LCD and your eyes

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by John F

No I don't. My impression is that some people prefer LCD, some prefer Eink, and more people complain about LCD than Eink.

I see it as about equal on the light complaints.
Or I have read about the same number of complaints about lighting.
It seems to me the most common one is I have seen is I turn the light all the way up in a dark room and it is blinding/splotchy/etc.
Well yes if you turn any light on high in a dark room it can be blinding. I don't care if it is a tablet, ereader, or flashlight or open the shade. Looking at any bright light can be blinding. Turn down or device and get that effing flashlight out of my eyes. You bounced the light off my glasses.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it we get people saying that reading from an LCD screen hurts his/her eyes and yet some of the same people spend lots of time watching an LCD TV and sitting in front of a computer/laptop/tablet/phone all with an LCD screen for a good amount of time? If these LCD screens are not a problem, then why is reading a problem? And if these screen are a problem, then go see your local optometrist as you have something wrong with your eyes.

I'm one of those. I watch videos on my laptop every day. I just finished watching one that was 58 minutes long. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I also read on my phone. When I had an LCD phone I was limited to 15 or 20 minutes and then my eyes began to water. No pain but it became difficult to read. If I didn't stop it would be hours before I could read again, on LCD or on my Kindle.

A few months ago I changed to a phone with an AMOLED display. That's a lot better. Now I can read up to about 30 minutes in a session before my eyes begin to water.

With either phone I can stop reading for about 5 minutes and then begin another reading session. I seem to be able to do a few of those sessions as long as I take a break. I've never tested how many I can do in a day since I mostly read with my Kindle.

I can't really tell you why this is true but for me it definitely is true. My speculation is that when reading I'm gazing straight into the screen while when browsing or watching a video I look away more. Or maybe I blink more. I don't really know the answer. I just know it's true.

I seriously wish it wasn't true. I much prefer reading on my phone to my Kindle. The size and convenience are just right for me. A few months ago I started testing this to see if I could read exclusively on the phone for a month. I ended up doing it for 2 months. During that time I found myself reading a little less but enjoying it more and reading enough faster that I got as much reading done.

That led me to an experiment on my Kindle with wide margins, which also let me read faster, so now I read as fast on my Kindle.

I read today on my phone for about half an hour, probably in 3 sessions because of real life interruptions. It's a nice way to read. I wish I could just do it that way all the time.

From discussions in this forum and others I'm pretty sure this problem doesn't affect everyone. I've heard estimates that 1/3 of readers are bothered by reading on LCD and 2/3 are not. I have no idea how real those numbers are but I guess that fact makes it easy for those who aren't bothered by LCD (or AMOLED) reading to be skeptical.

I'm the same way. At 76 I've never died so I'm becoming convinced that death is a rumor; something neurotics make up. Or maybe spread by life insurance companies.

Barry

[barryem]

Originally Posted by maddz

It's probably to do with the reading distance and the size of the screen. Usually a TV is a good 6-8' away, a desktop computer monitor a good 3' away, a laptop 2-3', but a tablet is much closer. I quite often take my glasses off when using my iPad Mini (even though I don't need to) and as I am very short sighted, the screen is about 6" away.

I always read with my glasses on. Sometimes on my Kindle I'll use my reading glasses and a lot of the time on both the Kindle and phone I'll use the reading lense on my bifocals. These aren't graduated, by the way, which could be a problem if they were.

I do pretty much the same thing when watching a video on a tablet. I like old TV shows and I have a 7" Fire with a lot of them on it and I'll usually use my reading glasses or sometimes my bifocals. I can watch a 1 hour show with no problem without a pause. I can't read for an hour without 2 or 3 breaks.

I hold both about the same distance away.

I don't have a TV. I usually watch TV shows on my laptop with Netflix or Amazon Prime or Youtube. None of it bothers my eyes. But I don't think I'm constantly gazing into the screen for extended periods while watching a show like I do when reading.

As for lighting, I've learned to be careful adjusting the lighting when I read or watch TV. I usually use Moon+ on my phone and it's simply a matter of swiping the edge of the screen to make fine adjustments. I generally keep the light as dim as I'm comfortable with.

Barry

[4691mls]

I suspect watching ta TV show or movie, where the images and lighting change frequently, would be different than reading text steadily.

I've never used an eink reader that has a built-in light so I have no idea if that kind of light would bother me.

[graycyn]

I can, of course, read on an LCD screen. But, I've always had trouble with reading comfortably when there is light shining into my eyes. This is true whether it is a backlight LCD screen or a paper book in bright sunlight.

The issue is not that I can't read on LCD, it's that I can't do my normal amount of reading (a lot, more than 100 books yearly) comfortably.

Nor do I keep my screen brightness high!

While many moaned about how e-ink screens were too gray, that's always been one of the things I *like* about e-ink. It's just more comfortable. When I do read on my tablet, I use a sepia background.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I suspect one of the main reasons is that people have the screen brightness set too high. If the screen is visibly "shining", it's too bright.

I'd think that is certainly the case in some instances. I know some who have their brightness so high half the time it's like looking into a flashlight (I'll be seeing spots after looking briefly at their screen). One some devices, when used for reading, I've had to use a third party dimming app to get the screen brightness down enough as the default minimum was still too bright.

Originally Posted by khalleron

Because people are different - different ages, different sizes, different abilities, different eyesight, different needs.

Not everyone is you. Not everyone is doing something 'wrong' if they have different experiences than you.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I suspect watching ta TV show or movie, where the images and lighting change frequently, would be different than reading text steadily.

That's it. I have no problem binge-watching a TV-series on my laptop or tablet for several hours, but I do have a problem reading a novel or some other long text. My eyes just tire and start to ache. I keep the brightness way low and never read in a totally dark room, but nevertheless I can read a book on an LCD screen only for a short while. I have no such problem reading on e-ink. Of course, I keep the brightness on my Kindles quite low too (8-9) and don't use them in the dark.

It's just the way my eyes are. I'm also extremely nearsighted and my eyes are very sensitive to bright light (for example, I'm unable to watch TV or read or do anything at all in a totally dark room, the contrast is too painful for my eyes).

[Cinisajoy]

Interesting trivia.
It appears everyone that has posted in the thread about having to keep the brightness on very low and a lamp on are all nearsighted.
Is it our eyes or our glasses? Or a combination of both? Since I think our glasses magnify everything.

[4691mls]

I recall someone on here posting in another thread that being nearsighted was like having a built-in magnifier. That may be true. I take my glasses off to read because it's so much better than trying to read through the tiny little reading portion at the bottom of my glasses.

A couple years ago I was reading on my eink reader at the eye doctor's office while waiting for the doctor to come to the exam room. When she came in and saw the font size I was using, she was impressed that I could read it. It didn't look particularly small to me.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Interesting trivia.
It appears everyone that has posted in the thread about having to keep the brightness on very low and a lamp on are all nearsighted.
Is it our eyes or our glasses? Or a combination of both? Since I think our glasses magnify everything.

Nearsighted here. I read very happily on a 5 inch LCD phone screen in smallish font with my glasses off. I do keep the brightness low and low room light on.
Not all the devices I use will even go dim enough for reading at night.

I do need the screen resolution to be about 300 ppi or better to be happy with reading on LCD.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by barryem

I always read with my glasses on. Sometimes on my Kindle I'll use my reading glasses and a lot of the time on both the Kindle and phone I'll use the reading lense on my bifocals. These aren't graduated, by the way, which could be a problem if they were.

I do pretty much the same thing when watching a video on a tablet. I like old TV shows and I have a 7" Fire with a lot of them on it and I'll usually use my reading glasses or sometimes my bifocals. I can watch a 1 hour show with no problem without a pause. I can't read for an hour without 2 or 3 breaks.

I hold both about the same distance away.

I don't have a TV. I usually watch TV shows on my laptop with Netflix or Amazon Prime or Youtube. None of it bothers my eyes. But I don't think I'm constantly gazing into the screen for extended periods while watching a show like I do when reading.

As for lighting, I've learned to be careful adjusting the lighting when I read or watch TV. I usually use Moon+ on my phone and it's simply a matter of swiping the edge of the screen to make fine adjustments. I generally keep the light as dim as I'm comfortable with.

Barry

If you've got the same version of the 7" Fire that I have, the resolution is to too low for me to really be happy reading on it. I can read on it, but end up grabbing a higher res device instead before too long. I'm curious what resolution your phone has?

[4691mls]

Alohamora, can you read on your phone for long periods of time without problems? I wonder what the difference is between your nearsighted eyes and mine....
I just checked the manufacturer's website and it says my phone is 294 ppi so that's just about the 300 you mentioned.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

If you've got the same version of the 7" Fire that I have, the resolution is to too low for me to really be happy reading on it. I can read on it, but end up grabbing a higher res device instead before too long. I'm curious what resolution your phone has?

I don't even like Facebook on my fire. It reminds me of my first teddy bear. His name was Fuzzy.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Alohamora, can you read on your phone for long periods of time without problems? I wonder what the difference is between your nearsighted eyes and mine....
I just checked the manufacturer's website and it says my phone is 294 ppi so that's just about the 300 you mentioned.

Yes. Reading on LCD is such a non-issue for me I have trouble understanding why it bothers some people.
(Aside from glare and sunlight outdoors, which issues I do understand and avoid for reading or dust off my old kindle)

[4691mls]

Maybe someone will do a real scientific study to determine why LCDs bother some people's eyes and not others, and whether there is anything those of us who have difficulty with it could do differently. Until then, I'll stick with eink.