Troubleshooting Blurry Vision After Reading?

[commandercup]

I got my first Kindle (K3) a few days ago and I've been reading quite a bit on it. I noticed today that my vision gets blurry after reading for a sustained period of time (30 minutes to an hour). I don't really notice it while reading, but when I look at something else my vision is noticeably blurred. I don't have this problem with LCD screens (28" TN panel, iPhone 4's IPS panel) or with actual ink on paper.

Any ideas on why this is happening? I've been reading with the standard font at size 3 although I believe that my vision still becomes blurry with size 4. It takes a good 30 minutes to a hour to get my vision back to normal.

I'll be testing my eyes/kindle out with the sans-serif font as well as larger sizes to see if those fix it, but I wanted to see if this was a common or at least a recognized problem.

[kranu]

No, I do not have that problem at all. I read on font size 3 with large line spacing. Are you riding in a vehicle or something while you're reading? Yeah, I suggest that you try out larger font sizes (heck, maybe 5)

[DixieGal]

Be sure to stop reading and focus on distant objects very frequently.

Are your eyes getting dry? Are you blinking less often so that they dry out? Get some saline drops. Don't get Visine. You just want to wet them, not medicate them. It is so easy to get dried out in the winter.

Y,ou must stop reading and focus on distant objects ver often. It is important enough to repeat.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Be sure to stop reading and focus on distant objects very frequently.

Are your eyes getting dry? Are you blinking less often so that they dry out? Get some saline drops. Don't get Visine. You just want to wet them, not medicate them. It is so easy to get dried out in the winter.

Y,ou must stop reading and focus on distant objects ver often. It is important enough to repeat.

what Dixie said is pretty important. I think as we become comfortable with our readers, we tend to not blink enough. we also do not focus on other things often enough. if you think about it, unless you have the absolute perfect position with a pbook, quite often an adjustment of some sort is being made. as that happens, I believe a minor adjustment of the eyes occurs; what is the light outside, what is the cat doing, is that a piece of fuzz or a spider in my peripheral vision? with an ereader, as there is almost no time delay, our eyes do not shift at all. we do not even get the passing air a turning page would make.





BLINK!!!

[Kenneth_irl]

Originally Posted by commandercup

I got my first Kindle (K3) a few days ago and I've been reading quite a bit on it. I noticed today that my vision gets blurry after reading for a sustained period of time (30 minutes to an hour). I don't really notice it while reading, but when I look at something else my vision is noticeably blurred. I don't have this problem with LCD screens (28" TN panel, iPhone 4's IPS panel) or with actual ink on paper.

Sounds like something that has temporarily affected you. I could name a few factors like light levels, heat and stress, but there is a lot of things that can affecting eye vision.

This one time it has happened to you is not a lot of data to work with, so wait and see if it will continue to happen.

I can't really see much of a difference between a paper book and the Kindle's screen.

[DixieGal]

Coincidentally, the Today show did a segment on this just a few mins ago:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3041426/vp/41457672/

[Kenneth_irl]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Coincidentally, the Today show did a segment on this just a few mins ago:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3041426/vp/41457672/

What she basically says is that we're not made for watching 2D images, which seems to be the root of many of our problems. We're just sentient animal at the end of the day in a ''fake'' environment, so to say.

Like which holds true for almost everything (probably even sex, yes, haha); Don't over do it; take breaks. Balance is the key to everything, basically.

I'm not sure why the pretty lady calls it 'computer vision syndrom' since this has been a problem ever since people, in general, started reading a lot of prints, but of course computers is harder on the eyes since a monitor is also a light source + the need for screen refeshes. Here TFT is much better than CRT since a TFT monitor doesn't need to keep refeshing the screen continueously if the picture isn't moving. Also, a TFT monitor can update the pixels individually, which I think might also be an improvement for the eyes over using CRT tech.

E-ink tech is an improvment over TFT, of course.

I wonder if it causes less of a strain on the eyes watching through 3D glasses (on TVs) ?

[elsussman]

this is an age related phenomenon. I am 64 and find that after extended periods of reading either on my blackberry or even in a paper book when I look up to focus on something further away like the TV at the other side of the room things are blurry for awhile. I am an MD but not ophthalmologist and my understanding is that as you age the lens becomes stiffer and takes longer to accommodate from near to far vision and vice versa

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Coincidentally, the Today show did a segment on this just a few mins ago:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3041426/vp/41457672/

Thanks for that Post! I'll have to remember that 20-20-20 rule!

[cvkemp]

For me the kindle is the only way I can read, with out tiring my eyes out.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by cvkemp

For me the kindle is the only way I can read, with out tiring my eyes out.

I agree. If I do get tired, I just up the font. I can read in low light again!

[Bricorn]

All the good advice here notwithstanding, this is unusual. You should see an optician in case it's a symptom of something worse. Eyes are too important to risk.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by Bricorn

All the good advice here notwithstanding, this is unusual. You should see an optician in case it's a symptom of something worse. Eyes are too important to risk.

Agreed, except I would suggest an ophthalmologist instead of an optician.

[commandercup]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Coincidentally, the Today show did a segment on this just a few mins ago:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3041426/vp/41457672/

Turns out I already heard about the 20-20-20 rule (probably from Lifehacker) although I don't usually do it (probably should start).

Thanks for the reminder/link

Originally Posted by Kenneth_irl

Sounds like something that has temporarily affected you. I could name a few factors like light levels, heat and stress, but there is a lot of things that can affecting eye vision.

This one time it has happened to you is not a lot of data to work with, so wait and see if it will continue to happen.

I can't really see much of a difference between a paper book and the Kindle's screen.

I think you had it down. I didn't have much time to read today, but I read for ~1 hour and my vision was fine although I did look away and focus elsewhere a bit more than usual (which means never).

Just to clear things up, my problems were limited to the Kindle (or maybe just that day) and I have no vision problems sitting at the computer, at my desk with a book or just paper at all.

[Viseguy]

Try holding the device a little farther away from your eyes. Close focusing (e.g., when concentrating on a difficult passage) can cause eye strain. Backing up a little may ease the strain.