F Eperjesi¹, C W Fowler¹, B J W Evans²
¹Aston University, Neurosciences Research Institute, Birmingham, United Kingdom; ²Institute of Optometry, Optometry, London, United Kingdom
Background To determine whether video-magnifier (Eschenbach Optik ELG-01 Television Reader CCTV) screen colour has an effect on reading speed in ARMD.
Method Ten ARMD subjects were seated and viewed a video-magnifier screen from 33 cm through their distance prescription (if any) on to which was attached a +3.00 DS full eye size clip-on. A stationary block of dark print (150 words taken from the Wilkins Rate of Reading Test) on matt white paper was placed on the video-magnifier x-y table and magnified to fill a 16 inch TV screen. Different arrangements of the same 150 words were used for each of the six screen colours tested and screen colour was randomly selected. Luminance values for the screen colours were; grey 130 cdm-2, black 40 cdm-2, red 75 cdm-2, yellow 160 cdm-2, green 160 cdm-2, blue 35 cdm-2. These were not normalised in order to test the video-magnifier in its marketed form. Subject's were asked to read out loud, beginning in the top left hand corner of the screen reading each line until the block had been completed. They were asked to read as accurately and as quickly as possible. No movement of the x-y table was required to view the complete block. Subjects were encouraged to guess or pass on words they were unsure about. Each session was tape-recorded and reading speed was determined for each test condition for each subject
Results ANOVA revealed a significant colour effect for reading speed (F, 30.40, p=0.000, df 0.55). Scheffé's S post-hoc test indicated that the blue and red screen colours significantly reduced reading speed when compared to the other screen colours. There was no significant difference between the black-on-grey, black-on-green, black-on-yellow, white-on-black presentations.
Conclusion No significant reading speed advantage was gained from using the coloured screen facility of the Eschenbach Optik ELG-01 Television Reader video-magnifier for this ARMD group.
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