Ask Slashdot: How Do You Deal With Glare On Cellphones?

An anonymous reader writes: As far as I know, I am not particularly sensitive to glare; I've used CRTs in offices full of overhead fluorescent lights, and just ignored the terrible reflections, and I've worked in places where the natural sunlight cleverly funneled in by architects was bounced around by glass walls and mirrors in just the right way to irritate. Still, I never found it much of a problem. Now, though, I work in a field that has me both working outdoors a lot, and traveling by car a fair amount, too. Now that days are getting longer, especially up here in the Pacific Northwest, I know that I'll be squinting and cursing a lot at my phone. My question(s): Are there are any modern smart phones you can recommend with a truly or even passably day-light readable screen? I don't care if it's e-ink (that would be cool), transflective (long promised!) or maybe just a secondary screen with some daylight-readable technology. Barring that, how do you deal with glare on a phone, when you need to use it on a sunny day? Same answer could apply to laptop use, I suppose. Do you build a little glare shield, of the kind that camera operators use? Wear a giant hood of privacy and darkness? I know I'm not alone — I see lots of others squinting and cursing at their cell phones, cupping it with their hands at their eyes, or ducking into scant shade just to see whether the call that's coming is one they need to take, or to read a text. I've tried quite a few phones that have been praised by reviewers for their bright, crisp, daylight-friendly displays, but I think those reviewers probably lived in New York or San Francisco, and were reading in either shadow or fog, because even the brightest Samsungs, Motorolas, and LGs I've seen cannot hold a candle to the summer sun north of Seattle.

Comments

Easy.

[mobby_6kl]

I just don't go outside, and my mom's basement protects me from the harmful sunlight.

Re:Easy.

[show me altoids]

"When will Slashdot support HTTPS?"
Time to change your sig, dude.

tangential but relevant

[argStyopa]

I don't get the point of glossy screens, ever.
Not on phones, not on monitors, not on tv's.
I was looking at HP laptops the other day and it's like they're going for hypergloss - this finish that makes every single dark part of the screen work like a mirror and reflects nearly perfectly every single ambient light around/behind you in your viewing cone.

Who - ever - wants a glossy screen on any such device?

Re:tangential but relevant

[Wain13001]

Glossy screens typically have higher contrast and color saturation. There are plenty circumstances where someone would prefer that over a matte screen on a monitor, regardless of glare.

Re:tangential but relevant

[Khashishi]

Glossy screen makes it easier to remove the glare-- just tilt the screen a bit to shift the glare out of view. With a matte screen, the glare gets washed out over a large angle. This means it's much less bright at the reflection angle, but it is present no matter which direction you point the screen.

Answer

[wezelboy]

Turn your body so that the sun is directly behind you

Re:Answer

[pr0fessor]

Spend $6 on a 3 - pack of anti-glare screen protectors that are made for popular model cell phones...

Re:First world problems

[Drethon]

this guy has them.

Talking about the guy posting a tech question anonymously on the internet or the guy posting a snide response anonymously on the internet?

Not a problem

[jbengt]

I just turn the phone off and enjoy the sunny weather.

matte 3

[Anonymous Coward]

take a fine grit sandpaper and scratch your screen everywhere. it is a poor mans matte finish.

Easy

[Thanshin]

"How do you deal with the effects of electromagnetic radiation?"
"You interpose a material that stops it"

http://cdn.instructables.com/F...

The OLPC project had this solved

[Antique Geekmeister]

Their laptop for children used grayscale only for sunlight, for obvious power consumption reasons, and an effective low power color display for night use. I frankly wish most modern cell phones would use the same technolgy. I have no need to see pretty colors for a dozen icons on my cell phone, or for fancy borders on text messaging, email, or phone interfaces.

Third world also has sun [Re:First world problems]

[Anonymous Coward]

No, in fact this is even MORE of a problem in the third world, where landlines are almost entirely non-existent, people spend more time outdoors, and (in much of the third world) it's quite sunny.

Re:"either shadow or fog"

[93 Escort Wagon]

Odd - usually cloudy days are the worst case ... So it's strange that the OP is having issues in direct sun

OP is in the Pacific Northwest. It rains up here all the time. The OP is obviously confused, never having seen the actual sun.

It's sad, but I've seen this sort of delusion before. It's usually caused by caffeine deficiency. With much professional help and coffee, he has every chance of leading a rich, full life.

It rarely affects me at all

[drinkypoo]

I don't even run a screen protector any more. When I do get glare, I tilt the screen slightly and it goes away. I guess the answer is "wrists"

Re:Third world also has sun [Re:First world proble

[Joce640k]

In the third world they know that putting your hand over the screen and squinting works.

We can't use that method here in the first world. We need a solution, dammit!