Quote:
Originally Posted by Pajamaman
There are things wrong with this statement, but I will focus on one point: if the properties of the light coming from LCD and e-ink are exactly the same, then why do so many eyes react so differently to them?
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A few points related to this:
The LCD screens we will be discussing here (PC screens, phones and tablets) are colour. With three channels to manage, producing clean blacks and whites has, historically, caused lots of problems. It is much better now than it was, but I can still tell you that very low brightness levels on my desktop LCD screens definitely cause poor contrast. I've done lots of testing with colour charts etc. and 16% brightness is as low as my desktop screens can go before they lose the ability to display the full range of colours/shades. I see the same effect on my phone.
e-ink also suffers from reduced contrast at lower brightness levels, but as a monochrome display I suspect there will be differences in how the device and the eye react. But comparison is difficult.
I set up my DSLR as a primitive light meter (fixed aperture read the shutter speed). In the same light setting, allowing my phone and my e-reader to auto-select the what they think is the right brightness, and the phone chooses twice as bright (2x faster shutter speed).
Lots of salt needed with that, but I think it does highlight that at the very least the two devices are tuned to different purposes. A colour LCD display is tuned to be able to continue to produce colour, so will typically (it seems) choose brighter levels in order to do that effectively.
I'd also throw into the mix the possibility that LCD refresh rates might be more of an issue at very low brightness levels. (Just guessing.)
I'd also add that colour vs monochrome runs into differences regarding the effect of pixel density. These days both types of screen are of a quality where this should be less of a problem, but certainly the raw specs should not be used for comparison.