Comments on: News Babble Watch: What’s wrong with these words used with this picture in an e-book article?

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:56:05 +0000

Mick, so does this mean that PDAs will be easier on the eyes if read in the portrait mode? This is fascinating stuff. Let’s have more tips.

Thanks,
David

By: Mick

Mick — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:15:26 +0000

One of the problem with LCD screen comes from the bias and the viewing angle induced by the Liquid Crystal technology.

Take the LCD screen of your laptop, rotate it in portrait mode and look at it. Close your right eye and then switch and close your left eye. You should not see exactly the same brightness with the two different eyes. For example, the green color will seem darker to you with the right eye.

Your two eyes are then looking at the same surface but doesn’t see exactly the same thing, it’s like looking at a 3D movie. This effect is quite stressfull on the eyes.

Of course, you can reduce this effect by designing a LCD for portrait mode use, but the stress will remain if you change your reading position or if you switch to landscape mode.

By: Jon Jermey

Jon Jermey — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 10:53:04 +0000

I agree with Bill that ‘photons is photons’. However, if you watch your own behaviour while reading (paper) you’ll probably catch yourself moving the book around to get it into a position where it gets the optimal amount of light. A backlit ebook doesn’t give that option; instead it requires the ‘unnatural’ (ie unlearned) action of adjusting the level of back lighting. It may be that people who find reading backlit screens tiring are just neglecting to set the level correctly. Too much contrast and brightness is just as bad as too little.

This adjustment could certainly be made easier on many devices. And – I wonder – would there be any advantage in getting a lightmeter built into a backlit device which could automatically adjust the lighting as conditions change?

Jon.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:44:32 +0000

Bill, as someone who’s glad E Ink is around but who thinks E Ink is overhyped, I’d love for you to be right. I’m glad you’ve raised this point. If TeleRead Land can’t come through, is it possible you could turn a research at PARC loose on the case? This user comfort issue is not a trivial matter.

I myself can read hour after hour off an LCD, but I do like to take breaks, just as with paper. Would the breaks be less frequent with E Ink? Well, I do recall that despite the infuriating contrast problem with my since-sold Librie, E Ink was a bit easier on the eyes. BUT that might just be my conditioning as a result of the E Ink propaganda.

Wait. I’ll promote this to the main area of the blog and see if we draw any response. You might want to do the same on the eBook Com list.

Thanks,
David

By: Bill Janssen

Bill Janssen — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:35:49 +0000

The whole point of E Ink is that such displays reflect light–not necessarily actual images–rather than glow, thereby making them easier on the eyes.

I believe this is an urban legend; that is, false. I’ve heard it from the Gyricon folks, too. Can anyone out there in Teleread land provide any physiological research to back this up? Logically, the eye shouldn’t care about where the photons falling on it are generated.