eye strain after reading on the iPad

With different apps and/or books, the print gets very fuzzy and I cannot focus after 10 or so minutes.

Does anyone else have this problem? I am not sure what to make of it...

macbook pro, Mac OS X (10.6.1), linksys wireless network, various windows pc's

Posted on Apr 6, 2010 2:39 PM

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22 replies

Jul 24, 2010 9:58 AM in response to nathan_h

In case you missed it, there is a new web browser called NIGHT OWL that solves the brightness problem and eye strain problem in pitch dark rooms, when web browsing.

We still need a global OS solution, but at least the developer community has stepped up and solved this problem for web browsing, just like Apple solved it themselves for ibooks.

Great solution for just 99 cents.

Apr 6, 2010 3:03 PM in response to Angel Cruz

You may have your screen too bright or dark, depending on the environment you're trying to read in. If you're in a dark room (reading at night in very low to no lighting), turn the brightness down so that you're not squinting and hold the screen slightly tilted from you to avoid the direct light and glare. Having the screen too bright would really be no different than staring directly into a light, which will eventually hurt your eyes.

If you're in a bright room, try turning the brightness up.

The general rule of thumb is to have the screen approximately 25-50% brighter than the lighting around you, and to always keep the screen slightly tilted in a manner that reduces direct light and glare.

I have very sensitive eyes and am very prone to eyestrain, and these tricks seem to work for me. Periodic breaks and a few eyes exercises might not hurt either. Also, try to keep your eyes relaxed when reading. If you feel that your starting to squint, it’s time to take a break.

Jul 24, 2010 11:25 AM in response to Angel Cruz

try and find a vinyl or alike adhesive 'skin' that applies onto the black frame of the ipad, ideally in light grey or a white colour.

this will spread the colour to the eye and make the contrast between black frame and white screen to the eye less, much alike the philips aurea TV principal, makes such a difference, thats why i like my white intel imac and aurea TVs, all white around the screen, stops the IRIS contracting as much and thus reduces strain.

also have you tried the system wide 'inverter' in ipad accessibility settings? makes everything black with coloured text

Message was edited by: Quaddy

Aug 17, 2010 2:37 PM in response to Angel Cruz

Saw an ophthalmologist today because I was suffering from eyestrain (esp. blurry distant vision after long periods of reading books on the iPad). I'd never had this problem reading dead tree or Kindle books and because I have a medical condition that dictates I pay attention to vision problems, I went to see him.

Bottom line: he said not to worry about it, that I'm not doing any damage to the eye. It's just a matter of the lens being slower to adjust as person gets older.

Sep 24, 2011 12:23 PM in response to Angel Cruz

Wow, this problem describes my experience to a "T". Using the iPad literally wigs out my eyes. Spending an hour on my iPad will mess my eyes up so dramatically that I can't focus normally for about 24 hours.


I live on computers. I've never experienced this problem before and it is definitely iPad-induced. No problems with my droid phone or kindle or any number of PCs I use throughout the day.


I adjusted brightness, which helps. It's the pattern of 1-hr use and then 24-hour recovery that prevents me from really enjoying the wonderful features of the iPad. I'm hoping that others write about their experiences so we can discover how big a problem this is. My friend uses the iPad without any eye issues whatsoever. I know this original comment was written a while ago, so maybe many have no problems at all.

Dec 27, 2011 9:41 AM in response to Angel Cruz

There are two things I do to make reading on the iPad 2 a pleasant experience:


1) I applied an anti-glare film on the screen to reduce reflections when reading in daylight. I used a good quality one (Steinheil Optical, but I'm sure there are other good ones), that didn't lessen the iPad's clarity and brightness, at the same time removing my own face from the screen I'm staring at. (Then, it gives the screen some paper-like coarsness, that I enjoy more than the plain sleek glass).


2) Use ambient light when reading in the evening/night. We often believe that the light emitted by an LCD screen is enough for our eyes, but this is wrong; our eyes need indirect light, more than mesmerizing in-face light. Turning a lamp on next to you will let you turn the iPad's brightness down, reducing in-face light.


I could add that I turn wifi off, and this helps with the general suppression of disturbing phenomena (no headhache when the waves are off).


I cannot do a comparison with an e-ink device, but I can say that the reading experience is fine for me (sometimes reading a couple hours with no break).


Paolo

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eye strain after reading on the iPad

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