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iPads screen causing eye strain during prolonged use.
- Thread starter MegaDell
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Why would reading a book cause any more eye strain than surfing the web?
Because you read a webpage differently than you read a book.
This is one of the things that kind of gets to me all the time--all these people spending hours on the web reading this and that, reading these forums, etc., then commenting on how the eyestrain of reading a book will be too much on the backlit screen of the iPad.
Why is that reading the forums for 20 minutes, 1 hour or two hours on a backlit screen is fine, but read a book for an hour and your eyes will explode?
Yes, we get eye strain from reading on our computer screen; it varies from person to person from computer to computer. Millions of people read pdf files, forum messages, personal email, books, and all sorts of things for hours at a time for 6, 8, 10 , 12 hours per day on their computers. How many of them have significant eye strain problems? Some. I think I can feel it, but I don't know if it's is eye strain or just flat out body strain from it being late in the day. At the end of the day I quite often sit back and read a book on my iPod Touch for the last half hour to an hour of the day. Lots of people are reading books on the Touch or iPhone and surviving quite well.
A Kindle with its eink screen is great, it is probably less strain on the eyes. That's nice, but millions of people already read books and millions and millions of pages of the written word on their computers every day, the iPad is just going to be another backlit screen used by millions. I plan on enjoying it very much.
There are many reports and studies on eyestrain caused by using computers and most state that eyestrain is not a medical problem (causes no lasting effects) and the biggest cause is probably more the sitting and staring for hours at a time, more than effects from the screen, screen contrast, screen brightness, etc. Get your iPad and enjoy it, or don't get one and enjoy whatever you use (but probably less so (my opinion)).
Why is that reading the forums for 20 minutes, 1 hour or two hours on a backlit screen is fine, but read a book for an hour and your eyes will explode?
Yes, we get eye strain from reading on our computer screen; it varies from person to person from computer to computer. Millions of people read pdf files, forum messages, personal email, books, and all sorts of things for hours at a time for 6, 8, 10 , 12 hours per day on their computers. How many of them have significant eye strain problems? Some. I think I can feel it, but I don't know if it's is eye strain or just flat out body strain from it being late in the day. At the end of the day I quite often sit back and read a book on my iPod Touch for the last half hour to an hour of the day. Lots of people are reading books on the Touch or iPhone and surviving quite well.
A Kindle with its eink screen is great, it is probably less strain on the eyes. That's nice, but millions of people already read books and millions and millions of pages of the written word on their computers every day, the iPad is just going to be another backlit screen used by millions. I plan on enjoying it very much.
There are many reports and studies on eyestrain caused by using computers and most state that eyestrain is not a medical problem (causes no lasting effects) and the biggest cause is probably more the sitting and staring for hours at a time, more than effects from the screen, screen contrast, screen brightness, etc. Get your iPad and enjoy it, or don't get one and enjoy whatever you use (but probably less so (my opinion)).
Not if you're talking about e-ink. In fact this is the primary benefit touted by fans of e-ink. I more or less count myself among them fwiw.
I use a Kindle2, hacked with a sharper/crisper font that doesn't use anti-aliasing. I also skinned the K2 in black. These have the combined effect of giving a much higher perceived and actual contract ratio.
That said, I hope to retire the K2 when my iPad arrives.
Not really. Purists still complain, and it is noticeably different from the printed page. I personally don't mind the Kindle's screen (after initial doubts), but there's no sense in arguing that eInk isn't different from paper, because it is. It was a central issue when the Kindle was introduced, and is still a major factor in converting people to eReaders in general.
Any glossy screen with full brightness will cause your eyes to hurt if you are sensitive or even tired mostly during night time.
Next.
Next.
Personally, I find reading on my iMac is easier than on the page. I do find it strange that the thread title implies that the OP is referencing long-term actual experience rather than speculating with no experience at all.
To make a more serious point, reading on an ebook reader is a bit different from reading a web page because ebook reader screens tend to be shaped like a book. That means that there tends to be less than ten words per line, so our eyes have a much easier job scanning the page, hunting for the beginning of the next line and so on. Compare that with reading a web page on a computer, where even on a fairly narrow browser window you can end up with over twenty words per line, which is far more difficult to read continuously.
Good point, but that would be the same on a back-lit screen like the iPad as on an eink screen like the Kindle.
The iPads got a backlit LCD screen. Nothing special, something I've been looking at for years, something I've got experience with, something I wouldn't want to read walls of text with.
And yes, the kindles e-ink is not the same as paper, but it's a hell of a lot better than trying to read huge blocks of text on a computer monitor. It's like asking a professor to read a bunch of essays you emailed on the computer. They will tell you to print it out and have it on their desk. COULD they read it? Sure, but why put yourself through that when the far better solution is to read it on paper, or if not that, a dedicated e-reader.
I read things off of LCD's sure, but some of you make it seem like they are perfect or something.
These last posts point out the difference, which is generally the same as the summation of most reports on eyestrain from bright screens: it isn't the reading, it is the sitting and staring for long periods of time.
When we read web pages, these forums, etc., our eyes are moving all over the place, we stop reading for a while and bring up another page, we close that one and get another, etc. However, reading a book, we sit and stare at the screen steadily for long periods of time. We aren't moving our head much, our body only our eyes, back and forth a little. A Kindle or other ebook reader might be better because the eink screen is not backlit, and that is nice, and it might be better for many people than a backlit screen, or not. This just points out the fact that we need to break up the day a little. Do some reading. Do some writing, do some web surfing, get up and get some coffee... .
If it bothers you, take a break on occasion, if not, enjoy the hell out your iPad for hours at a time!
When we read web pages, these forums, etc., our eyes are moving all over the place, we stop reading for a while and bring up another page, we close that one and get another, etc. However, reading a book, we sit and stare at the screen steadily for long periods of time. We aren't moving our head much, our body only our eyes, back and forth a little. A Kindle or other ebook reader might be better because the eink screen is not backlit, and that is nice, and it might be better for many people than a backlit screen, or not. This just points out the fact that we need to break up the day a little. Do some reading. Do some writing, do some web surfing, get up and get some coffee... .
If it bothers you, take a break on occasion, if not, enjoy the hell out your iPad for hours at a time!
I have no trouble reading for extended periods on my Touch. nor does my wife. having said that, my nice 25.5" LCD vizio monitor, while fine for viewing the internet, is awful for reading within the Kindle for PC app. When I compare the two screens, there is something "different" about the text on the Touch. I also like reading on Kindle for Blackberry. Can't really put it into words, but the bottom line is my much larger display isn't as suitable for reading novels on, as are my touch and Storm2. I have different reading glasses for the phone & touch, than for the Vizio. I use 1.25 readers for the vizio--3.25 for the smaller screens.
I try to avoid saying "ditto", but thanks for saving me the time of typing all that - my thoughts exactly!
Isn't it just a tad to early to conclude anything about the iPad's usefulness, or lack thereof, as a book reader? I don't think one can just assume that reading on the iPad will be the same experience as reading from a computer monitor.
FWIW both Leo Laporte and Andy Inatko, both huge Kindle fans, and both who have used the iPad, if only briefly, say the iPad should be great for reading.
Also Apple is putting a lot of it's reputation on the iPad as a reader. Hard to believe it didn't use select Apple employees as guinea pigs to test out this function from a eye ball's perspective.
We'll see for sure on April 3 though.
FWIW both Leo Laporte and Andy Inatko, both huge Kindle fans, and both who have used the iPad, if only briefly, say the iPad should be great for reading.
Also Apple is putting a lot of it's reputation on the iPad as a reader. Hard to believe it didn't use select Apple employees as guinea pigs to test out this function from a eye ball's perspective.
We'll see for sure on April 3 though.
ah, your post gave me an idea about why I prefer reading novels on my touch or Storm2, as opposed to my PC monitor--there is a lot less text on the screen of the smaller devices, making it super easy to keep track of "where I am" within the text. not sure if that explains my preference, but I can sure vouch for the fun I have reading (in the dark, in bed) on my Touch or Storm2. I only tried one time to read on the Kindle for PC app, and found it so irritating, I quickly closed it down.
I realize that my experiences may be different but I have read read books from the Kindle app on my PC, on my iPhone, and on my Kindle. I would rate them best to worse as:
1. Kindle
2. iPhone
3. PC
The PC experience was terrible, the iPhone enjoyable for short periods and the Kindle I can read all day on. I "plan" on replacing my Kindle with a sweet 32g 3g iPad because everything else it can do. I dont think that I will enjoy books as much as I do on the kindle but I am crossing my fingers
1. Kindle
2. iPhone
3. PC
The PC experience was terrible, the iPhone enjoyable for short periods and the Kindle I can read all day on. I "plan" on replacing my Kindle with a sweet 32g 3g iPad because everything else it can do. I dont think that I will enjoy books as much as I do on the kindle but I am crossing my fingers
