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Silhalnor · 09-08-2012, 01:42 PM

Why are LCDs harder on the eyes than eInk or paper? They both rely on light to show the user what is onscreen it is just that one does so by reflecting ambient light and the other emits it's own. I think it is because LCDs emit an amount of light that is not equal to the ambient lighting. Given that can't we adjust the light output to whatever the ambient light is? Perhaps using the webcam for automatic adjustment?
(Note that I am assuming the use of an LCD whose backlight can be adjusted to any level desired. In my laptop and, I expect, most LCDs I only have around 8 brightness options but this is a really simple problem to remedy by using a variable resistor so I am ignoring it.)

I have a Kindle DX and it is great to read on but I rarely use it because so much of my work requires a computer and most of my plain reading these days are actually from articles. I could convert those to ebooks but that would take longer than simply reading them. Thus I sometimes wonder what other options I have; is there conceivably any way to bring the ease of reading from LCD up to that of ebook readers? (Or alternately put an eInk display in my laptop but that still seems to be impractacal.)

Edit:
I found this article which says the actual cause may be a few other things.
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/te...my-ipad-966387
Apparently matte screens are better because they have less glare and "visual noise" (what does that mean?) which is a technology that eReaders use but not LCDs. Could this be adapted to LCDs?
There is also "quality of light" which is another term that I am unsure of. Apparently 'natural, reflected light' is inherently better than self-illumination? It doesn't explain why though. Maybe it can be emulated?

09-08-2012, 01:42 PM	#1
Silhalnor Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 748436 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: Kindle DX	Can LCDs be made easier to read from? Why are LCDs harder on the eyes than eInk or paper? They both rely on light to show the user what is onscreen it is just that one does so by reflecting ambient light and the other emits it's own. I think it is because LCDs emit an amount of light that is not equal to the ambient lighting. Given that can't we adjust the light output to whatever the ambient light is? Perhaps using the webcam for automatic adjustment? (Note that I am assuming the use of an LCD whose backlight can be adjusted to any level desired. In my laptop and, I expect, most LCDs I only have around 8 brightness options but this is a really simple problem to remedy by using a variable resistor so I am ignoring it.) I have a Kindle DX and it is great to read on but I rarely use it because so much of my work requires a computer and most of my plain reading these days are actually from articles. I could convert those to ebooks but that would take longer than simply reading them. Thus I sometimes wonder what other options I have; is there conceivably any way to bring the ease of reading from LCD up to that of ebook readers? (Or alternately put an eInk display in my laptop but that still seems to be impractacal.) Edit: I found this article which says the actual cause may be a few other things. http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/te...my-ipad-966387 Apparently matte screens are better because they have less glare and "visual noise" (what does that mean?) which is a technology that eReaders use but not LCDs. Could this be adapted to LCDs? There is also "quality of light" which is another term that I am unsure of. Apparently 'natural, reflected light' is inherently better than self-illumination? It doesn't explain why though. Maybe it can be emulated? Last edited by Silhalnor; 09-08-2012 at 02:27 PM. Reason: Additional information.