MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Is E-Ink Really Better for My Eyes than My iPad?

Sunspark · 08-28-2012, 10:30 PM

I have 2 e-ink devices here, a vizplex that can do 8 shades of grey, and a pearl that is current. Older is 5" and newer is 6". I could never get used to the 5" because the contrast was just too low that it was personally uncomfortable, I suppose a dud screen. I tried so many fonts to try and resolve it, but at the end of the day, I couldn't defeat the low contrast without access to a waveform calibration device. Also didn't love the hazy reflection of the matte coating.

The pearl is much higher contrast and the coating is better. I could read on the pearl but I don't because it is a gift for my partner, but curiously, she hasn't really been using it much at all though I have tried to encourage her to. If she doesn't use it come the fall, maybe I'll just take it for myself.

I have a HP Touchpad. I don't like reading from it because I find the screen too low resolution (1024x768) and the pulse width modulation isn't as fast as I would like it to be.

What we both use a lot however, are our iPhone 4Ses. The screen is 326 dpi, the small size keeps the eye in a specific area rather than making it go all over. I didn't think I would like it, but the 4S works really well for reading. PWM is set higher than on the Touchpad and I think what also helps is that due to the small size of the screen it's easier to deal with a small little 3.5" area rather than a much larger tablet or laptop area, in which case the e-ink devices would be better. I can share some tips here for extra comfort: 1) In the iBooks app I like to use Sepia theme with Iowan font, 2) Have auto-brightness on, but leave the brightness slider at 50% (or whatever you think best) because the way the slider works when auto-brightness is on, is that it represents a minimum brightness level not a maximum brightness level. So when the screen goes to sleep or you click it back on, yes the unlock screen is full brightness, but once you enter the homescreen or your app, the sensor takes a reading and adjusts the brightness to ambient conditions.. helps with reading. Most people get it reversed and have the slider to maximum thinking the AB control will lower the brightness but this is not so.

People who didn't find the tablets comfortable may find a smaller handheld device comfortable.

Never tried a PixelQi screen, they're quite rare but are out there.

08-28-2012, 10:30 PM	#63
Sunspark Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 2600 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: EZ Reader Pocket PRO	I have 2 e-ink devices here, a vizplex that can do 8 shades of grey, and a pearl that is current. Older is 5" and newer is 6". I could never get used to the 5" because the contrast was just too low that it was personally uncomfortable, I suppose a dud screen. I tried so many fonts to try and resolve it, but at the end of the day, I couldn't defeat the low contrast without access to a waveform calibration device. Also didn't love the hazy reflection of the matte coating. The pearl is much higher contrast and the coating is better. I could read on the pearl but I don't because it is a gift for my partner, but curiously, she hasn't really been using it much at all though I have tried to encourage her to. If she doesn't use it come the fall, maybe I'll just take it for myself. I have a HP Touchpad. I don't like reading from it because I find the screen too low resolution (1024x768) and the pulse width modulation isn't as fast as I would like it to be. What we both use a lot however, are our iPhone 4Ses. The screen is 326 dpi, the small size keeps the eye in a specific area rather than making it go all over. I didn't think I would like it, but the 4S works really well for reading. PWM is set higher than on the Touchpad and I think what also helps is that due to the small size of the screen it's easier to deal with a small little 3.5" area rather than a much larger tablet or laptop area, in which case the e-ink devices would be better. I can share some tips here for extra comfort: 1) In the iBooks app I like to use Sepia theme with Iowan font, 2) Have auto-brightness on, but leave the brightness slider at 50% (or whatever you think best) because the way the slider works when auto-brightness is on, is that it represents a minimum brightness level not a maximum brightness level. So when the screen goes to sleep or you click it back on, yes the unlock screen is full brightness, but once you enter the homescreen or your app, the sensor takes a reading and adjusts the brightness to ambient conditions.. helps with reading. Most people get it reversed and have the slider to maximum thinking the AB control will lower the brightness but this is not so. People who didn't find the tablets comfortable may find a smaller handheld device comfortable. Never tried a PixelQi screen, they're quite rare but are out there.