Effects of display method, number of message lines, and text colour on Chinese comprehension and subjective preferences for an LED display

This study investigated the effects of display method, number of message lines and text colour on comprehension performance and subjective preferences for reading Chinese on a light-emitting diode display. The factors and levels studied were: two text display methods (rapid serial visual presentation 'rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP)' and paged view scrolling), four numbers of message lines displayed at a time (one to four lines) and three text colours (amber, green and red). The RSVP method resulted in higher comprehension scores than the paged view scrolling method, and the green text produced better comprehension score than amber or red. However, the paged view scrolling received better subjective evaluation ratings than the RSVP method. A multiline display was found to be superior to a single-line display for both comprehension scores and subjective evaluations. The results here provide useful ergonomics recommendations for choice of appropriate display method and format setting for presenting Chinese messages on light-emitting diode displays. © 2013 Society for Information Display.