Are ebook (eInk) readers really easier on one's eyes?

[shalym]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

It is confirmation bias. Which happens way too much on the internet. Seek out only opinions that confirm your own. Avoid dialogue and challenging your preconceived notions.

So...if asking a forum of people who read ebooks isn't the place to ask questions about reading ebooks, where is the correct place? A forum full of people discussing movies or music?

Shari

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

It is confirmation bias. Which happens way too much on the internet. Seek out only opinions that confirm your own. Avoid dialogue and challenging your preconceived notions.

Where would you suggest going for those other opinions? Very few other virtual places I visit have any discussions about or information on ereaders much less discussions on which displays are easier to read on from people who are likely to have used those displays.

And ghod alone knows why it is that on Mobileread, any three posters seem to have at least five opinions on any topic.

[teija]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

It is confirmation bias. Which happens way too much on the internet. Seek out only opinions that confirm your own. Avoid dialogue and challenging your preconceived notions.

haydnfan: If you think the merits of eInk are all based on confirmation bias, then why do you own an eInk reader?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

It is confirmation bias. Which happens way too much on the internet. Seek out only opinions that confirm your own. Avoid dialogue and challenging your preconceived notions.

Ah, but you misunderstand the original post #1 in this thread. With the right settings you can emulate somewhat how eink looks with lcd or oled screens, but never duplicate eink 100%.

Now OP has this problem that even with 20-15 vision (better than normal) eyes are tiring really quick reading on tablets. You can surely improve it a little bit with right settings, which OP admits is unable to get -- not for lack of trying. Are you really this confident that lcd/oled will work better than eink in OP's case? Remember we do have 3 different kind of people on MR: (1) those that read without problem on lcd tablet and prefer it, (2) those that could read on either, but prefer eink, and (3) those that NEED eink for various eye problems.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

It is confirmation bias. Which happens way too much on the internet. Seek out only opinions that confirm your own. Avoid dialogue and challenging your preconceived notions.

In my case it's also fact. I've spent enough time reading on LCD screens to know (it's not a guess) that reading on eInk devices is easier on my eyes. I knew this long before I "confirmed" it by reading about other's experiences on the Internet -- and long before I even knew MobileRead (and other forums dealing with eInk Readers) existed. Why is it so hard to accept the fact that not everyone is the same?

As for "dialogue ... challenging ... preconceived notions," I think we've had enough of those on this subject in other threads. (I don't have to "justify" my opinion.) The OP wanted personal opinion, no "challenging dialogue" necessary. Several of us who like eInk Readers have stated our opinions (as have those who prefer LCD screens). I didn't question LCD users "confirmation bias," I just accepted the fact that they don't mind (even prefer) LCD screens for reading. Why is it so hard for you to accept that there are those of us who KNOW that eInk eReaders are better for us and easier on our eyes?

[4691mls]

As rcentros indicated, individual experiences differ and the only way to really be sure if one type of technology works better for any one person is to try it themselves.

[RZetlin]

It depends how much reading you plan to do.

With short reading sessions (5 to 10 minutes), tablets are good enough to use for reading.

For longer sessions, an ereader is easier on the eyes.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

It is confirmation bias. Which happens way too much on the internet. Seek out only opinions that confirm your own. Avoid dialogue and challenging your preconceived notions.

That's pretty much a load of mythological elitist crap designed to maximise the poster's belief in his own innate superiority and minimise everyone else's self worth.

No matter what opinions I have on ANYTHING, there is no forum anywhere that restricts people from posting an opposing POV, and no forum anywhere that doesn't have opposing views from a variety of sources. Not even the Fox News forums are like that.

[2scre]

Originally Posted by Mivo

Every once in a while I read a book or two on my iPad (Air 2), and every time I conclude that the experience is much worse than reading on one of my e-ink devices. I do feel more eye strain when reading on an LCD screen, but reading in daylight is such a hassle too, with all the glare. I sit in front of a computer screen all day long, and have been for 30+ years, so when I read, I want something that is more book-like. E-ink offers that. If it wasn't for e-ink readers, I'd still buy paper books exclusively and would not own a single e-book (plain text ones anyway).

Which r-reader do you use? Does your e-reader have backlight?

[Paperbackstash]

I don't find e-book reading easier on the eyes than print. I do notice a difference with e-ink versus tablet. I tend to read for hours at a time, and I kept getting headaches when reading with Kindle Fires. I thought it was an e-reader thing until I switched to e-ink; now I never get headaches reading on those devices.

As to whether it wears out your eyes more or less, I can't say. I would think eye strain headaches with the tablets would mean it was stressing my eyes out. My vision is 20/15 according to physical last year, but again I had to reduce tablet reading because of the feel of strain. No way to tell if it would have hurt vision if I kept reading on them. I do know when these strain headaches hit my vision would blur for awhile and my eyes would look tired until I went to sleep. I'd pop a pill to help and rest my eyes for a bit.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by 2scre

Which r-reader do you use? Does your e-reader have backlight?

An E-ink ereader can not have a backlight given that the display is opaque. Which leads to the fun of trying to produce a front light and diffuser that gives even lighting over the whole screen.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I don't find e-book reading easier on the eyes than print. I do notice a difference with e-ink versus tablet. I tend to read for hours at a time, and I kept getting headaches when reading with Kindle Fires. I thought it was an e-reader thing until I switched to e-ink; now I never get headaches reading on those devices.

As to whether it wears out your eyes more or less, I can't say. I would think eye strain headaches with the tablets would mean it was stressing my eyes out. My vision is 20/15 according to physical last year, but again I had to reduce tablet reading because of the feel of strain. No way to tell if it would have hurt vision if I kept reading on them. I do know when these strain headaches hit my vision would blur for awhile and my eyes would look tired until I went to sleep. I'd pop a pill to help and rest my eyes for a bit.

I had weird vision issues after I extended reading on my phone - things looked slightly blurry and I was seeing halos around lights. Thankfully by the day after that my eyes went back to normal. I mentioned it at my next eye checkup and my eye doctor told me to stick with epub.

I think this is very individual and everyone should read on whichever device works for them.

[stumped]

I use both technologies extensively, and have relatively poor eyesight. I don't perceive any differences in eye strain ,eye comfort.
For me the biggest difference is that an e ink reader helps me stay focused on the book, I don't get incoming email alerts etc or pause to check footie scores while reading. With a phone or tablet, there are so many other fun things to do , so it takes more willpower to just read

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by stumped

I use both technologies extensively, and have relatively poor eyesight. I don't perceive any differences in eye strain ,eye comfort.
For me the biggest difference is that an e ink reader helps me stay focused on the book, I don't get incoming email alerts etc or pause to check footie scores while reading. With a phone or tablet, there are so many other fun things to do , so it takes more willpower to just read

Do you turn off your phone or leave it in another room or something when reading on your e-ink reader? I'm just wondering how reading on e-ink keeps the distractions from still coming in on the phone. I don't personally have an issue with distractions but I've seen other people on here say something similar to what you said, and I've wondered about it.

[Quoth]

I disable all alerts if I want to concentrate. Data is disabled on phone. I only connect phone, eInk or tablet to WiFi if I want to use the Internet (email, files, web, VOIP, text chat etc).

The laptop alerts are set to be ONLY in the task tray.