Effects of display type and ambient illuminance on the comprehension performance of young and elderly readers

Abstract

With the advance of the IT industry, the possibility for using handheld devices to read is increasing. However, few researches discussed the elderly users’ reading performance while using various displays under different ambient conditions. Consequently, this study investigated the effects of display type (plain paper, color electronic paper (e-paper), and transmissive light-emitting diode (LED)) and ambient illuminance (50, 500, 6000, and 12,000 lx) on the reading performance of young and elderly readers. The results of this study show that young participants achieved higher comprehension than did elderly participants. The interaction between display and ambient illuminance had a significant effect on users’ comprehension. Participants who used the transmissive LED as the reading media did not show significantly different comprehension at various levels of ambient illuminance. However, participants who used the plain paper and color e-paper display achieved higher comprehension performance at 500, 6000, and 12,000 lx than at 50 lx.