Glowlight/Paperwhite harder on the eyes?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by NickyWithNook

I have both the newer Nook Glowlight and the Kindle Paperwhite and they seem equally easy on the eyes to me.

So, both of these models are higher resolution with a better light. That might help. But I don't think my particular problem has much to do with the quality of the light. I think it's just the bright light in a dark room. But maybe I turn it up too high -- but, if I don't turn it up to about half, the text seems faded (just thinking as I write ... sorry ... I do want to make it work).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Looking at any kind of light in a dark room is going to be hard on your eyes no matter what kind of light it is.

Yeah, but the NST Glowlight is definitely different than the small LED light shining on the screen of my other eReaders. An LED light is more diffused, more like using a flashlight -- and a flashlight has never given me eyestrain.

[Rizla]

I've read that old NST Glowlight wasn't as clear as the non-glowlight version. You might want to try using a bold font for increased clarity.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I've read that old NST Glowlight wasn't as clear as the non-glowlight version. You might want to try using a bold font for increased clarity.

I've been playing with it a little. Maybe I was tireder (is that a word?) the first night I tried it -- as tonight it seemed to go fine. But it was not a very long reading session. I found I like the Amasis font on the Glowlight version, where I had (almost) always used Caecillia on the original NST.

As a side note ... I was comparing the NST and NST w/Glowlight screens and was surprised to see that the Glowlight version has slightly wider fonts. I thought these would be identical, but they're not. You get a few more words (or sentences -- depending on the size of the font) on each page of the original NST.

[Scarpad]

It may not be the light so much as the clarity of the text, I've stoped using my paperwhite mainly because the text using the light does not appear as sharp as a non backlit ereader like the regular kindle, I want to go back to a normal model as if there is a time when I need to read in bed I''ll grab my Fire HD. There is something about the layer over the screen that just throws my eyes off. I'm waiting for a higher res non paperwhite model.

[TechniSol]

My Kobo Touch with an E-Luminator LED light has greater contrast reading under "normal" lighting in my living room than my Kobo Glo. I find the Glo works best for me with a lower light setting. There seems to be somewhat less contrast, but cranking the lighting too high is too bright and harder on the eyes. I tend to gradually increase the brightness and usually note a bigger jump in apparent brightness occurs just past the sweet spot for me. I find 15 to 25% is usually the range where things look best for me.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Looking at any kind of light in a dark room is going to be hard on your eyes no matter what kind of light it is.

I find that using an external clip-on light in a dark room produces no eye-strain.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I find that using an external clip-on light in a dark room produces no eye-strain.

Actually, for me, it produces more eye strain, because the clip on light creates shadows on the page and my eyes have to constantly re-adjust based on the amount of light hitting the page. For most people this probably isn't an issue, but for me, my eyes don't adjust to different light levels well at all, so I'm constantly straining them to read the last few lines on the page. If I get a clip on light that has a big enough pool of light to make this not a problem, my bed partner is bothered by it.

For me, lighted e-ink screens are a wondrous thing.

Shari

[TechniSol]

You need those glasses mounted LED lights that point where you're looking. On the good side should you be reading when a burglar breaks in he will run away screaming thinking the aliens have landed! ;-)

[shalym]

Originally Posted by TechniSol

You need those glasses mounted LED lights that point where you're looking. On the good side should you be reading when a burglar breaks in he will run away screaming thinking the aliens have landed! ;-)

My father used those...I'll just use my lighted e-ink screen, thanks

Shari

[radius]

I find that it is tiring to read using only the frontlight too.

My solution is to try to read mostly in conditions where I would read a paper book. I use the light to make the screen a bit whiter when lighting is a bit less than I would otherwise like.

Originally Posted by rcentros

I may not have had the brightness set properly (though I tried several levels) but it seemed to me that the NST Glowlight caused the same type of eye strain (though not to the same degree) that reading on tablets and smartphones causes. Some of the reasons they give for eye strain in tablets (high contrast between dark and light, eyes always adjusting from ambient to back light) seems to be similar to the NST Glowlight's "front light."

I had a same problem with my paperwhite, it caused eyestrain in low light. the screen looked similar to a tablet.
I've had a discussion regarding this issue in this thread. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=238164

Now I have decided to go with Kindle Basic(Non Touch And non Lighted))

[howyoudoin]

I realise this is a topic that has been discussed to death, and the advent of front lighted e-readers renders my query kinda obsolete, but does anyone have any suggestions for uniform lighting for my kindle keyboard? (I do not intend to replace my device until I see significant improvements in e-ink technology, and I prefer the physical page turn buttons).

[TechniSol]

Look at the E-Luminator LED lights which run off a single AAA battery and have three touch sensitive brightness levels or the Mighty Bright which requires 2 CR2032 lithium batteries.

The E-Luminator LED lights can be found as cheaply as $2.50 in Big Lots stores.

I believe a friend of mine had a case with a built-in LED light for his Kindle Keyboard model.

I found that both needed a little modding to be optimal with my Kobo Touch. The E-Luminator was better with a little black tape on the side of the light nearest my eyes to shade the LED so it didn't shine into my eyes. The Might Bright was designed with a clip for regular books, so I bent the shiny clip to fit the Touch and glued on black felt to prevent reflections and glare.

Honestly, neither is perfect, both are brighter to some degree at the page top and optimal seems to be pointing the LED at the bottom half of the screen since the angle requires the brightest central portion of the light to travel the farthest and helps even apparent brightness.

I like my Glo, but I recently had occasion to use the Touch with the lights and find the Touch with lights solution offers greater contrast, or at least darker looking text at lower light levels with less of a glare. But, then I think most displays are way too bright and run most everything on the lowest brightness settings.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by arsingh1

I had a same problem with my paperwhite, it caused eyestrain in low light. the screen looked similar to a tablet.
I've had a discussion regarding this issue in this thread. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=238164

Now I have decided to go with Kindle Basic(Non Touch And non Lighted))

I think you'll like it. My first Kindle was the Kindle Touch -- bought it used at a pawn shop. Didn't like the fonts compared to my Nook Simple Touch -- seemed too light. So, I gave that one to my brother (whose daughter now uses it) and bought a used (like-new) Kindle Basic at the same pawn shop. I liked this one a lot -- had darker fonts than my Nook Simple Touch (though not by much). Since the pawn shops seem to be giving these things away where I live, I've also tried another Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, and the older (silver) version of the Kindle Basic. For a while I had adopted the Kindle Touch (since it was 3G and has more features -- and I convinced myself I was too sensitive about the lighter fonts) but I still come back to the black Kindle Basic. I've also tried a Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, a Sony PRS-600 and a Sony PRS-T2 (some features in the T2 I like, but the fonts are too light for my tastes) ... and I'm considering trying to the Kindle Paperwhite. But I'm afraid I won't like the night-reading eyestrain, so I'm hesitating. Your experience makes me more cautious. But I might try it anyhow -- at $20 off, currently, I could probably try it and sell it if I can't get used to it.

Here's a link to a YouTube review by someone who thinks the Kindle Basic is the best E-Ink reader. (I should mention, that I use my eReaders almost exclusively for reading. I hardly ever highlight or take notes -- if I did, I would probably make the Kindle Touch work -- or be more interested in the Kindle Paperwhite.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJgcsORSJGk