When it was first revealed that the iPad would not have some half-$%# version of an e-ink screen (think Pixel Qi), I was growing concerned my eyes would pay the price with strain looking at an LCD. Since then, as a doctor, I did some research on the subject of eye strain. Thing is, it doesn't matter if you are sitting in the sun with an iphone or a book that is reflecting bright glare from its pages, brightness is brightness, regardless if backlit or reflected. The big concern is actually font size. If too small, the vision strains to read it accurately without discomfort. The second issue is contrast, for example, watching TV in the dark. There is no real proof that LCD causes eye strain in standard reading conditions. If you like to read in the dark, any glare will "tire out" your eyes, even light reflected off of book pages. But in the plain light of day, LCD should not threaten anyone's eyes any more than staring at a glossy magazine on the beach would. You still want to wear sunglasses either way... on that note....
As I sit on vacation on Kauai, I'm reading my iphone in direct sunlight with easier clarity than my paper book. The book pages are standard, but are reflecting so hard I need glasses. The text on my iphone almost exactly looks like an e-ink screen in direct sunlight. I can't even find an angle that I cannot read it with ease. Would I watch a movie in direct sunlight? No. But reading is actually quite easy - like with an e-ink screen. Outside of the obvious power advantages, I now see OLED or LCD as the clear choice for any multi-use tablet. E-ink is marketing hype, with no credible data that LCD increases strain. Look, if you sat in the dark with one spotlight brightly over your e-ink kindle, your eyes would still start to hurt because of the contrast between the dark room and the bright source light - same as if you were in a dark room with any type of backlit monitor.
As I sit on vacation on Kauai, I'm reading my iphone in direct sunlight with easier clarity than my paper book. The book pages are standard, but are reflecting so hard I need glasses. The text on my iphone almost exactly looks like an e-ink screen in direct sunlight. I can't even find an angle that I cannot read it with ease. Would I watch a movie in direct sunlight? No. But reading is actually quite easy - like with an e-ink screen. Outside of the obvious power advantages, I now see OLED or LCD as the clear choice for any multi-use tablet. E-ink is marketing hype, with no credible data that LCD increases strain. Look, if you sat in the dark with one spotlight brightly over your e-ink kindle, your eyes would still start to hurt because of the contrast between the dark room and the bright source light - same as if you were in a dark room with any type of backlit monitor.
