Founded | 1992 |
---|---|
Founder | Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (TCO) |
Area served | Globally |
Parent | Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (TCO) |
Website | tcocertified |
Footnotes /references [1] |
The TCO Certified certification was initially created by the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (TCO) to guarantee that computer products purchased by employers maintain ecological standards and were sufficiently ergonomic to prevent long term health issues for users. It became known during the 1990s as a certification for computer displays. Dating back to 1992, TCO is one of the oldest certifications for end user electronics. [1]
In the early 1980s, the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (TCO), a worker's union, foresaw that computers would become an important work utility and sought to establish ergonomic and radiation standards for computer displays to protect their members from health issues by daily use. Back then, the increasing use of computers and monitors in white collar work environments caused widespread complaints from employees experiencing visual fatigue and visual stress during after-work hours (also called "VDU sickness") due to extensive use of visual display units. In fact, early generations of computer displays were frequently related to eye strains and headache due to flickering, jitter and radiation. [2] [3] [4] In 1986, TCO published a basic list of requirements and test protocols to verify if a display was fit for continuous daily use as a help for employers to choose the right hardware for work places. [5]
The test became an early success and was translated into multiple languages and used also by unions in other countries to push for a more ergonomic work environment. [6] The success of the display checklist resulted in the foundation of TCO Certified, a spin-off by the TCO Union headed by Per Erik Boivie and Peter Magnusson, among others, with the goal of creating an international certification and standards to be implemented directly by manufacturers. Starting with TCO'92 in 1992, the TCO certification minimum standards for emissions, jittering and electronic safety for computer monitors. Later on, the standards into other product categories such as peripherals and the computer itself. [7] [1]
TCO publishes new guidelines every 3 to 4 years. The standards expanded from covering only computer monitors in 1992 to a wide array of devices today. [8]
TCO Certified is available for the following products: displays, notebooks, tablets, smartphones, desktops, all-in-one PCs, projectors, headsets, and data center products: network equipment, data storage products and servers. [9]
Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include headaches and eye strain. Severe near-sightedness is associated with an increased risk of retinal detachment, cataracts, and glaucoma.
ISO 9241 is a multi-part standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) covering ergonomics of human-computer interaction. It is managed by the ISO Technical Committee 159. It was originally titled Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs). From 2006 onwards, the standards were retitled to the more generic Ergonomics of Human System Interaction.
TCO may refer to:
ViewSonic Corporation is a Taiwanese-American privately held multinational electronics company with headquarters in Brea, California, United States and a research & development center in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
The Confederation of Professional Employees is a national trade union centre, the umbrella organisation for 13 trade unions in Sweden that organise professional and other qualified employees in both the private and the public sectors. The affiliated trade unions represent about 1.1 million employees. In 2018, the TCO affiliated unions made up 37% of all active trade union members in Sweden, making the confederation the second largest of Sweden's three major confederations. The largest TCO affiliate is Unionen with 551,000 active members in 2018. TCO is independent and not affiliated to any political party in Sweden. TCO is an affiliate of the European Trade Union Confederation and Eurocadres.
The human eye is a sensory organ, part of the sensory nervous system, that reacts to visible light and allows humans to use visual information for various purposes including seeing things, keeping balance, and maintaining circadian rhythm.
Ecolabels and Green Stickers are labeling systems for food and consumer products. The use of ecolabels is voluntary, whereas green stickers are mandated by law; for example, in North America major appliances and automobiles use Energy Star. They are a form of sustainability measurement directed at consumers, intended to make it easy to take environmental concerns into account when shopping. Some labels quantify pollution or energy consumption by way of index scores or units of measurement, while others assert compliance with a set of practices or minimum requirements for sustainability or reduction of harm to the environment. Many ecolabels are focused on minimising the negative ecological impacts of primary production or resource extraction in a given sector or commodity through a set of good practices that are captured in a sustainability standard. Through a verification process, usually referred to as "certification", a farm, forest, fishery, or mine can show that it complies with a standard and earn the right to sell its products as certified through the supply chain, often resulting in a consumer-facing ecolabel.
The Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is a non-profit network composed of some 29 ecolabel organisations throughout the world representing nearly 60 countries and territories, with two associate members and a growing number of affiliate members, one of which is Google. GEN members have certified over 252,000 products and services for environmental leadership. GEN was established in 1994.
Vision therapy (VT), or behavioral optometry, is an umbrella term for alternative medicine treatments using eye exercises, based around the pseudoscientific claim that vision problems are the true underlying cause of learning disabilities, particularly in children. Vision therapy has not been shown to be effective using scientific studies, except for helping with convergence insufficiency. Most claims—for example that the therapy can address neurological, educational, and spatial difficulties—lack supporting evidence. Neither the American Academy of Pediatrics nor the American Academy of Ophthalmology support the use of vision therapy.
Eye strain, also known as asthenopia, is a common eye condition that manifests through non-specific symptoms such as fatigue, pain in or around the eyes, blurred vision, headache, and occasional double vision. Symptoms often occur after long-term use of computers, digital devices, reading or other activities that involve extended visual tasks which are broadly classified into external and internal symptom factors.
Convergence insufficiency is a sensory and neuromuscular anomaly of the binocular vision system, characterized by a reduced ability of the eyes to turn towards each other, or sustain convergence.
Fixation disparity is a tendency of the eyes to drift in the direction of the heterophoria. While the heterophoria refers to a fusion-free vergence state, the fixation disparity refers to a small misalignment of the visual axes when both eyes are open in an observer with normal fusion and binocular vision. The misalignment may be vertical, horizontal or both. The misalignment is much smaller than that of strabismus. While strabismus prevents binocular vision, fixation disparity keeps binocular vision, however it may reduce a patient's level of stereopsis. A patient may or may not have fixation disparity and a patient may have a different fixation disparity at distance than near. Observers with a fixation disparity are more likely to report eye strain in demanding visual tasks; therefore, tests of fixation disparity belong to the diagnostic tools used by eye care professionals: remediation includes vision therapy, prism eye glasses, or visual ergonomics at the workplace.
ThinkVision displays are high-end computer monitors manufactured, designed and developed by IBM and Lenovo.
In optometry, the least distance of distinct vision (LDDV) or the reference seeing distance (RSD) is the closest someone with "normal" vision (20/20 vision) can comfortably look at something. In other words, LDDV is the minimum comfortable distance between the naked human eye and a visible object.
ISO 13406-2 is an ISO standard, with the full title "Ergonomic requirements for work with visual displays based on flat panels -- Part 2: Ergonomic requirements for flat panel displays". It is best known to end consumers for defining a series of flat-panel display "classes" with different numbers of permitted defects. ISO 13406-2 also provides a classification of Viewing Direction Range Classes and Reflection Classes.
Dapiprazole is an alpha-1 blocker. It is used to reverse mydriasis after eye examination.
Brian A. Barsky is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, working in computer graphics and geometric modeling as well as in optometry and vision science. He is a Professor of Computer Science and Vision Science and an Affiliate Professor of Optometry. He is also a member of the Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering, an inter-campus program, between UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco.
Human factors and ergonomics is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goals of human factors engineering are to reduce human error, increase productivity and system availability, and enhance safety, health and comfort with a specific focus on the interaction between the human and equipment.
Accommodative infacility also known as accommodative inertia is the inability to change the accommodation of the eye with enough speed and accuracy to achieve normal function. This can result in visual fatigue, headaches, and difficulty reading. The delay in accurate accommodation also makes vision blurry for a moment when switching between distant and near objects. The duration and extent of this blurriness depends on the extent of the deficit.
Apple Inc. has received praise and criticism for its environmental practices. Since 2018, Apple exclusively uses renewable energy for its offices, data centers, and retail stores. The company has also announced plans to make its supply chain and products carbon neutral by 2030. In addition to reducing its carbon footprint, Apple has also reduced the use of hazardous chemicals in its products, and increased the use of recycled materials in its products. Apple also introduced trade-in and recycling programs in its Stores. Criticism of Apple primarily centers around its use of raw materials in manufacturing, and the amount of e-waste created by its products.
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