Text Rendering: Why Computer Displays Suck for Reading

<i>The problem is simply one of resolution.</i><p>Blah blah. Brace a book or magazine in the same position as a computer monitor and you will have the same unpleasant experience while reading it. Monitors are bad because of positioning, immobility, and (even if those were solved) rigidity/unresponsiveness to manipulation by the fingers.

I am not sure resolution is the only reason. LCDs emit their own light, paper just reflects light and is much gentler for the eyes because of this.

I agree that computer displays suck for reading. But there is one important, very simple lesson to be learned from this about computer typography: while in print, serif fonts are always easier to read for long stretches of text and sans-serif should be used only for display (headings and the like), on computer screens it really helps to have very simple fonts with the minimum possible amount of embellishment. Some sort of Helvetica derivative is always easier to read, especially in small sizes, and even with the fanciest subpixel rendering, than a complex thick-and-thin serifed font designed with high-quality print in mind.<p>BTW, I haven't seen a Kindle yet. Somebody I know has one, but he doesn't live in the area and I'm unlikely to meet him for quite a while. Are they any more pleasant to read from than a computer screen?

This one never gets old.<p>It's amazing how little people know about subpixel rendering, even in the design profession. I suppose it's not really required knowledge, but it's interesting to know how text antialiasing really works. You can do a lot with LCDs.