Tablet versus lighted E Ink e-reader

[Penforhire]

My experience matches most others, my high-resolution iPad is not as easy on my eyes as Pearl-generation E-ink readers. Exact reason? Not sure. Probably contrast or edge definition.

I can read my paperwhite all day long (and have on long flights) with very minor eye strain.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Mivo

Have you read on a Nexus 7? I would agree with the above for previous LCD devices, but not for the new Nexus. It came as a complete surprise to me, which is why I ask.

Nope. Only on laptop/netbook computer screen and of course my desktop.

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

My main problem with reading on my phone or my tablet is that I am too distracted by checking Facebook, checking email, and basic web-surfing. I get very little reading done. It is great for a short story and my 10'' Tablet is the only thing for an electronic graphic novel but, for a novel, a dedicated eReader is the best bet for eReading.

I always wonder why people list this as a reason for an eink reader. You can access the web on an ereader and certainly pick up your tablet or phone quickly while you are on your ereader and get distracted by the web.

I think the most valid reason to have an ereader over a tablet is the battery life. This is the one I use anyways when people ask.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by Julius Caesar

In term of pixel density, the new Nexus 7 wins hands down. The nexus has 323 ppi, Kobo Aura HD has 265ppi and Kindle Paperwhite I and II have 212 ppi.

However, I would prefer to read using a dedicated eink reader with front light. A front light device like Paperwhite or Aura HD do not shine light to your eyes. Instead it shines light to the device first and then reflect the light to your eyes. A back light LCD like Nexus 7 and all other tablet computers shine light directly to your eyes. Giving you an eyestrain for a long time reading.

Originally Posted by xendula

I agree with Julius C: I much prefer my Paperwhite screen and lighting to my iPad and Nexus, because tablets give me eye strain when in complete darkness ( that's how I like to read at night) and when they are close to my face.

Correction: it gives you and some others eye strain, for the rest of us we have no problem reading off of tablets and other backlit machines. Although I have no doubt that I would probably get eye strain trying to read in the dark. Our eyes are NOT meant to do that!

What's more if anyone works in an office setting with a pc has no choice but to use a back lit monitor. If you are fine with that I don't see why you would all of a sudden have a problem with a tablet.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Speaking with my physicist's hat on, this is nonsensical. Your eyes don't "know" if a photon has travelled directly to them, or been reflected from a screen first. If you get eyestrain from an LCD screen it simply means that you have the backlight turned up too high. Turn the brightness down.

I agree Most people that complain about LCD have the backlight way too high!! BUT I need to know is the Backlight adjustable on the new ink ereaders??

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Katie1

I agree Most people that complain about LCD have the backlight way too high!! BUT I need to know is the Backlight adjustable on the new ink ereaders??

It's a frontlight, and yes all the various brands that have them are adjustable.


For Android tablet users if you need lower brightness check out the ScreenDim app.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

It's a frontlight, and yes all the various brands that have them are adjustable.


For Android tablet users if you need lower brightness check out the ScreenDim app.

There's a good one for the Nexus, and the Ipads are able to be dimmed. I think most reading apps have the ability built into the reading app now so people don't have to go outside the program to change the light intensity.

Didn't make any difference to me. By the time I'd get them low enough that the light didn't bother me they'd be too dark to read.

And I've tried all the day/night settings, with different colored backgrounds and font colors. No difference in most, and some make the problem worse.

I wouldn't assume that most people haven't thought of trying the various color/light options and dimmer choices. For some of us, they just don't help. Eink screens, on the other hand, are comfortable for me, and I can read hours on them and not notice any eye strain.

There's just no comparison.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

There's a good one for the Nexus, and the Ipads are able to be dimmed. I think most reading apps have the ability built into the reading app now so people don't have to go outside the program to change the light intensity.

Right, but ScreenDim dims things below the devices normal lowest brightness setting is what I meant.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

Correction: it gives you and some others eye strain, for the rest of us we have no problem reading off of tablets and other backlit machines. Although I have no doubt that I would probably get eye strain trying to read in the dark. Our eyes are NOT meant to do that!

That's what I said: reading in complete darkness on a tablet gives me eye strain, which is not the case with my PW.

[Barbara1955]

Thanks Brian! Do to recently dropping my K3 2x on the cement floor and breaking the case ...still works tho LOL I thinking of a new lighted kindle for me for Christmas hehehe I read on my Fire sitting up but use the K3 in bed at night. On the Fire I can also adjust it to the Tan background... helps eye strain IMO

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

What's more if anyone works in an office setting with a pc has no choice but to use a back lit monitor. If you are fine with that I don't see why you would all of a sudden have a problem with a tablet.

Of course it is personal, and everybody has to see what works for them. But polls here on Mobileread have shown a preference for reading on e-ink over reading on tablets by more than 2:1 each time.

Can't compare reading on the office monitor with reading on a tablet, at least in my case. I hold a tablet or ereader close to my face.

[David Munch]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Must be the backlight that flickers. The actual display certainly doesn't.

Indeed:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Contrary to popular belief, modern LCD monitors are not flicker free, since most of them use pulse-width modulation (PWM) for brightness control. As the brightness setting is lowered, the flicker becomes more noticeable, since the period when the backlight is active in each PWM duty cycle shortens. The problem is much more pronounced on modern LED backlit monitors, because LED backlight reacts faster to changes in current. Many users have reported headaches, eye strain, nausea, and other problems.

I wonder why they haven't solved the problem of flicker with front/backlights. If I recall correctly, the intensity of an LED is related to the current passing through it. A simple approach involves using a potentiometer, which I understand isn't popular because it isn't software controlled. (Again if I recall correctly,) transistors can use voltage to control current as well, so it should be easy to design a software controlled way to control the intensity of a backlight using transistors.

Is there something that I'm missing?

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I wonder why they haven't solved the problem of flicker with front/backlights. If I recall correctly, the intensity of an LED is related to the current passing through it. A simple approach involves using a potentiometer, which I understand isn't popular because it isn't software controlled. (Again if I recall correctly,) transistors can use voltage to control current as well, so it should be easy to design a software controlled way to control the intensity of a backlight using transistors.

Is there something that I'm missing?

Probably because it requires extra hardware, whereas PWM is usually already implemented on the SOC (system on a chip). There are "Digital Potentiometers" available that would work (most home stereo systems that have remote volume control but no motorized volume knob use them).

Some systems do use this approach. I'm almost 100% sure my Galaxy Note 8.0 does (pointed a video camera at it, and adjusted the brightness - never caught any flicker). My Galaxy Note phone with it's OLED screen is a different story. Samsung seem to dim their OLED screens by adjusting the refresh rate.

The only time flicker ever bothered me was back in the days of the 60Hz CRTS. I can happily read on pretty much any LCD and have been since the Palm Pilot. Other people don't seem to be so lucky.

[greenasterisk]

Originally Posted by faithbw

I just purchased the new Nexus 7 and the high pixel density makes text very crisp and clear. I actually find the text clearer and easier to read on the Nexus as opposed to the Sony PRS-350 that I previously owned.

However, I wonder how tablets with high pixel density stack up against some of the newer lighted e-reader like the Aura HD and the new Paperwhite. Which one is better for reading in bed in the dark. Which provides an overall better reading experience?

I believe it is all about priorities. If constant recharging is of no bother to you and you don't mind the screen glare of tablets definitely go for a Tablet. You would especially like it if you are a coffee table book reader or your content is mainly related to magazines. However if long form reading is what matters, and you are conscious about screen glare, then by all means go for an e-reader.