Extended Reading of Continuous Text on Television Screens

Thirty-two subjects read continuous text for 2 h. Half read from a television screen (video condition) and half read from a book. Subjects experienced little nausea or headache in either condition. A small amount of dizziness, fatigue, and eyestrain was produced by reading, but there no significant differences between the book condition and the video condition on these measures, nor was there a difference in comprehension scores. Video subjects read 28.5% more slowly than book subjects. Possible reasons for this difference are discussed. In the video condition, the presence of proportional horizontal spacing had no effect on reading speed or comprehension. The results suggest that extended reading of continuous text on television screens is certainly feasible.