles. Background: In order to avoid physical and eye fatigue caused by misplayed sitting posture, many studies have asserted that the display requires appropriate location, size and tilt angle as well as curvature. However, most studies have focused on the work environment and the results are varied in the extent. Method: Eye height data in sitting posture were collected from 30 participants. Participants selected the most comfortable viewing angle within the range from 0° to 12° while watching videos for both curved and flat display. Then, physical and eye fatigue and overall satisfaction were subjectively evaluated. Lateral diagram describing viewing display condition was set and used to develop linear models for expecting the preferred tilt angle. Results: Due to sitting in the natural viewing posture rather than upright, the eye height is lowered to about 4.6 centimeters, on average, for both displays showing no significant differences. In contrast, preferred angles for the two displays are significantly different and this can be interpreted that curvature vary the points focused. Two linear models as functions of sitting eye height are developed to expect preferred tilt angle for each display. Based on the result of overall satisfaction evaluation, curved display is statistically better than flat display. Conclusion: The results show that flat and curved displays are significantly different expect for the viewing posture. However, reasons for preferring curved display are not accurately factorized and the linear models are limited in the experiment condition such as size of display, distance between display and viewer and other physical environmental factors. Further studies on curved displays under more various conditions are required. Application: This study can contribute to use of the curved display in various way.