Reading at 16:9?

[RichL]

I find the 9:16 of my note 3 to be perfect.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by PandathePanda

I've tried to read on my small Galaxy Neo, but find it frustrating to turn the page every 5 seconds. On my 10" tablet I enjoy reading, I set it up to use portrait as default, only thing against mine is my 10" is a bit on the heavy side.

On my 10 inch A10 Lenovo tablet (a very nice generic Android tablet of high quality, IMO), I've found that reading in landscape mode gives me two columns, roughly the same size as on my Sony PRS350 reader. I use both the Kindle software, and the Moon+ Pro reader software.

For me, this is perfect. I've also discovered that while the 10" tablet seems very heavy when I try to hold it in portrait mode, it curiously seems lighter and less awkward in landscape mode. I wonder how much ergonomics plays in the perception of weight?

I do read on my Samsung S5 phone when I'm out and about, I don't mind flipping pages with the Kindle app, but i admit that I use the auto scroll feature of Moon+ Pro when I read epub. For some reason, I don't like auto scroll on the tablet. It only works in single column portrait mode anyway, but for whatever reason, I can't seem to find that sweet spot of scrolling speed for the tablet like I can for the phone.

[rdfry]

Galaxy Tab Pro aspect ratio 16:10 works great for my reading needs.

[PandathePanda]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

On my 10 inch A10 Lenovo tablet (a very nice generic Android tablet of high quality, IMO), I've found that reading in landscape mode gives me two columns, roughly the same size as on my Sony PRS350 reader. I use both the Kindle software, and the Moon+ Pro reader software.

For me, this is perfect. I've also discovered that while the 10" tablet seems very heavy when I try to hold it in portrait mode, it curiously seems lighter and less awkward in landscape mode. I wonder how much ergonomics plays in the perception of weight?

I do read on my Samsung S5 phone when I'm out and about, I don't mind flipping pages with the Kindle app, but i admit that I use the auto scroll feature of Moon+ Pro when I read epub. For some reason, I don't like auto scroll on the tablet. It only works in single column portrait mode anyway, but for whatever reason, I can't seem to find that sweet spot of scrolling speed for the tablet like I can for the phone.

My Proline Tablet weights a ton, Mrs. Panda's Lenovo weights one fifth of mine.

[Teknikal]

I use my Note 12.2 in landscape and read dual pages it seems pretty spot on to me.

[barryem]

I do a little reading on my 16:9 tablet. Not a lot but I don't have any problems with the size. It's too heavy to hold comfortably while reading so I don't do a lot of that.

I do quite a bit more reading on my 16:9 phone with it's 4.7" screen. Again, no problem except that it's an LCD which tires my eyes if I read too long. But this is mostly just short sessions.

I do most of my reading on a Kindle, which I much prefer because of the e-ink, but the size doesn't seem to matter to me much. I also did quite a bit of reading my my Kobo Mini before I sold it because I wanted a light. I was fine with that one too.

I read for years on an early Palm Pilot. It was fine.

I think this stuff about screen size, except possibly in situations where you need larger text, is the sort of thing where you look at it, think about it and decide it's too small.

I remember decades ago reading that the reason newspapers used narrow columns was that studies had shown that they were conducive to faster and more comfortable reading. I have no idea what studies or how many or how many may have shown otherwise. I don't even remember where I read that. But I think when I started reading ebooks (long before they were publicly available), I started thinking the small screens available to me were an advantage. I didn't have pre-conceived notions to overcome.

Of course this is just my experience. I can't know what reading is like to others. But this is how it seems to me.

Barry

[tompe]

Originally Posted by barryem

I remember decades ago reading that the reason newspapers used narrow columns was that studies had shown that they were conducive to faster and more comfortable reading.

The typographical rule of thumb is that a line should be 50-60 characters or 7-10 words for optimal reading. That fits pretty well with a newspaper column.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

The typographical rule of thumb is that a line should be 50-60 characters or 7-10 words for optimal reading. That fits pretty well with a newspaper column.

Looking at my local newspaper, their columns average 6-7 words, and (including spaces) about 35 characters, but I guess it varies from newspaper to newspaper. The idea is, I believe, that reading speed is maximised when you can take in the entire line without having to move your eyes or your head.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Looking at my local newspaper, their columns average 6-7 words, and (including spaces) about 35 characters, but I guess it varies from newspaper to newspaper. The idea is, I believe, that reading speed is maximised when you can take in the entire line without having to move your eyes or your head.

The rule of thumb i referred to is to minimize the errors when you move the eyes from the end of the line to the beginning of the next one. So you can compensate for longer lines somewhat by increasing the distance between lines.

[shanghaichica]

I prefer 4:3. I've tried reading on various 16:9 android tablets but never found it to be as comfortable reading on my iPads.

[faithbw]

I never had an issue reading on my Nexus tablet. I don't read on my Note 4 very often but it's more because I feel like I have squeeze too much text onto the screen in order not to have to turn the page too often.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by disconnected

...I'm anxious to see what the new 8 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 (4:3) is like, if and when it arrives in the US.

Wasn't aware of this. I'm interested.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by GERGE

Almost all the phones and many of the Android tablets have 16:9 screens. I was never comfortable reading at them but many people seem to prefer reading at their Android tablets and phablets.

What do you think about aspect ratios? 16:9 have too short lines, I find it very hard to read with my 5" 720p phone.

A 16:9 or 16:10 tablet can be used to read pages two at a time, in landscape, just like a paper book. You'd have two 8:10 (or 4:5) pages next to each other (when using a 16:10 tablet). When using a 16:9 tablet, the pages would be 8:9, or almost square.

[crane3]

I checked the print on several hard copy print books & find that the horizontal print varied from 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 inches; the vertical print varied from 6 1/2 to 7 1/4 inches. All that says to me is that the vertical printout on an 8.9 inch screen is excellent & the 8.4 inch is very good as both displays are wider than the printed book.

Lenthwise, the 8.9 about matches the printed book except for the top where the title of the book shows up.

So, 4:3 is like 8 in length & 6 in wide; 16:10 is like 8 in length & 5 in wide. The width of the 16: 10 exceed the width of a printed book whereas the 16:9 is close to be the same.

So why are some claiming that the 16: 10/16:9 requires more "scrolling"? Saw a "review" comparison on youtube last night where the person said one would hold the Galaxy S2 to read a book in portrait mode while reading on the Galaxy S, one would hold the tablet in landscape mode!

I guess some want wide margins like how consultants write their reports with lots of "white space".

[Geralt]

I sometimes read on iphone 4. I imagine that's more narrow that 5'' android. What's the ratio on the iphone 4 anyway?