What produces less eye strain. books or ebooks?

scuster · Post by **scuster** » 22 Jan 2014, 19:01

From my recent 3 brain surgeries I learned that paper books are better for us. If you look at your electronic reading you will see that it is giving off a glare and your screen is filled with many pixels which your eyes and brain is working hard to understand and make into messages and pictures for us.

obiebookworm · Post by **obiebookworm** » 22 Jan 2014, 19:38

scuster wrote:From my recent 3 brain surgeries I learned that paper books are better for us. If you look at your electronic reading you will see that it is giving off a glare and your screen is filled with many pixels which your eyes and brain is working hard to understand and make into messages and pictures for us.

Really? This is very interesting, but it makes sense. Thanks for sharing this!

ALRyder · Post by **ALRyder** » 22 Jan 2014, 20:01

It depends on the type of ereader. Of course if you're using one with a backlight it's going to cause more strain, but I get less headaches when I read on my basic kindle. It helps that you can also adjust the font size.

lbuckman · Post by **lbuckman** » 22 Jan 2014, 21:47

I haven't really noticed a difference with either.

Dream Spinner · Post by **Dream Spinner** » 30 Jan 2014, 23:14

This was actually in the news last night, it has been proven that printed books cause less eye strain.

Dean Koontz · Post by **CinnamonB** » 31 Jan 2014, 22:28

I haven't noticed. I like either physical or ebooks. One thing that I find more convenient is when you can carry your books on one device. I read from my kindle app all the time, I make sure to increase the font size if needed, and change the background to black. It is more comfortable for me that way.

markj · Post by **markj** » 31 Jan 2014, 22:42

I think it depends on the quality of the lighting you have to read in, which includes the lighting of an ebook reader. Also the colour of the book pages and type of font etc.

9bit · Post by **9bit** » 01 Feb 2014, 06:19

I spend the vast majority of my time staring at some kind of screen, be it my computer, my tablet, or my phone. I've never really noticed any eye strain, so I guess I'm lucky. I'm sure it's not the best thing in the world for you eyes and that a paper book lit by natural sunlight is probably the best for you, but... well, c'est la vie. Computers and electronics are my profession so I'm kinda stuck with them haha.

pyjama · Post by **pyjama** » 01 Feb 2014, 10:34

I prefer books. I can read hours upon hours and I don't feel that much strain, instead ebooks tire my eyes after some time.

Loveabull · Post by **Loveabull** » 01 Feb 2014, 12:00

I would imagine maybe the light from a reader might bother some people. On the other hand an advantage of readers is being able to make the words bigger. Actually I've found the easier reading is in large print editions of paper books. There's just limits to how many titles are in large print.

pattygirl249 · Post by **pattygirl249** » 01 Feb 2014, 23:28

For me is ebooks because I can adjust the size of the font and wouldn't need my glasses. Traditional books aren't as flexible. Also, with tablets you can have it bright and can easily read with the lights out in the room.

Sherlock_1 · Post by **Sherlock_1** » 17 Feb 2014, 17:31

I think ebooks... mine has a light up background so it's easier to read at night without turning on a light. Plus you can move around and parts of the pages aren't in shadow.

yalonde · Post by **yalonde** » 09 Mar 2014, 09:21

I tend to get headaches if i read for too long of a period when testing an actual book. Which is weird because i would think the light from my kindle would bother me.

Mowalski · Post by **Mowalski** » 09 Mar 2014, 11:25

Unless one has failing vision, then I would have to go with actual books.

We spend more than half our lives looking at screens. Why am I going to look at another one?
It always feels good, after a technology-ridden day, to just curl up with a good physical copy of a book you love.

Wreade1872 · Post by **Wreade1872** » 09 Mar 2014, 15:23

Paper books are vastly more straining on the eyes, PROVIDED you have a proper non-white, non-backlit, E-ink reader.

Most strain is caused by the reflection of light and the size of the text, so on my old gray sony 505 in which i always use the largest font possible, i can read for hours and hours without strain, even outside.

A few minutes outside with a paperbook would give me a headache due to the reflection of light and small fonts.