Is E-Ink Really Better for My Eyes than My iPad?

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

I've been into computers avidly ever since the teens (almost 40 now). I'm a software programmer and ever since the internet in the 90's I've also been an avid forum and blog reader. I never had any vision issues with CRT and certainly not now with much crisper LCD. I don't wear glasses.

lucky me?

Namekuseijin, do you read books from LCD or read forums and blogs only?

I don't have any issues with forums and blogs but reading books for a long time is different.

[shanghaichica]

I have a kindle and a galaxy tab and i prefer to read on the kindle.

[Sunspark]

I have 2 e-ink devices here, a vizplex that can do 8 shades of grey, and a pearl that is current. Older is 5" and newer is 6". I could never get used to the 5" because the contrast was just too low that it was personally uncomfortable, I suppose a dud screen. I tried so many fonts to try and resolve it, but at the end of the day, I couldn't defeat the low contrast without access to a waveform calibration device. Also didn't love the hazy reflection of the matte coating.

The pearl is much higher contrast and the coating is better. I could read on the pearl but I don't because it is a gift for my partner, but curiously, she hasn't really been using it much at all though I have tried to encourage her to. If she doesn't use it come the fall, maybe I'll just take it for myself.

I have a HP Touchpad. I don't like reading from it because I find the screen too low resolution (1024x768) and the pulse width modulation isn't as fast as I would like it to be.

What we both use a lot however, are our iPhone 4Ses. The screen is 326 dpi, the small size keeps the eye in a specific area rather than making it go all over. I didn't think I would like it, but the 4S works really well for reading. PWM is set higher than on the Touchpad and I think what also helps is that due to the small size of the screen it's easier to deal with a small little 3.5" area rather than a much larger tablet or laptop area, in which case the e-ink devices would be better. I can share some tips here for extra comfort: 1) In the iBooks app I like to use Sepia theme with Iowan font, 2) Have auto-brightness on, but leave the brightness slider at 50% (or whatever you think best) because the way the slider works when auto-brightness is on, is that it represents a minimum brightness level not a maximum brightness level. So when the screen goes to sleep or you click it back on, yes the unlock screen is full brightness, but once you enter the homescreen or your app, the sensor takes a reading and adjusts the brightness to ambient conditions.. helps with reading. Most people get it reversed and have the slider to maximum thinking the AB control will lower the brightness but this is not so.

People who didn't find the tablets comfortable may find a smaller handheld device comfortable.

Never tried a PixelQi screen, they're quite rare but are out there.

[pruss]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I use a grey background when reading on a LCD. On My Kindle Fire I use the Sepia theme. I only have 3 backgrounds to choose from and Sepia works best. Grey would be better and I keep telling Kindle Support that but so far they haven't added the brightness slider back they took out. Their standard Kindle app has a grey background. It's just not fair!

Maybe it used to have a grey background, but the current version has only white, sepia and black. But then on OLED devices like my phone, there is no difference between a white background with low brightness and a gray background (at least if the gray has equal RGB values).

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by pruss

Maybe it used to have a grey background, but the current version has only white, sepia and black. But then on OLED devices like my phone, there is no difference between a white background with low brightness and a gray background (at least if the gray has equal RGB values).

On my phone turning down the book's brightness slider makes the background grey.

[DarkScribe]

Here is another issue with regard to screen types.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/tec...831-254fh.html

The problem does not occur if reading a book or an eInk device.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

Here is another issue with regard to screen types.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/tec...831-254fh.html

The problem does not occur if reading a book or an eInk device.

Very interesting. This article has the link for related research:
http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcen...appvar=page(1)

[pruss]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

Here is another issue with regard to screen types.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/tec...831-254fh.html

The problem does not occur if reading a book or an eInk device.

In the study, they were using a white screen at full brightness. Just about nobody here reads like that. Many of us who read in the dark either set the screen to a very low brightness or put the screen in reverse video. Some set the background to sepia, which shifts the spectrum heavily towards the red end.

The authors also note that there is no melatonin suppression if you filter out the short-wavelength light by using orange goggles. So if you read in a red-screen mode, especially a red-on-black mode, you will do much better.

In fact, I suspect if you read in total darkness with a red-screen mode, you're liable to do better than an eInk or book user, unless the latter is using colored goggles or a red flashlight (which isn't a bad idea).

My favorite for reading in the dark is green on a black background, which I would guess is a decent compromise between looking good and not causing too much melatonin suppression, especially since our eyes are most sensitive in the green range, so that the intensity can be decreased significantly.

What I say applies best to OLED screens, since on backlit screens there is some white-light leak through black pixels (actually, on my phone, there is a tiny amount of background glow, too, but you have to be in darkness and dark adapted to see it).

I normally set my OLED-based phone to a red-only mode for the night so if I happen to look at it at night, it doesn't affect dark adaptation and sleep as much.

There is also an app called CF.Lumen in Google Play that shifts the spectrum towards the red as the evening wears on, thereby hopefully making one sleep better. (It requires root and last I checked it didn't work on Android 4.x.) I suppose if you have the right kind of LED lighting, one could program house lights to do that, or one could make a booklight that subtly shifts in color (maybe it would have a white LED and a red LED, and it would decrease the brightness of the white and increase that of the red as it got later).

Conflict of interest disclaimer: I make apps (the paid ScreenDim, and the free RootDim and GalacticNight) that improve the night usability of many Android devices.

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by pruss

In the study, they were using a white screen at full brightness. Just about nobody here reads like that. Many of us who read in the dark either set the screen to a very low brightness or put the screen in reverse video. Some set the background to sepia, which shifts the spectrum heavily towards the red end.

The authors also note that there is no melatonin suppression if you filter out the short-wavelength light by using orange goggles. So if you read in a red-screen mode, especially a red-on-black mode, you will do much better.

In fact, I suspect if you read in total darkness with a red-screen mode, you're liable to do better than an eInk or book user, unless the latter is using colored goggles or a red flashlight (which isn't a bad idea).

My favorite for reading in the dark is green on a black background, which I would guess is a decent compromise between looking good and not causing too much melatonin suppression, especially since our eyes are most sensitive in the green range, so that the intensity can be decreased significantly.

What I say applies best to OLED screens, since on backlit screens there is some white-light leak through black pixels (actually, on my phone, there is a tiny amount of background glow, too, but you have to be in darkness and dark adapted to see it).

I normally set my OLED-based phone to a red-only mode for the night so if I happen to look at it at night, it doesn't affect dark adaptation and sleep as much.

There is also an app called CF.Lumen in Google Play that shifts the spectrum towards the red as the evening wears on, thereby hopefully making one sleep better. (It requires root and last I checked it didn't work on Android 4.x.) I suppose if you have the right kind of LED lighting, one could program house lights to do that, or one could make a booklight that subtly shifts in color (maybe it would have a white LED and a red LED, and it would decrease the brightness of the white and increase that of the red as it got later).

Conflict of interest disclaimer: I make apps (the paid ScreenDim, and the free RootDim and GalacticNight) that improve the night usability of many Android devices.

None of this is new. I have been using darkroom "safe" bulbs for nearly two decades in order to not have white light affect me if I have to get up during the night. It was something originally taught in the Navy - you spent a couple of hours in a "ready room" which only had red lighting before standing watch on the bridge at night. It didn't take long to discover that doing the same thing at home, reading under a safe light of an evening allowed you to fall asleep more easily and awake more refreshed.

I looked for an app to allow the same thing on an iPad - reading with red text - but could not find one. For that reason I read my Kindle with a modified book light - I have fitted a section of a car's red brake light lens over the LEDs on the book light. Not elegant but it works.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

I looked for an app to allow the same thing on an iPad - reading with red text - but could not find one.

For ePub books, both Stanza and BlueFire allow customization of both foreground and background colours. I've used both red-on-black and green-on-black.

[pruss]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

I have fitted a section of a car's red brake light lens over the LEDs on the book light. Not elegant but it works.

For a really effective solution, I would consider using Rubylith. It's what amateur astronomers put over computer screens not to use night vision. You can either put some on your iPad (I've heard that touch works fine through it) or you can put some over your night light instead of the red brake light which I expect puts some white light through.

You can buy a sheet on ebay for a couple of bucks, e.g., from the great guy I link to in this post if he's still in business.

Using Rubylith will also take care of the problem of white light leakage through black pixels on backlit LCD displays, which is a problem with software-based solutions. And it'll reduce brightness while you're at it. It might however introduce some blurring, depending on how thick the glass on your device in front of the screen is (thicker glass, more blurring).

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by pruss

For a really effective solution, I would consider using Rubylith. It's what amateur astronomers put over computer screens not to use night vision. You can either put some on your iPad (I've heard that touch works fine through it) or you can put some over your night light instead of the red brake light which I expect puts some white light through.

You can buy a sheet on ebay for a couple of bucks, e.g., from the great guy I link to in this post if he's still in business.

Using Rubylith will also take care of the problem of white light leakage through black pixels on backlit LCD displays, which is a problem with software-based solutions. And it'll reduce brightness while you're at it. It might however introduce some blurring, depending on how thick the glass on your device in front of the screen is (thicker glass, more blurring).

Thank you. I will give that a try. So far photographic safe lights and red plastic covers are my main method. I did try red cellophane but it wasn't really effective.