Quote:
Originally Posted by kandwo
Is there any research on reading speed and comprehension using serif vs. sans?
|
It seems to depend on:
- Font Size. Sans can work well for headings.
- Resolution of display / paper print. Sans is better on say a 5 x 7 dot cell than serif! At high resolutions, the sans looses that advantage.
- What people are used to reading. If they read lots of novels they may find serif better. If they read loads of Sans web pages, then Sans.
Note that eink panels are poorer apparent resolution than a full range CRT, Plasma, LCD, OLED of similar resolution because they have black, white and 14 shades. Also no clever font enhancement that LCD or OLED does using RGB so called subpixel addressing.
The cheaper 6" and old DXG are about 160 dpi yet look worse than 133 dpi LCD. Some larger panels are 267 dpi, approx, much much better. Most 5" eink are the same number of pixels as 6" basic panel, thus serif looks better as the actual dpi is higher.
Really the 267 and 300 dpi panels are the minimum for relaxed reading at a normal printed font size. You'd want maybe higher resolution for same quality as decent mass market or pocket book paper book set in the smallest fonts. Some of those now are too poorly printed.
Short answer:
There is no conclusive answer.
There is also no evidence that the Open Dyslexic font is any help. I read that and tested a Dyslexic young woman. She thought regular sized Georgia was best and found Open Dyslexic really hard to read. She'd never seen an ereader and was very taken with it. Especially being able to make the text a little larger than typical in books.