No, I don't have data. I'm running off memory from when I worked at a printing and display company (8 years ago so memory could be faulty). The point is actual

No, I don't have data. I'm running off memory from when I worked at a printing and display company (8 years ago so memory could be faulty). The point is actually related to the way your eye adjusts to ambient brightness levels. It's not about the contrast on its own but about the contrast, the number of brightness levels of the display and the brightness level with respect to the ambient conditions. The rule of thumb was that less than 300:1 starts to cause eye strain on an 8 bits per channel (256 levels) gamma power curve (non-linear) device when the device had a limited maximum brightness output (for LCDs at the time that was 200cd/m^2) and the room was bright (for an office). Kindles are 4 bits per channel (16 levels) linear and their contrast ratio isn't a complete lie (unlike most LCD makers contrast ratios who report only the absolute best case). But that's not the biggest reason why they're different. Kindles don't emit light, they reflect it (not including the Kindle White and Fire). This means that they maintain their brightness level with respect to the environment much better. Of course, Kindles start to suffer at low light (for similar reasons -- they lose their apparent contrast level).