Quote:
Originally Posted by salamanderjuice
An LCD isn't spreading light out though. It's literally got a layer of tiny-ass lights behind it. That's how it works. On older models it was basically a CCFL light box instead of LEDs. There's no "spread". It's still all a single point of light. Some models don't even dim, they just refresh less frequently and it appears less dim. It's always the same intensity of light for those, just strobing faster than the eye can see.
A backlit LCD always has to be emitting light to be seen. Even to achieve the same visible brightness as a frontlit eReader it has to be putting out more light because it has to compete with the ambient brightness in the room. A frontlit eReader can use the ambient light to appear brighter as it's reflective.
Unless you are reading in a completely dark room, an LCD is going to be putting out more light directly even if it appears just as bright.
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Light box style CCFL screens are old school. Nearly all LCD screens are actually side lit these days. The LED s are mounted at the edge and the light bounced around with light guides under the LCD layer.
So actually the light from an LCD screen is less direct than from a lighted eink device, since it passes through the LCD layer in addition to bouncing off the light guides.