Is there any way to brighten the screen?

[jmcs1]

I have just purchased my first E-Reader and am wondering if there is any way to brighten the background. Do all e-readers have this grey background when they are not backlit? I feel like I am reading in a very dark room. It is quite hard on the eyes.

[jmcs1]

Originally Posted by jmcs1

I have just purchased my first E-Reader and am wondering if there is any way to brighten the background. Do all e-readers have this grey background when they are not backlit? I feel like I am reading in a very dark room. It is quite hard on the eyes.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it is a Kobo Touch.

[The Terminator]

Yes, they all do. Maybe try reading with a better light source.

[siraks]

there is no back light on an eink device. they're set up to mimic reading a book not a pc like device with an lcd or similar screen.

[jmcs1]

I knew there was no backlight, but I thought the background would be whiter.

I have to admit that so far, I prefer reading on my iphone with the Kindle app, even though the screen is half the size. (The Kindle app responds to touch much better than the Kobo).

We'll see. I will try it for a week and in the meantime check out other readers.

[siraks]

the kobo responds fine. if you've never had another ereader then you'll realize that actions aren't instantaneous. they need to refresh, that's why your phone is faster with actions because the lcd doesn't have to refresh.

[Psyke]

Originally Posted by jmcs1

I knew there was no backlight, but I thought the background would be whiter.

I have to admit that so far, I prefer reading on my iphone with the Kindle app, even though the screen is half the size. (The Kindle app responds to touch much better than the Kobo).

We'll see. I will try it for a week and in the meantime check out other readers.

E-ink devices are much more suited for outdoor/bright settings, particularly compared to LCD backlit devices, and will deliver much brighter reading in those types of environments. When in darker environments, like most regular books, a reading light is highly recommended.

The apps on portable phones/computers will definitely respond better than e-ink devices because they are computers and don't have the refresh limitations that e-ink does right now, however, when outside, the picture will be washed out and darkened compared to the e-ink.

each have their strengths and weaknesses, and while I've read my books on my Blackberry app when I have a quick spare moment, I definitely prefer the e-ink device overall.

[jmcs1]

What I meant to say was that the Kindle app is much better than the Kobo app for the iphone. The Kobo app is a bit sluggish, and I find the Touch e-reader actually responds better than the Kobo iphone app.

Probably the ideal reader for me would be a ipad, but I like the price of the Touch better.

[SensualPoet]

Apart from the obvious advice about ensuring you have a decent light source -- exactly the same advice as you might have for reading a paper book -- the extra benefit is the ability to ratchet up the font size a notch or two in dimmer conditions.