Eye strains when reading on my Kobo

[Quoth]

Indeed I switch the main light off and just use the spot lamp which originally took a tungsten filament part silvered spot. I'll see has it any writing. It may be a UK BC type and possibly you use the European ES (slightly larger than USA by maybe 1mm). However in the local shops the screw type are now easier to find than BC, despite most Irish light fittings using the UK BC socket. Oddly the UK owned chain stores are worst.

There are four of these sticks inside the lamp
https://ledvista.ie/blog/led-filamen...f-both-worlds/

OK, went and checked. Unusually for here, my beside clip on spot lamp does use the Euro ES.
It's an Osram R63 style, 4.5W, E27 fitting and 24mA for 220V to 240V. The model might be AC02275. It's warmish 2700K (I have a scary 4300K LED stick lamp in my library, quite blue). Claims 370 lumens.

I've tried various lamps and these LED sticks are the only thing approaching halogen in pleasantness. Ones with better colour rendition (not needed for reading and unconnected to colour temperature) are less efficient, some are alleged to mix in red and cyan LEDs on the sticks to fill gaps in the spectrum. Regular LED lamps using only blue, violet or near UV chips only with a simple yellow phosphor can be any colour temperature, depending on phosphor amount, but are rubbish at the cyan part of the spectrum.

Because of the low power density compared to 1 to 8 COB /COG high power LEDS the phosphor and chips last longer. Also most CFL have electronic ballast and LEDs use low voltage thus a SMPSU that generates RF interference. The RFI testing is not realistic, so they interfere badly with LW / MW and SW radio. The Stick type don't have a switching PSU as the series LEDs add up. So one less thing to fail and no interference.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Indeed I switch the main light off and just use the spot lamp which originally took a tungsten filament part silvered spot. I'll see has it any writing. It may be a UK BC type and possibly you use the European ES (slightly larger than USA by maybe 1mm). However in the local shops the screw type are now easier to find than BC, despite most Irish light fittings using the UK BC socket. Oddly the UK owned chain stores are worst.

There are four of these sticks inside the lamp
https://ledvista.ie/blog/led-filamen...f-both-worlds/

OK, went and checked. Unusually for here, my beside clip on spot lamp does use the Euro ES.
It's an Osram R63 style, 4.5W, E27 fitting and 24mA for 220V to 240V. The model might be AC02275. It's warmish 2700K (I have a scary 4300K LED stick lamp in my library, quite blue). Claims 370 lumens.

I've tried various lamps and these LED sticks are the only thing approaching halogen in pleasantness. Ones with better colour rendition (not needed for reading and unconnected to colour temperature) are less efficient, some are alleged to mix in red and cyan LEDs on the sticks to fill gaps in the spectrum. Regular LED lamps using only blue, violet or near UV chips only with a simple yellow phosphor can be any colour temperature, depending on phosphor amount, but are rubbish at the cyan part of the spectrum.

Thank you.

Edit: your mention of Osram rang a bell and I checked my reading lamp; it has a similar Osram 2700K 4W, with LED sticks. Possibly a bit dimmer than your model (as I no longer have the box, I don't know the precise details). It's a good light, but unlit screens still don't look particularly pretty under it, imho.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

My reading lights are pretty dim indeed (I dislike bright lights), but unlit eink screens look ugly to me even in the daylight. And imho just newer, Carta screens look especially ugly and yellowish when unlit. The old Pearl screens were tolerable (I still have a couple of those and have made side-by-side comparisons).

That's me as well. My old Sony 350s had a much better contrast to them for reading, the background wasn't as dark as the newer screens are, so I could read very comfortably on them even indoors in decent light.

On my Glo and Glo HD though, while I could read in sunlight without the backlight, the background is too dark for me, darker than my Sonys were, and just doesn't look good. Between my farsightedness and astigmatism, better contrast is much more comfortable for my eyes. So I keep my backlight on always around 75%, even out in the sun. It just makes the contrast better, and I don't like to bother with adjusting the light level constantly, so I just leave it at one setting.

Reading several hours a day, I only have to recharge every few weeks, I find the front light battery drain to be really minimal. And even if I had to charge the reader more often, it would definitely be worth it for the eye comfort the light gives me.

[RobertJSawyer]

@bastringue777, there should be no flickering at all, but you might want to try the undocumented night mode, which inverts the screen display (white text on a black background instead of the opposite).

To enable it, first you have to do this once: go to the Search bar, and make sure that any search location EXCEPT the Kobo store is selected, then enter this:

devmodeon

and tap the enter key.

Nothing will appear to have happened.

But then from the home screen, select the menu (upper right), choose "Device information," and you'll find "Developer options." Select that, and you'll see "Invert screen." Give that a try; if you don't like it, just deselect it. I do almost all my reading, even during the day, in this mode; it's very easy on the eyes.

If you find there's too much ghosting in invert-screen mode, select the "Reading settings" option from the main menu, and change "Refresh the screen every:" to "1 page."

Good luck!

[CharlesRyder]

One of the main reasons I bought a Kobo was because of the eye strain from tiny, close-printed sci/fi and fantasy novels. I read three to four novels a week, and feel that the Kobo has reduced my eye strain significantly.

[bastringue777]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Umm... that's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. Why would you do that?

Thanks for the link for the patch. I'll check.

Well, I started doing that when reading very small fonts in books I enjoyed. It made my eyes strain so by switching eye every page I could haver one that rest at all time and read for longer time.

For some reason, I got the habit and continued even when reading other books.

[bastringue777]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I've never needed the front light above about 15% to 20%. If the lighting is good enough for a yellowed small text paperback, then it's fine for any eink. I'd rarely use the front light at all, preferring to have on a lamp if it's too dim.
I've found that Solitaire on the colour LCD Palm Z22 results in ereader or laptop being blurry for a few minutes, but it is only 160 x 160 pixels on about 2.25" screen. It's a bit mad to read ebooks on. By the time they had a 320 x 320 screen the PDA was nearly dead.

Any problem with a glare? I read with a lamp over my head and that glare is a problem.

Wow 15-20% lightning seems good. I can only get so low right before bedtime when everything is darker around and I'll sleep soon.

[bastringue777]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

That's me as well. My old Sony 350s had a much better contrast to them for reading, the background wasn't as dark as the newer screens are, so I could read very comfortably on them even indoors in decent light.

On my Glo and Glo HD though, while I could read in sunlight without the backlight, the background is too dark for me, darker than my Sonys were, and just doesn't look good. Between my farsightedness and astigmatism, better contrast is much more comfortable for my eyes. So I keep my backlight on always around 75%, even out in the sun. It just makes the contrast better, and I don't like to bother with adjusting the light level constantly, so I just leave it at one setting.

Reading several hours a day, I only have to recharge every few weeks, I find the front light battery drain to be really minimal. And even if I had to charge the reader more often, it would definitely be worth it for the eye comfort the light gives me.

You read several hours per day at 75% lighting and your battery lasts a couple of weeks? How do you do that? I lose between 10-15% every day at 30-50% lighting.

BTW I was wondering if there is a big difference on the battery depending if you use it at 10% lighting vs 50% or 100%.

I'd like that Kobo to last a couple of years! :-)

[bastringue777]

Originally Posted by RobertJSawyer

@bastringue777, there should be no flickering at all, but you might want to try the undocumented night mode, which inverts the screen display (white text on a black background instead of the opposite).

To enable it, first you have to do this once: go to the Search bar, and make sure that any search location EXCEPT the Kobo store is selected, then enter this:

devmodeon

and tap the enter key.

Nothing will appear to have happened.

But then from the home screen, select the menu (upper right), choose "Device information," and you'll find "Developer options." Select that, and you'll see "Invert screen." Give that a try; if you don't like it, just deselect it. I do almost all my reading, even during the day, in this mode; it's very easy on the eyes.

If you find there's too much ghosting in invert-screen mode, select the "Reading settings" option from the main menu, and change "Refresh the screen every:" to "1 page."

Good luck!

Thanks... I didn't like it, but thanks for the suggestion.

[bastringue777]

Originally Posted by CharlesRyder

One of the main reasons I bought a Kobo was because of the eye strain from tiny, close-printed sci/fi and fantasy novels. I read three to four novels a week, and feel that the Kobo has reduced my eye strain significantly.

Do you use much bigger font and do you use the frontlight at a large %?

I can relate... A couple of years ago, I was in the public library, looking at some old Philip K. Dick novel and I was wondering: "How the hell am I suppose to read those tiny characters!"

[Pajamaman]

I always use Caecilia Bold, or maybe Rockwell Bold. Have you compared your device to another e-reader in a store? Maybe you got a lemon?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by bastringue777

I read for about 4 hours today with light at 30-40%

At 30-40%, I'd have eye strain from the light being way too bright. Maybe that's your problem. The light could be too bright.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by bastringue777

You read several hours per day at 75% lighting and your battery lasts a couple of weeks? How do you do that? I lose between 10-15% every day at 30-50% lighting.

BTW I was wondering if there is a big difference on the battery depending if you use it at 10% lighting vs 50% or 100%.

I'd like that Kobo to last a couple of years! :-)

I have the Glo HD, not your specific model. I do always have wifi turned off though, that's a huge battery drain, so maybe that's the difference? And possibly the Glo HD being older doesn't have the fancier color adjustments, maybe that's less battery drain than yours? Just guessing there. I don't play any of the games on it or use the browser, I sideload all my books, and even sideload new firmware when I want to upgrade it. It's in a sleep cover, so it always goes to sleep only. The only time it's actually powered off and back is if there's some problem that I can't clear any other way.

I've had my Glo HD since May 2015 and haven't had any problems with it, and the original battery still seems great in it.

LED lights really take minimal power, I doubt it would save you anything noticeable between 10% and 50%, but you'd have to experiment with that.

I suggest you just set the lights up to whatever is most comfortable for your eyes and don't worry about the battery drain. See how your eyes and the battery performs after a month or so.

[bastringue777]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I always use Caecilia Bold, or maybe Rockwell Bold. Have you compared your device to another e-reader in a store? Maybe you got a lemon?

I bought it online because... everything is closed where I live.

It looks fine, and honestly if I use more light it gets better. I tried sans-serif and was awful. So far I still use Georgia but with lot of light. It helps, but still not that comfortable. I hope it will get better.

[bastringue777]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

At 30-40%, I'd have eye strain from the light being way too bright. Maybe that's your problem. The light could be too bright.

No, I used to use less light and that was worse for my eyes. I wanted to keep the battery going for as long as possible and read without light or 10-20%. At 30-40% it's better now. At 50% even better. But only in the day. At night 30% seems like a sweet spot to me.

It's like the contrast between the text and the background isn't good enough for my eyes without light. Orange light seems better than blue light as well.

It's a bit better using more light, but my eyes still get tired really fast. I try to look outside for 20 seconds each 20 minutes, but still not enough. It helps, but that wasn't a problem with a paper book. I'm still trying to understand what is the difference, because I like my Kobo so much otherwise!