Research

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Print versus Screen--Presentation Medium-Dependent Picture Consumption

Area: New Media Publishing
Document # PICRM-2010-07

We all have experienced the move from print to screen with the advancement of digital technology. We see college-aged young adults use their laptop for many things that previously involved print. This gives rise to many questions, including: Which medium do these young adults prefer? Are information consumption and retention different based on the viewing medium? Does the medium preference change depending on whether people look at a magazine or photographs that they took?

When discussing the Printing Industry Center research agenda for 2009 through 2010, the authors decided to create three related projects aimed at taking the first steps toward identifying and understanding the differences in how information is consumed from print in paper versus computer display. Each project would encompass experimentation and some form of interview with the observers.

Part I: An Experimental Study of Presentation Medium–Dependent Differences of Picture Consumption by College-Aged Adults, conducted by Franziska Frey and Mariela Rodriguez Adames, focused on starting to understand the viewing preferences, printing behavior and content management behavior when the observers were looking at their own photographs.

Part II: An Experimental Study of Differences in Reading Photo Books by Presentation Media: Print vs. Screen, conducted by Frank Cost and Ya-fang Tsai, and Part III: What are You Looking at? Evaluating Observer Eye Movements as They Look at Images in Print and on Computer Screens, conducted by Susan Farnand, both dealt with various aspects of observers looking at a magazine style publication that was heavy on image content.

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Tags: consumer photographers photo books viewing preferences medium preferences

Author

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Franziska Frey, Ph.D.
McGhee Distinguished Professor, School of Print Media
Rochester Institute of Technology

Author

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Mariela Rodriguez Adames
Graduate Student, School of Print Media
Rochester Institute of Technology

Author

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Ya-fang Tsai
Graduate Student, School of Print Media
Rochester Institute of Technology

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Frank Cost
Interim Dean, College of Imaging Arts and Sciences
Rochester Institute of Technology

Author

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Susan Farnand
Staff Scientist, Center for Imaging Science
Rochester Institute of Technology