Quote:
Originally Posted by andavane
Thank you, Katsunami, about your experience of "front-lit" screen. That's what a Paperwhite is, is it? Am not quite sure of the difference between front-lit and back-lit really. Anyhow, that's a really good idea about turning the light down to zero, and then up till you just notice it. Good idea! I might try that, and could even try in combo with an external ereader light.
John
|
The Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, the Kobo Aura, Nook Glowlight, and all other e-Ink e-readers that "glow" use a front-light. All tablets, laptops, and LCD-monitors use a back-light. The difference is exactly what it says.
Front-light: In a front-lit device, the lights are in front of the screen. The light falls onto the screen (or the pages of a book, when you are using a book with an external reading light), and it reflects, therefore making the screen (or page) brighter. The light comes from an outside source.
Back-light: In a back-lit device, the lights are built into the screen, and they're behind it. They light it from inside to outside. Therefore, the screen does not reflect any light, as a front-lit screen or a book page would; the screen itself emits the light. In a back-lit device, the screen *is* the light source.
Difference: When you use a front-lit device, you are looking at the light reflected from the screen. You are not looking directly into the light source. When using a back-lit device, the light comes directly out of the screen, and so you are looking directly into the light source.
The front-light option is much more relaxing to read on for long periods of time.
Do: The reason why I'm suggesting to go from 0 upward and then JUST stop before the e-reader starts to look like an LCD-screen is quite obvious. At that point, you have reached the maximum brightness of the screen, before it starts reflecting more light than there is ambient light. The screen would then become (much) brighter than its surroundings. You are starting to effectively see the light coming from the e-reader, and that is not what you want. What you do want, is making the screen as bright as possible, *without* making the e-reader glow (or make it glow just a tiny bit, if you like that).
Do Not: If you make a front-light so strong that the reader actually starts glowing brightly, then looking at the light reflected from the page/screen is the same as looking into the light source itself. When that happens, the front-light looses its relaxing quality, and it effectively looks as if it's a back-light.
Avoid: Of course, this will happen very quickly when you are in very dark surroundings. It happens immediately, when you are in complete darkness. This is the reason why I don't like to read in very dark or completely dark surroundings, not even with a front-lit device. The darker your surroundings become, the more a front-light and back-light will start looking alike. This is because in darker or black surroundings, your e-reader will eventually become your main, or even only light source. If this happens, it doesn't matter anymore if the device is front-lit or back-lit. I avoid this whenever I can. I always want SOME ambient light if at all possible.
Of course, all in my honest opinion.