Quote:
Originally Posted by bjkel
I was reading the faqs section of the Jetbook, here is some of their reasoning:
Why doesn't jetBook have a touch screen display? Touch screen panels dramatically reduce the purity of an image. It blurs letters and puts stress on the eyes causing fatigue. This is the main reason why we did not use a touch screen.
Why is there no backlight in jetBook? We deliberately removed the backlight from jetBook's original specification after a lengthy consultation with ophthalmologists in the US. We were advised that if we wanted to make jetBook closer in experience to a regular book, we should not use any backlight. Similar to the fatigue that comes with computer monitors, if you read by looking at a source of light your eyes get tired within 1-2 hours and you need a longer period of rest to recover. Just like a regular printed-paper book, with jetBook you read in reflected light so the eyes do not get tired (if you get tired just switch the font to a larger size and you may continue to enjoy reading). This is the main reason why the backlight was not implemented.
I have been reading for years on lcd screens, originally on a Dell Axim and I have never had these problems mentioned. Personally I think people have problems with the backlight because they leave it up too high, I tend to have mine pretty low and off colour background, not glaring white. But what can ya do? The experts have spoken.
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When I read in a dark environment (dark bedroom at night for instance), I'll turn the background to black and the letters to white (on my PDA) or gray (on my JE100). I can read for hours that way, if I don't fall asleep halfway...
The light itself isn't causing the fatigue, the overdosis of light is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rogue_ronin
Yeah, that FAQ quote is a bunch of weaseling about why they wanted to use the cheapest possible components. I agree with you about LCDs -- it's mostly the backlight, and mostly the fact that most backlights were fluorescent. Fluorescent light hurts. But it's cheap!
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Reflective is better than transparent for outside reading. I now have two LCD devices at home. One is transflective (the best of both worlds), the other transparent.
From the faq:
Quote:
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We were advised that if we wanted to make jetBook closer in experience to a regular book, we should not use any backlight.
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When I read on my PDA (transflective), and I'm outside on a sunny day, I can turn off the backlight completely. It will make the screen brighter. So, I have the option to turn on the backlight (so I don't need another source of light), or read without the backlight on, and have as they say: an experience closer to that of a regular book.
Problem is, transflective is more expensive than reflective... It also can hold colour and a touchscreen.