Resting positions of vergence and their relation to asthenopic complaints.

Dark vergence is a resting position of vergence, measured in a dark visual field to eliminate fusional, accommodative, and proximal stimuli. Dark vergence differs among subjects: the average subject converges to a viewing distance of about 1 m, while the inter-individual range is from infinity to about 40 cm. This paper reviews previous ergonomic studies on dark vergence in relation to asthenopic complaints that occur when working at near computer screens: subjects with distant dark vergence exert more convergence and experience stronger asthenopic complaints than subjects with near dark vergence. The dissociated phoria, a common clinical measure of resting vergence, is only weakly correlated with asthenopic complaints, probably because of accommodative influences that cause the difference between dark vergence and dissociated phoria.

Objective vs subjective measurements of dark vergence.

Dark vergence is a resting position of vergence (tonic vergence), measured in a dark visual field to eliminate fusional, accommodative, and proximal stimuli. The vergence resting position is relevant for measures of phoria and fixation disparity. Dark vergence differs reliably among subjects: the average subject converges at a viewing distance of about 1 m, while the inter-individual range is from infinity to about 40 cm. In previous research, dark vergence was measured subjectively, i.e. observers adjusted the horizontal offset of dichoptically presented nonius targets to perceived alignment. Results of such subjective vergence tests do not necessarily agree with those of the objective measurements of eye position with eye trackers. Therefore, we made simultaneous subjective and objective measurements of dark vergence and found similar results with both methods in repeated tests in two sessions. Thus, the nonius test is sufficient for a subjective estimation of dark vergence.