MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Have e-Readers been superseded by Tablets and Phones

Yapyap · 08-26-2014, 07:00 AM

One of the reasons I like reading on my eInk reader so much is precisely that I spend the entire day staring at my LCD monitor (and it's a very good quality Eizo monitor, which is orders of magnitude better and more comfortable and easier on the eyes than the cheap and horrible TN-panel BenQ I have to put up with on my one office day every week).

I noticed already some years ago that I just wasn't able to comfortably read fanfic, never mind ebooks, in the evenings, off the computer, after ~10-12 hours of using the LCD monitor. I was tired. My eyes were tired. Lots of eye-watering, and headaches.

I can't even easily read forums or web pages in the evenings any more, after a long day of work on the LCD monitor.

Trying to read on my tablet (3rd generation iPad, retina display - it's a really nice display!) leads to the same issues - still tired, still eye-watering. I'm okay with the tablet in the mornings, same as with the computer, after a night's rest and in good ambient lighting (preferably angled in a way that I don't constantly see my own reflection on the screen, which is a problem when I try that for my evening reading setup). By the evening, in artificial lighting and after a day of screen-staring, it's not at all comfortable any longer. I can, however, leave the computer and continue reading on eInk just fine (not in a dark room, but in normal ambient artificial lighting, with my Paperwhite light turned to level ~7-8).

So that is my experience. Other people's experience is different. I envy those who can easily read well into the evening/night on the LCD screen; I like my tablet, I'd be very happy if I could read with comfort on it. Sepia/beige background helps a bit, but it's still nowhere eInk level comfort for me.

Also, and this is also where people's preferences differ, lowering the brightness/contrast on LCD (from where it is where I use it, still comfortably, during the day) just makes it much, MUCH worse. I need contrast and light to read - it can make my eyes water and itch, but if I turn them down to where they won't cause this much strain, I just plain can't see the text any more, not without squinting and a lot of effort that makes things much worse. Sigh.

So the argument of "if you can use a computer, you can read on an LCD screen" is ... well, no. Or rather "to an extent". I suspect this is the case for a lot of us who prefer extended reading on eInk - we can deal with backlit LCDs for part of the day, but after 5-6-8-12 hours of it, not in the evening, not for leisure any more.

08-26-2014, 07:00 AM	#100
Yapyap Guru Posts: 861 Karma: 3543721 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Estonia Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	One of the reasons I like reading on my eInk reader so much is precisely that I spend the entire day staring at my LCD monitor (and it's a very good quality Eizo monitor, which is orders of magnitude better and more comfortable and easier on the eyes than the cheap and horrible TN-panel BenQ I have to put up with on my one office day every week). I noticed already some years ago that I just wasn't able to comfortably read fanfic, never mind ebooks, in the evenings, off the computer, after ~10-12 hours of using the LCD monitor. I was tired. My eyes were tired. Lots of eye-watering, and headaches. I can't even easily read forums or web pages in the evenings any more, after a long day of work on the LCD monitor. Trying to read on my tablet (3rd generation iPad, retina display - it's a really nice display!) leads to the same issues - still tired, still eye-watering. I'm okay with the tablet in the mornings, same as with the computer, after a night's rest and in good ambient lighting (preferably angled in a way that I don't constantly see my own reflection on the screen, which is a problem when I try that for my evening reading setup). By the evening, in artificial lighting and after a day of screen-staring, it's not at all comfortable any longer. I can, however, leave the computer and continue reading on eInk just fine (not in a dark room, but in normal ambient artificial lighting, with my Paperwhite light turned to level ~7-8). So that is my experience. Other people's experience is different. I envy those who can easily read well into the evening/night on the LCD screen; I like my tablet, I'd be very happy if I could read with comfort on it. Sepia/beige background helps a bit, but it's still nowhere eInk level comfort for me. Also, and this is also where people's preferences differ, lowering the brightness/contrast on LCD (from where it is where I use it, still comfortably, during the day) just makes it much, MUCH worse. I need contrast and light to read - it can make my eyes water and itch, but if I turn them down to where they won't cause this much strain, I just plain can't see the text any more, not without squinting and a lot of effort that makes things much worse. Sigh. So the argument of "if you can use a computer, you can read on an LCD screen" is ... well, no. Or rather "to an extent". I suspect this is the case for a lot of us who prefer extended reading on eInk - we can deal with backlit LCDs for part of the day, but after 5-6-8-12 hours of it, not in the evening, not for leisure any more.