E-ink vs LCD outdoors
E-ink technology is claimed to be how the future generations are going to read. With the current market of tablets out there also supporting e-books and e-readers, people can justify spending extra money on a multifunctioning tablet instead of getting a proper e-ink display designed for reading. Yet if you are looking for a tablet to read books on, I would highly recommend an e-ink display device. One of the benefits of e-ink displays is the great readability outdoors.
The e-ink display has many things in its favour. E-ink is not as harsh on the eyes as an LCD or plasma screen is. E-ink also consumes less power, while looking like real paper and being usable outdoors. Although e-ink cannot be read in the dark like other backlit displays can, I don’t see this as a problem. It is quite straining on my eyes for the only source of light to be coming from a screen, and if I do use a screen in a dark room for too long, I get migraines. Also, e-ink does not have the response rate of an LCD or plasma screen, but since e-ink is widely used for reading e-books, I don’t think this is that much of a disadvantage.
To demonstrate how surprisingly good an e-ink display is outside, I took my iPad and Amazon Kindle and soaked in some Vitamin D. As you can see by the pictures below, the iPad with its LCD display can’t compete with the Kindle. When I pointed the screens at the sun, the Kindle was still readable, while the iPad was not.
An overhead shot of both devices in full sun shows again, that the Kindle was able to be read easily. The iPad, as before, would rather reflect a lovely image of myself holding the camera then display something readable. It is worth noting that the iPad was on full brightness.
As you can see, e-ink displays are superior at readability in sunlight. So if you plan on purchasing an e-reader device in the future, it is best to keep in mind this difference between an e-ink display and an LCD screen, and where you are likely going to use your new toy. Although, if you do want an LCD or plasma screen, or already have a device with a plasma or LCD screen, Andreas has posted a blog about using a matte screen protector on plasma and LCD displays which cuts the glare somewhat when you go outside, thought e-ink is still better. After all, there is not much point in having a gadget if you can’t use it.
