E-readers 'damage sleep and health,' doctors warn

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Anthem

Given the right boring book

That would be most classics written before WWI.

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That would be most classics written before WWI.

All a matter of taste. I love the classics but would fall asleep in a minute reading most of the pulp fiction on the best seller lists.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

For me, it would be not reading in bed at all As a person who has gone to work without having slept because of reading a paper book, I'm afraid lighted screen is not the reason

now that's being a dedicated reader!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Barcey

All a matter of taste. I love the classics but would fall asleep in a minute reading most of the pulp fiction on the best seller lists.

You do realize that is insulting to the pulp writers of old?
They did invent the tropes being milked by today's bestsellers, after all.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Perhaps it depends on the level of sensitivity we each have. I've read in bed all my life with no problems. I start getting sleepy within half an hour.

A few years ago, when i first got an iPad, i read in bed with it, and after a few weeks realized i was wide awake, and reading for hours, so i stopped and went back to my (unlit) kindle. My normal pattern resumed. So now I use my kindle PW2 downstaris, and unlit kindle touch in bed. It works very well.

I've just returned from a trip overseas, and only took an ipad. Bang, same problem. So, i'm convinced that I'm sensitive to the blue light, and respond very differently to an ipad vs a kindle touch.

Have you tried the PW2 in bed? I wouldn't think it would be a problem unless you had the light turned all the way up. Just curious.

[Shades]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Have you tried the PW2 in bed? I wouldn't think it would be a problem unless you had the light turned all the way up. Just curious.

That's a good question. One would think that it would be the same as reading the unlit kindle under a lamp.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Shades

That's a good question. One would think that it would be the same as reading the unlit kindle under a lamp.

I would think that it depends on the "temperature" of the light. My ereader lights tend to be bluer than what you get from an incandescent bulb. It may also depend on how the ereader varies the brightness. At least some do it by chopping the light on and off, making the on intervals shorter to make it dimmer. There are definitely differences in the lighting, so it's possible that it has different effects on us.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I would think that it depends on the "temperature" of the light. My ereader lights tend to be bluer than what you get from an incandescent bulb. It may also depend on how the ereader varies the brightness. At least some do it by chopping the light on and off, making the on intervals shorter to make it dimmer. There are definitely differences in the lighting, so it's possible that it has different effects on us.

And some people are affected more by the change in light according to the seasons as well.

[JSWolf]

I use my H2O in bed and I have the light at 4 or 5%. I have no trouble reading and then going to sleep. In fact, sometimes I don't read for as long as I'd like as I get tired and have to put down the Reader to go to sleep.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Have you tried the PW2 in bed? I wouldn't think it would be a problem unless you had the light turned all the way up. Just curious.

That's a great question! I've been worried the PW2 would have the same result, but didn't actually try it. Now that i'm on vacation for a few days, i'll give it a try.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I use my H2O in bed and I have the light at 4 or 5%. I have no trouble reading and then going to sleep. In fact, sometimes I don't read for as long as I'd like as I get tired and have to put down the Reader to go to sleep.

Thanks - that sounds promising - i'll give it a try.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Thanks - that sounds promising - i'll give it a try.

The level you have the light at is what works for you. But I do think it will most likely be at a lowish level when you are reading in a dark room.

I've never had problems of sleeping after reading be it on an eInk reader, iPad, or iPhone. I've even watched video on my Surface Pro 2 and then gone to sleep no problem.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I bet you hadn't turned your screen to full brightness and put the tablet and phone at a set distance from your eyes at a fixed location...

"But setting that iPad to 100% brightness in a dark room gives me a splitting headache, and setting it at 30cm from my eyes actually prevents me from reading it because I can't see the text!"

- "That's the point. We're trying very hard to prove that non-paper books are bad, mkay? Stop complaining and read. You still have 3 hours, 57 minutes to go."

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The next is that they don't stress enough that eInk is not an issue.

In theory, at least, you are correct, although they ignore the Paperwhite:

http://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/20...01418490SI.pdf

Originally Posted by FacebookVirus

Reads like a print journalism hit piece.

From print journalism:

iPads, tablets, smartphones disrupt good sleep, study finds

[arjaybe]

It's not the brightness, it's the color. Somewhere about 420 nanometers (can't remember exactly) disrupts your sleep's melatonin cycle. You can sleep, but an important part of it is lost.