Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
The light is in front of the screen. Having refresh on or off makes not one jot of difference to the amount of light emitted  . It's not like an LCD screen where different colours on the screen allow different amounts of light from the backlight through depending on the pixel colour. |
This is not entirely accurate. On the PW the light guide directs the light at the page - where black e-ink particles will reflect less light than non-black will. Especially so since the light is so close to the screen.
I can confirm the "flash bulb" effect on my new PW2 - and it is much more distinct than with a light-covered $69 Kindle, where the light is higher up and its effect on the surroundings is much more constant and not dependent so much on what the screen displays. I tried side by side in a dark room and PW2 has the flash bulb effect and $69 Kindle does not nearly as much. More experiences on that when I get some time with the device.
Of course the flash bulb effect is less the less the PW light is set at. If you read with very low light, there is less to flash.
p.s. I agree lighted covers can disturb partners more then a PW. My point was simply to separate e-ink issues from frontlit e-ink issues, when sometimes people in my opinion seem to confuse them too liberally.