Glo HD - better contrast outdoors - what kind of magik-ery is this?

miwo76 · 06-16-2015, 02:24 PM

Got my Glo HD about 6 weeks ago and have been really happy with it.

Great contrast, great battery life. The text is nice and sharp and the frontlight is great too - needing only about 15-20% to read in complete darkness.

One thing I have noticed (as this is my first long-term e-reader) is that indoors, with artificial lighting overhead that I actually turn on the frontlight to about 30-50% to get good contrast...otherwise with no frontlight the screen is harder to read for my eyes (low contrast - the blank spaces actually look a little dark grey).

One amazing thing I noticed is that when I read outdoors during the day, the contrast improves the text seems darker and the screen seems lighter! Anyone else have this experience? If so, how do e-ink screens do this? Are they reflective in broad daylight?

ottdmk · 06-16-2015, 02:36 PM

Short answer: Yes, e-ink screens are reflective. In general, the more light in the area, the easier it is to read an e-ink screen. One of the things I love about the technology.

Athropos · 06-17-2015, 01:53 AM

And that's also a great incentive to read outdoors!

cramoisi · 06-17-2015, 03:06 AM

I think this could also be due to ghosting between words which is more visible when light is dim. There is also an optical illusion that make the white more or less white (like this one) which could play a role. Anyway, I noticed the same behavior on my h2o but i’m not sure it’s not in my head

GeoffR · 06-17-2015, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miwo76

One amazing thing I noticed is that when I read outdoors during the day, the contrast improves the text seems darker and the screen seems lighter! Anyone else have this experience? If so, how do e-ink screens do this? Are they reflective in broad daylight?

I don't think this is anything to do with the screen, it is just that our eyes work much better in daylight than in artificial indoor lighting.

I notice that I can comfortably use a much smaller font size when I am reading in daylight than I can when reading under artificial light.

trekk · 06-17-2015, 06:47 AM

The reflectiveness of the eink screen improves the amount of light beams that reach the eyes. The screen will look whiter then. In daylight also more light beams are reflected in comparision to indoors. So ottdmk and GeoffR both are correct!

frostschutz · 06-17-2015, 08:38 AM

Maybe your indoor lighting is just bad. I know I got myself a better lamp along with my first reader. If it's so-so for paper-books it's bad for ereaders, you just need better light for eink. (and as for the frontlight, for me this is "support" only, I leave it at 5%, I do not enjoy reading in the dark with frontlight).

06-16-2015, 02:24 PM	#1
miwo76 Member Posts: 19 Karma: 13128 Join Date: Apr 2015 Device: Kobo Glo HD	Glo HD - better contrast outdoors - what kind of magik-ery is this? Got my Glo HD about 6 weeks ago and have been really happy with it. Great contrast, great battery life. The text is nice and sharp and the frontlight is great too - needing only about 15-20% to read in complete darkness. One thing I have noticed (as this is my first long-term e-reader) is that indoors, with artificial lighting overhead that I actually turn on the frontlight to about 30-50% to get good contrast...otherwise with no frontlight the screen is harder to read for my eyes (low contrast - the blank spaces actually look a little dark grey). One amazing thing I noticed is that when I read outdoors during the day, the contrast improves the text seems darker and the screen seems lighter! Anyone else have this experience? If so, how do e-ink screens do this? Are they reflective in broad daylight?

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06-16-2015, 02:36 PM	#2
ottdmk Wizard Posts: 1,220 Karma: 3804496 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Libra 2, Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus, Lenovo Tab M9	Short answer: Yes, e-ink screens are reflective. In general, the more light in the area, the easier it is to read an e-ink screen. One of the things I love about the technology.

06-17-2015, 01:53 AM	#3
Athropos Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 13144 Join Date: Nov 2013 Device: Aura HD	And that's also a great incentive to read outdoors!

06-17-2015, 03:06 AM	#4
cramoisi Librarian Posts: 346 Karma: 72225 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Liège - Belgium Device: kobo gloHD - KA1	I think this could also be due to ghosting between words which is more visible when light is dim. There is also an optical illusion that make the white more or less white (like this one) which could play a role. Anyway, I noticed the same behavior on my h2o but i’m not sure it’s not in my head

06-17-2015, 06:47 AM	#6
trekk Terraner Posts: 531 Karma: 4455667 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: Kobo Libra, Aura One, Kindle Oasis 1 & 2 ...	The reflectiveness of the eink screen improves the amount of light beams that reach the eyes. The screen will look whiter then. In daylight also more light beams are reflected in comparision to indoors. So ottdmk and GeoffR both are correct!

06-17-2015, 08:38 AM	#7
frostschutz Linux User Posts: 2,282 Karma: 6123806 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Device: none	Maybe your indoor lighting is just bad. I know I got myself a better lamp along with my first reader. If it's so-so for paper-books it's bad for ereaders, you just need better light for eink. (and as for the frontlight, for me this is "support" only, I leave it at 5%, I do not enjoy reading in the dark with frontlight).

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