Quote:
Originally Posted by JD Gumby
Some people are just unable to understand that just because a problem doesn't affect *them* doesn't mean it doesn't affect others. Especially if they've found materials that seem to support their stance (in the case of this thread, materials that claim there is no significant flicker for LCD screens).
And I'm in the camp of those who get eyestrain and need, be it CRT or LCD, at least 70Hz vertical refresh to be at all comfortable reading high-contrast text - which is the vast majority of it on computers, especially on the Web where bright white backgrounds are the norm. Even then I need to take frequent breaks from reading and go watch a video or play a game to rest my eyes.
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And some people are unable to understand that reading text on a desktop or laptop screen is completely different from reading on a portable device designed for reading. For example:
- Most desktop and laptop monitors older than the past ~2 years have a cold cathode flourescent backlight, which has inherent flicker in the light source. All handheld reading devices (phones, Nooks and Fires, iPads, etc) have LED backlights with no flicker. Therefore you're simply not going to get flicker on static text. It's impossible.
- Desktop and laptop monitors have terrible resolution. They're usually around 100ppi, if not lower. At best, you might hit 140ppi. Ignoring iPad, all handheld reading devices are over 160-170ppi. This makes a significant difference.
- Ergonomics, lighting, sitting position, distance to screen, etc all factor in as well
In short, if your only experience is with reading on a PC, you do not have the context to judge reading on an LCD-based reader device. I'm not saying you won't have issues with it. Plenty of people do, and plenty of devices have problems (older iPads with 132ppi resolution, cheap Chinese 7" Android tablets running 800x480 with 132ppi resolution, non-IPS screens, lack of granular backlight adjustments, lack of color configuration in reader apps, poor font rendering, access to Angry Birds and Facebook when you should be reading, etc). But throwing out an entire technology just because you've had a poor experience with a loosely-related application seems short-sighted (pun intended?).