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In my office my seat is located at a point where almost anyone can view what's going on my screen. At times its irritating and to make it worse some people ogle at my screen when I do something unusual or something that's not a part of work.

Hope you got the picture.

Looking for some suggestions.

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  • You seem to be asking us how to get away with watching things at work that are "not safe for work." Seems like a question we shouldn't answer.
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Jan 22, 2020 at 12:17
  • I worked at a place where one employee had fashioned a privacy surround from a cardboard box, so the screen could only be seen if you were seated right in front of it. It was a CRT in those days so perhaps easier to make than for a flat screen. In that case it was because the work was genuine and to be kept confidential, but of course, you'll draw even more attention to yourself.
    – Weather Vane
    Jan 22, 2020 at 19:10
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    @ZeissIkon That's not the case exactly ! You are drawing a completely different picture. At work we are supposed to meet the deadlines its never a compulsion from the employer that you should work each and every second. Sometimes you want to releax yourself to increase your efficiency. I haven't seen an employee who works each and every second while in office.
    – Heisenberg
    Jan 23, 2020 at 3:52

2 Answers 2

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Use the polarizing filter of the monitor itself.

I suggest trying the following with an old laptop or LCD monitor first.

After dismantling, remove the outer layer from the monitor. Now the monitor is completely blank, and whatever is displayed invisible to the naked eye.
Find, make, or buy a frame for glasses, cut the shapes of the glasses out of the removed polarizing sheet, and place them into the frame.
Wearing these glasses - and provided not too many people start doing this - only you can see whatever takes place on your monitor.

Animated GIF showing the process

Here is a video showing the effect.

See also this answer on Physics.SE.

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  • 2
    I would not recommend that solution for any practical purpose. Maybe for shows...
    – virolino
    Jan 24, 2020 at 6:36
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    I am sure that while this sounds fun, your company - who is the owner of monitors - won’t be happy about this hack.
    – Stephie
    Jan 24, 2020 at 7:32
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    "provided not too many people start doing this" → many sunglasses also use linear polarization filters, so even people who don't deploy this hack might see something on the screen. (screen manufacturers are advised to polarize 45° wrt horizontal, such that one can always read from the screen, even when it's flipped into protrait/landscape orientation, so they won't have good readability but will see something and can just tilt their heads)
    – pseyfert
    Jan 24, 2020 at 17:49
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Use your favorite search engine and look for

monitor screen privacy filter

or similar. They are plastic sheets which you apply to the monitor (easily removable and re-appliable countless times) and they do exactly what you want. The person in front of the computer sees the proper image on the screens, everyone else will see black screens. Even a person actually sitting next to you will not be able to see anything.

I saw this technology two times:

  • one at the checks in the airport when I arrived to the US (my only visit). The clerk had his screen protected in this way, I only saw a black plastic;
  • a former boss of a boss had this; whenever he wanted someone else to see the image on the screen he would (physically) remove the plastic sheet, and reapply it later.

Most likely, you get some small adhesive (on half of the surface) plastic "hooks" (pretty much some small plastic thin squares) which you attach on the sides of the monitor permanently. Then the protector sheet goes in and out like a piece of paper into an envelope.

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    They are mandatory for all laptops and strongly recommend for all desk monitors in my company.
    – Stephie
    Jan 24, 2020 at 7:31

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