Good monitor for reading?

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  • In short: I need a monitor which allows me to read texts for long periods of time without getting a headache, even if I am very sensitive concerning 'regular' monitors.


    I have always had a mixed relationship with computer monitors: I have no problem playing games for hours, but even reading a small Wikipedia article has always been a challenge for me, since I get a headache after just seconds. Or in other words, I just can not concentrate when I read on a monitor. On my Kindle Paperwhite, (Amazon's eReader) and with normal books of course, I don't have such problems.
    Some time ago, I bought this monitor. I had great expectations in this monitor, but although it is a bit better than my previous one, I still have problems reading long texts with it. I also bought these monitor glasses, which made my experience a slightly better, but only slightly.


    I already tried lowering the brightness of my monitors and changing the contrast etc. Today I even installed an addon that gives every site a black background and a white font instead making it a bit easier for my eyes, especially on Wikipedia. However, although more relaxing for the eyes, I found out that it actually makes recognizing words a bit tricky and I don't know about the forums new design :P
    Some while ago I even tried to get this hack to work on my kindle, although it is not made for my Paperwhite. Of course I failed ^^
    There actually is a small Chinese company which offers to sell a working e-ink screen, but it still has all the disadvantages of the e ink technology (low res, slow reaction time, no colors etc.) and it costs around 900$. Sony has made a similar sized product, but it can not be used as a monitor unless you can mod it as well, and it's not much cheaper.
    So, now I am thinking, if I just should give up on my idea to learn how to programm, go back to have to copying every website to my kindle for better reading and hope for some big company to make a good e-ink monitor soon. Or can you guys actually help me? :P


    My kinda 'last hope' are some pretty expensive 'business' or 'office' monitors, like this one, which is labeld as a "Business LED Monitor". Sorry, I could not find this monitor on the English Amazon site, but down there is says that you cold "almost simulate the features of reading a newspaper!" Furthermore, this device is gonna change its brightness according to the brightness of the environment.
    I also read that the best I can get as a monitor for reading would be one with IPS technology. Dell is know for making good (and expensive) office monitors. So could this one be a good choice for me? You see, my problem is, that I did not have the chance to really try these monitors ^^


    So I would like to hear what you guy's experience with monitors is. Do you have/ had similar problems, or am I just really sensitive?
    And most importantly for me: If you are a coder or simply read a lot on your monitor, is there any one you can really recommend? I saw some tranlators using very big flat screen that looked like Mac monitors and red told me some while ago that he uses one extra large monitor instead of multiple ones (just like Gabe Newell :D ).


    Do you think that when I have such huge problems with my current monitor, spending a lot more money will get me a better reading experience? Or am I just too sensitive and it would be a waste of money?
    I have read a lot about ergonomy on these monitors and that brightness, etc. matters, but honestly I don't think that these things can change much for me. Do you think that is true? ^^
    I literally need a screen where you can stare at like a mad man without having problems even after hours ^^ The kindle e-Reader was the best thing I experienced yet. Some study I read about said that it's the small size of those e-Readers that make them more nicely for reading, but honestly, I don't think that's true. I really would love to have a giant newspaper-like screen :P

  • I read something about frontlight lcd only working well with monocrome displays. I guess because color screens have a layer for each color so reflectinf light off it would not look well. Personally i am waiting for color e-ink with high redraw rates to become popular. They are getting better.

  • What makes my kindle easy to read is not the e ink but the front light, not back light.


    I knew that the kindle is better because the light is coming from the side, but I did not know that there are also regular monitors with this technique :thumbup: Oh, the Game Boy Advance SP also used this method that is why its display was so nice :D
    Sadly, I also can not find a pc monitor with these feature :C but thanks for sharing.

    Personally i am waiting for color e-ink with high redraw rates to become popular. They are getting better.


    Same, but it still takes so slowly :C

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