What type of screen is better to your eyes besides e-ink?

[bookmeal]

What type of screen is better to your eyes besides e-ink?

I used to have an ereader (now broken) and the screen is e-ink. I must say, I like it way more than reading on a computer screen (LCD?) I think the difference is e-ink is not "light bright".

But aside from e-ink, is there other types of screen that is also less tire for your eyes? What types of screen that is not "light bright"? And which e-reader has screen that is not "light bright".

I don't want to increase my near sight.

ADIT / EDIT:
What I mean by "light bright" screen is any types of screen that gives out light, that shines.

So non-bright screen would be screen like: e-ink, 1st generation of game boy, a mini translator machines and high school scientific calculator.

Similar to what Jeremy said, my eyes get tire and headache. Therefore, sometimes I rather read long articles or essay in my (pass-away) ereader, coz the screen is not bright.

[toddos]

What do you mean by "light bright"? Are you saying that the backlight is too much? Or are you saying that the pixel density is too low, thus resulting in a view that looks like an old Lite-Brite toy?

What I find works for LCD is to get as high of a pixel density as you can, at least 150ppi (most computer monitors are 100ppi or less, though a 1920x1080 15.6" laptop screen is almost usable at ~140ppi). This means you should probably look at smaller devices like the Nook Color (the iPad is 132ppi, so not good enough). Next, reduce the brigthness level of the screen. Finally, use a reader that has a "night" or white-on-black mode. It's much easier on your eyes to read white text on a black background than it is to read black text on a white background.

[JeremyR]

Yeah, while I do think part of the annoyance of a LCD screen is basically it's having light shown into your face, which is more intense than reflected light, the other part of the problem is the density.

My eyes ache a lot more after playing my PSP (which has a pixel density so low you can see the spaces between them) than PC

[frostschutz]

I like the AMOLED screen of my smartphone, and I use gray text on black background. With amoled, only the pixels that aren't black actually emit light, so it's quite easy on the eyes as there's very little light coming from gray text. At the same time it's readable even under low light conditions.

E-Readers might not have a bright light in the screen itself (the traditional LCD problem) but if you need a very bright reading lamp in order to be able to see anything (esp on the older generations with low contrast), it's not that much of a difference.

Still I wouldn't go for this if I didn't have the Smartphone anyway, as the phone was about five times the cost of a cheap ereader.

Apart from the display issues, many readers still have shortcomings when it comes to the software. Which might not be a problem since 99% of the time all you do is press the "next page" button, but it's still nice to have an extremely well thought out and responsive interface on the smartphone...

[toddos]

The only thing to watch out for on AMOLED screens is if they have the pentile pixel matrix. That can make text look fuzzy. I believe screens labelled "Super AMOLED" (Samsung Infuse 4G) have a regular pixel matrix, while screens labelled just plain "AMOLED" (Nexus One, HTC Incredible) have a pentile pixel matrix.

Also, since AMOLED only lights up pixels that are on, reading white-on-black makes the battery last much longer.

[wayrad]

FWIW, I find I'm way more comfortable reading with a non-uniformly-colored page background on my phone or NookColor. The slightly mottled "paper" background that comes with CoolReader is perfect.

Somehow, any solid light colored background looks like dingy gray after I've used it for a while, and personally I find gray pages depressing. With a bit of color variation on the page, that acclimation doesn't seem to happen.

P.S. I have to hold my Incredible about 3" from my nose before I can detect the pentile matrix effect.

[bookmeal]

What I mean by "light bright" screen is any types of screen that gives out light, that shines.

So non-bright screen would be screen like: e-ink, 1st generation of game boy, a mini translator machines and high school scientific calculator.

Similar to what Jeremy said, my eyes get tire and headache. Therefore, sometimes I rather read long articles or essay in my (pass-away) ereader, coz the screen is not bright.

[toddos]

Don't judge LCD reading by what you've experienced reading on a PC. Try a Nook Color, for example, and I you may have much better results due to higher pixel density.

Pretty much nobody makes non-backlit screens on readers. It's either backlit LCD or e-ink, and if you think it's the backlight causing problems then you're pretty much stuck with e-ink.

[Caltsar]

While I don't buy into the view that reading on an LCD is bad on your eyes, I do get some minor discomfort if I check my email on my iPad right after I wake up, but once my eyes are adjusted to the light again, I can read on the LCD screen of the iPad for hours on end and have no eyestrain.

That said, reading on e-ink is a more pleasurable experience for me when reading novels. It has nothing to do with comfort though. It's just a more mentally pleasant experience for me.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by toddos

Pretty much nobody makes non-backlit screens on readers. It's either backlit LCD or e-ink, and if you think it's the backlight causing problems then you're pretty much stuck with e-ink.

Not true; there are a number of readers which use non-backlit reflective LCD screens.

[Ken Maltby]

"e-ink" is a particular display technology. "e-paper" seems to be the more general term.

There have been reflective (non-backlit) ereader displays for almost as long as there has
been "e-ink" ereaders.

The Aluratek Libre and the Ectaco jetBook ereaders (often sold for <$100 now) are a
good example.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16858723001

I prefer the jetBook Lite myself.

Luck;
Ken

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

"e-ink" is a particular display technology. "e-paper" seems to be the more general term.

The "technical" name for an eInk screen is an "electrophoretic display", abbreviated to "EPD". Thus, to avoid using trademarks such as "eInk", one should perhaps talk about devices with EPD screens. Of course, this has the minor disadvantage that almost nobody will understand what you mean .

[Ken Maltby]

The "e-paper" displays used in the Aluratek/Ectaco ereaders are TFT Reflective LCD
technology. Not all eReaders use "eInk" displays, not all dedicated eReaders use EDP
technology, some use good old black & white reflective LCD technology, to the same
effect.

Luck;
Ken

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

The "e-paper" displays used in the Aluratek/Ectaco ereaders are TFT Reflective LCD
technology. Not all eReaders use "eInk" displays, not all dedicated eReaders use EDP
technology, some use good old black & white reflective LCD technology, to the same
effect.

Luck;
Ken

Yes, indeed. I said this myself in post #10 above.

[charmian]

There's also Sipix, and what Plastic Logic uses.

And there's the unreleased Mirasol screen, and in the future, electro-wetting screens, as well as cholosteric LCD (sp?).