How to read comfortably on a tablet

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Tarana

It's not bullcrap. If you have damage to your eyes, you quickly learn why some things are harder on the eyes than others. The fact that YOU don't perceive it that way has a lot to do with being young and having healthy eyes. I think it's useful to advise folks that there are ways to adjust your tablet to improve your reading experience since not everybody finds these things out automatically.

We agree on the latter - but not the former. People can have all manner of eye issues. At 50, wearing varifocal lenses - I don't have "young eyes". Then again, I've never had great eyes, wearing glasses since early childhood.

I don't say "people who have eye issues is bullcrap" - I say the "science" that says there is some magical difference between reflected light and "light shining directly in your eyes" is bull crap.

Tiny studies with few people....with clear intention of FINDING a problem. If not, you'd see things like x% read just fine on a tablet, y% read fine when the tablet is adjusted optimally for conditions, z% have issues beyond the ability to adjust the device.

Just like the recent "blue light" crap. Did you read the details? They had have the participants (again, small number) read on full brightness for two hours to for the problem with sleep to occur. Reading on full brightness for only one hour was not enough. That's in the study. But nobody who has a tablet would read on full brightness at night before going to bed.

So yes, where we find agreement is that it is useful to put out the information that reading on a tablet or phone can be made much more comfortable. So much so that SOME people who currently can't enjoy reading on a device COULD. Sorry, some folks will never - just as I cannot play those amazing first person shooter video games without getting motion sick.

To Wit:
- Change the font size
- Change the font
- Change the background/foreground color
- Change the brightness
- adjust again as needed as the light condition changes
- adjust angle of the device if you are seeing reflections
- find a comfortable reading/holding position
- some cases can assist with the "holding comfortably" concern
- Put in airplane mode if you find yourself distracted by a tablet's other abilities
- Change margin size
- Set two column mode for landscape
- instead of holding the tablet/phone up in the air like you might a book - rest the bottom on your lap/belly/table/chair arm/pillow bed

[cvkemp]

My eye issues are not with fonts sizes my issues are with how sensitive my eyes are to certain lights and brightness. I can not look up at a TV then back down at a book or other paper and see anything, all I see is a burst of light in my face. Once I look at a TV, computer or tablet screen it can take me 30 seconds to a minute before I can see anything else, and no it is not how bright the screens or because everyone else complains that I have the screens so low they cannot see anything.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by leebase

So I wonder, of those of you who say that reading on a phone or tablet hurts your eyes...are you trying the top example where you have a dark background with low contrast color for text and the light level set to room ambient level?

I can read on a tablet for hours as well. I just set the brightness to a very low level. I have an e-reader because I get most of my reading done in public transport, or while waiting for it. No tablet can match the brightness of a sunny day, and then there's always glare. Even if it's possible to read, somehow, the battery life will be very short; a maximum of 10 hours or so. That would mean that I'd need to recharge the tablet every evening or risk running out of battery.

As soon as there's a 10-12 inch wide-screen tablet (for reading two pages side by side) sporting a screen that can be read in bright sunlight, and has a battery life of at least 5 days or so, I'll be switching to that from an e-reader.

[Sirtel]

I'm one of those people who simply don't feel comfortable reading a novel on a backlit screen. I have no problem with staring at my laptop screen for hours when working or watching movies, but I just cannot read a book on any kind of phone or tablet. After a short while I just can't concentrate any longer. Yes, the brightness is low, the font size and margins the most suitable for me, ditto for the background color etc. It is just something to do with a backlit screen. I cannot really explain it. All I know is I have no problem with reading a novel on my e-ink kindle, but cannot do so on a phone or a tablet.

Of course, tablets have weight issues on top of backlight issues. They are just too heavy to hold comfortably. IMHO.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I'm one who can not look at a black background or my eyes see blinds literally. I can read on a tablet or phone but it has to have a high ppi. I use a paperback background with black text or Sepia and I use minimum brightness. In low light this okay but in high lighting the tablet just isn't best for reading like eInk is. This is mostly due to a mirror effect of seeing yourself in the background of your shiny device. It can cause eye strain for me. I have switch to eInk for this reason. The only time I ever turn up brightness on my tablets is when watching a video.

The mirror effect is why I always use an anti glare screen protector on all my devices.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

That would mean that I'd need to recharge the tablet every evening or risk running out of battery.

I don't find it that unusual to find myself in the presence of electrical outlets almost every evening. And with Qi wireless, "charging the tablet" equals "laying it on the nightstand" when I'm done reading for the night.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I'm one of those people who simply don't feel comfortable reading a novel on a backlit screen. I have no problem with staring at my laptop screen for hours when working or watching movies, but I just cannot read a book on any kind of phone or tablet. After a short while I just can't concentrate any longer. Yes, the brightness is low, the font size and margins the most suitable for me, ditto for the background color etc. It is just something to do with a backlit screen. I cannot really explain it. All I know is I have no problem with reading a novel on my e-ink kindle, but cannot do so on a phone or a tablet.

Of course, tablets have weight issues on top of backlight issues. They are just too heavy to hold comfortably. IMHO.

I'm probably one of the few that doesn't see the difference between the front light of my e-reader and the backlight of my tablet.. For me, a light is a light is a light. They both blind me if I read in a dark environment...

For me, the colour I use on my tablet is dependent on the situation. If I read in a lit environment, I'll use a yellowish background with black letters. If I read in an unlit environment, I use a black background with gray letters.
The same goes for the backlight. If the environment is lit, the backlight is turned up a bit more, if the environment is darker, the backlight goes down too (independent on background colour).

And I don't like reading my e-ink device in a dark environment (think dark bedroom) because the white background is blinding to me (I did read you can get a dark background on the Kobo H2O, but I've not looked into it yet)

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I'm one who can not look at a black background...

For some reason, I'm weird in this case.

When using a a command line console, in Windows or Linux, it must have a black background and green letters (user console) or amber (administrator console). I can also use bright letters (yellow, bright red, cyan, etc) on a black background.

As soon as a console is switched around, with a bright background and dark letters, I find it highly annoying and distracting to use.

On the other hand, I detest black websites or very dark black UI's; especially the UI's. All sense of location and order is gone. There are no shadows, no clear borders, and for me, everything just blurs into one dark mess.

The one UI I love to look at is Apple's Aqua. I think it's beautiful to look at, and I have no problems while using it. I won't ever buy an Apple product however, because I can't stand that company's attitude (and the snobbish attitude of some of its fans). But, that's a whole other subject.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I'm probably one of the few that doesn't see the difference between the front light of my e-reader and the backlight of my tablet.. For me, a light is a light is a light. They both blind me if I read in a dark environment...

For me, the colour I use on my tablet is dependent on the situation. If I read in a lit environment, I'll use a yellowish background with black letters. If I read in an unlit environment, I use a black background with gray letters.
The same goes for the backlight. If the environment is lit, the backlight is turned up a bit more, if the environment is darker, the backlight goes down too (independent on background colour).

And I don't like reading my e-ink device in a dark environment (think dark bedroom) because the white background is blinding to me (I did read you can get a dark background on the Kobo H2O, but I've not looked into it yet)

The backlight on my T62+ is too bright at its lowest level, so I use a medium grey background for reading in bed. If you can get a dark background on your Kobo it will help.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I don't find it that unusual to find myself in the presence of electrical outlets almost every evening. And with Qi wireless, "charging the tablet" equals "laying it on the nightstand" when I'm done reading for the night.

I, on the other hand, are prone to forgetting and neglecting devices. I'm often unreachable because my phone runs dead, and I'm out of music because my FLAC-player won't play (battery life is about 10-12 hours). To be honest, even as a software engineer/IT-guy I just don't care about gadgets and care about apps and mobile games least of all.

The one thing I like about the e-reader is that it is just a single-purpose device: you use it for reading, and nothing else. When charged, I can just forget about it for about 3-4 weeks, and even if I get a warning that the battery is almost empty, I don't have to react to it immediately. I seldom get a warning though, because at some point I'll put new books onto the reader, and then it just stays connected to the computer until I shut off the PC. Most of the time, that's long enough to have the reader pull at least half a charge.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by leebase

I don't say "people who have eye issues is bullcrap" - I say the "science" that says there is some magical difference between reflected light and "light shining directly in your eyes" is bull crap.

Tiny studies with few people....with clear intention of FINDING a problem. If not, you'd see things like x% read just fine on a tablet, y% read fine when the tablet is adjusted optimally for conditions, z% have issues beyond the ability to adjust the device.

Just like the recent "blue light" crap. Did you read the details? They had have the participants (again, small number) read on full brightness for two hours to for the problem with sleep to occur. Reading on full brightness for only one hour was not enough. That's in the study. But nobody who has a tablet would read on full brightness at night before going to bed.

Yes, I'm in agreement with you that the STUDIES are total bullcrap. I'm sure there are one or two good ones, but every one that I've seen has been set up so stupidly as to be completely useless to answer any question at all.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

The mirror effect is why I always use an anti glare screen protector on all my devices.

Those usually degrade screen clarity which would give me more eye strain. My Nexus 7 isn't too bad but my Kindle Fires are so shiny! I prefer my Nexus 7 for reading over the Kindle Fires but my new Kobo HD Glo is best for my eyes.

[Atunah]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Those usually degrade screen clarity which would give me more eye strain. My Nexus 7 isn't too bad but my Kindle Fires are so shiny! I prefer my Nexus 7 for reading over the Kindle Fires but my new Kobo HD Glo is best for my eyes.

I am glad that you like the Kobo and you found something to enjoy reading on again. Are you reading more again now?

[Katsunami]

My tablet is so shiny it's practically unusable near a window.

When buying laptops or computer monitors, I refuse to buy any that have shiny screens. They have to be matte, or it's a no-go. I would buy a matte tablet in an instant. Death to all shiny screens!

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

The backlight on my T62+ is too bright at its lowest level, so I use a medium grey background for reading in bed. If you can get a dark background on your Kobo it will help.

I use an app called Low Light on my fire and another called Screen Dim on my android phone to lower the backlight lower than the device's native brightness range.

I also put a matte screen protector on the HD6 to cut down reflections.

My eyes aren't young any more, it seems like my eyes prefer more light over too little. Or maybe that's just a bias I picked up from hearing my father tell me turn on the light and not to read in a dark room over and over. But I think it's really my vision in the dark not being as good as it was when I was younger.

I fully understand people who say they find tablets too heavy or the screens too reflective. I don't understand those who say that reflected light is qualitatively better than direct light.

If I had a front-lit e-ink device, I might use e-ink more often, but the tablet and phone work well enough that I'm not motivated to change. As it is, I only take the e-ink with me when I expect to read outside, which is rare.