Quote:
Originally Posted by pl001
This makes perfect sense as the Nook Color has better contrast and resolution plus better readability in dim light than the e-enk Nook. According to jocampo's own source these are main causes of eye strain on computing devices. And because of this, in 95% of MY reading conditions the Color causes less strain.
The only thing that would cause more eye strain on the Nook Color vs e-ink would be glare or too much screen brightness. I think the complaints about eye strain can pretty much all be traced back to these two issues. And they are valid reasons. Simply saying "LCD causes more eye strain" is not.
edit: I should also mention that even though the Color causes less strain for me, overall I still prefer the look of reading on e-ink. It's just more like a book and I like that. But with all the extra functionality of the Color, steering back on topic here, I feel it is indeed worth it.
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I'm happy you like your NC (as I do mine) but I felt that there was a bit of inconsistency in your post, maybe because you're in the "in love" stage with your NC. I'm a gadget person so I totally get exuberant about my new toys as well, so please don't think I'm trying to judge you etc..and of course I could be totally wrong...onto my points:
I'm curious..what do you mean by resolution? In my mind, resolution doesn't matter for readability, pixel density does.
For example, say you have two screens, one has a resolution of 1000pixels and is 10" wide. The other screen has a resolution of 1000pixels and is 5" wide. Which one do you think will appear sharper? I'd say (given a font of comfortable size on each device, and a comfortable distance to your eyes) the one with the 5" screen because you are packing the same "resolution" of pixels into a tighter area.
EInk "looks" to have greater density, especially on my main eInk reader the Sony PRS-350. This is a small screen with what appears to be very high pixel density.
If you look closely at eink the letters look mostly smooth, just like laser printed on paper. If you look at the Nook Color letters closely, they are fuzzy and "smoothed" using font smoothing technology for the LCD screen. They are more spread out over a larger area and less sharp. That's why the eInk (latest generation) readers are easier on my eyes. Add to that the huge amounts of glare on the Nook color and eink has another advantage.
Also, if as you suggest the Nook Color is better because it has "better contrast" (your first paragraph) then why do so many people with the NC (me included) turn the contrast ALL THE WAY DOWN in order to make it easier to read? That would suggest that the Nook Color has TOO MUCH contrast and that makes it hard for people to read. If you look around these forums you will see quite a few people wishing they could turn the brightness down even further. You even in your next paragraph state that you believe that most complaints about eye strain are because of people having the screen too bright (as if they haven't found the brightness control yet..
).
Actually from your post, it looks like you read with the brightness turned DOWN..so even you like less contrast?
One other thing..you also state the Nook Color has better readability in dim light..but you forgot the other half of the sentence..."and worse readability in bright light" (actually pretty much no readability in sunlight).
I would also say, saying LCD causes more eye strain is reasonable based on the options available to us presently. Too many people complain about eye fatigue with LCD monitors..again, check with the HR department of any medium to large company, or if you don't believe my statement, at least tell us your experiences with large companies and lots of LCD's. Perhaps my experience is an anomaly. When my eyes are tired from LCD's I can still read comfortably for hours on eInk.
Having said all of that, it comes down to..some ppl will have no issues with the nook screen (oh yeah, how do you keep fingerprints off of it?..) and some will. I have not seen many people complaining about eye fatigue with eink devices, in fact people have flocked to Kindles in droves..partly because of their readability. Also, I had a nook and while it's eink was decent, it's not as nice as the latest generation pearl eink screens in the kindle and sony (both of which I have).