Sunlight fading

dolmen · 01-20-2010, 11:33 AM

Hi,

today was the first day I could use my PRS-300 under sunlight. It was not nice !
Text faded quite considerably when turning pages under direct sunlight.
They were rendered like a sheet of paper printed by a laser printer when running out
of toner. This is quite dissapointed.

I did some experiments at home and I saw that it's not only direct sunlight
which causes this. If a put the ebook reader quite close to an incandescent lamp
and I do a page turn, I can observe more or less the same behaviour. And it's
not the heat it's just the intensity of visible light (my incadescent lamp doesn't
have any kind of UV light) which seems to affect the rendering of the page.

I've attached a picture of the screen taken with my camera where you can see
what the fading looks like.

So, remember, it only happens when turning pages (rendering). If you turn the page avoiding the
direct sunlight it will be rendered properly and it will not change if you expose it afterwards.
However if the page turn was done under direct sunlight, the text will remain faded

I bought my PRS-300 on mid. December in the US.

I read in some other threads where it was said that some displays were defective...
If that's the case, mine's for sure.

BR

Juan

HarryT · 01-20-2010, 12:46 PM

This isn't a problem with eInk displays generally, but unfortunately a small number of individual screen do have the problem. Unfortunately, all you can do is try to exchange the device.

tnronin · 01-20-2010, 12:46 PM

Quote:

So, remember, it only happens when turning pages (rendering), it doesn't affect the
device once the page is shown.

I have to ask why this is an issue? Once the page is shown it is clear right? Does it take a lot of time to show? Am I missing something here?

Levelpart · 01-20-2010, 01:39 PM

This happens on my prs 600 too and I guess it's due to the way the e-ink technology works

dolmen · 01-20-2010, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnronin

I have to ask why this is an issue? Once the page is shown it is clear right? Does it take a lot of time to show? Am I missing something here?

Sorry, I didn't express it correctly. What I tried to say It's that if you turn the page
for in instance in the dark and the displayed page looks fine it doesn't matter
if you expose the device to direct sunlight, the page will remain fine. However,
if the page is turned while the device is under direct sunlight, it will not be
rendered properly and will remain this way permanently until you turn the page
again and you are not under direct sunlight or it will happen again !

BR

Juan

lilac_jive · 01-20-2010, 03:25 PM

My 505 does the same, and I thought it was normal. It's not, for some reason a certain percentage of eink screens (which includes kindles and whatnot) do this. Some are worse than others. It doesn't bother me enough to go through the trouble of exchanging it, I just angle my Reader so my shadow covers it.

JSWolf · 01-20-2010, 03:30 PM

My 505 is great in direct sunlight. It seems though that some Vizplex screens made by LG are to blame for sunlight fading.

tnronin · 01-20-2010, 03:32 PM

Ah ok, I'll have to look into it. Thanks for the clarification. I dunno if this will be a problem for me or not. I sure hope not.

ETA: I exposed the 300 to a very bright light and it didn't fade. Maybe I'll be ok.

Levelpart · 01-20-2010, 04:26 PM

I'd say most readers suffer from this problem but not everyone experiences it since it depends on the sunlight intensity. The fading effect is (I think) caused by the radiation emitted by the sun which causes some kind of interference on the e-ink display.
On the following picture we can see how e-ink displays are made so it seems plausible that a high level of electromagnetic radiation might interfere in some way with character rendering on the screen.

R0B_IX · 01-20-2010, 05:55 PM

That's very interesting. I haven't seen it on my PRS-600, but I have always been at least slightly in the shade while reading. Out of curiosity, does the same thing happen if you were to hold a bright flashlight above the screen while turning the page? Also, does it get more noticeable over time? Without looking up more details about how e-ink refreshes the display it would be impossible to tell, but I wouldn't suspect light to be the primary culprit here; a bi-product of light seems much more likely.

Dusty · 01-20-2010, 06:48 PM

I stepped outside just now and tested my 300 in bright sunshine. There is a notable difference but not enough to bother me.

dolmen · 01-20-2010, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R0B_IX

That's very interesting. I haven't seen it on my PRS-600, but I have always been at least slightly in the shade while reading. Out of curiosity, does the same thing happen if you were to hold a bright flashlight above the screen while turning the page? Also, does it get more noticeable over time? Without looking up more details about how e-ink refreshes the display it would be impossible to tell, but I wouldn't suspect light to be the primary culprit here; a bi-product of light seems much more likely.

Yes it happens if you hold a bright flashlight above the screen. In the first post of
th thread:

"If a put the ebook reader quite close to an incandescent lamp
and I do a page turn, I can observe more or less the same behaviour."

So fare, I haven't seen it more noticeable over time. It just depends on the light intensity when you turn the page. Higher intensity --> higher text fading.

Juan

R0B_IX · 01-21-2010, 08:37 AM

The reason why I asked about a flashlight was because I was hoping for a source that wouldn't give off a lot of heat while still being bright (flashlights tend to have some sort of insulator between the light source and the user).

Harry001 · 01-21-2010, 08:57 AM

never saw that and i am reading a lot while lying on my terrasse
and that is a lot nearer to the sun because i live on the 17. floor
and that's where my terrasse is ;-)

keep reading
harry

01-20-2010, 11:33 AM	#1
dolmen Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Madrid (SPAIN) Device: SONY PRS-300	Text fading under sunlight Hi, today was the first day I could use my PRS-300 under sunlight. It was not nice ! Text faded quite considerably when turning pages under direct sunlight. They were rendered like a sheet of paper printed by a laser printer when running out of toner. This is quite dissapointed. I did some experiments at home and I saw that it's not only direct sunlight which causes this. If a put the ebook reader quite close to an incandescent lamp and I do a page turn, I can observe more or less the same behaviour. And it's not the heat it's just the intensity of visible light (my incadescent lamp doesn't have any kind of UV light) which seems to affect the rendering of the page. I've attached a picture of the screen taken with my camera where you can see what the fading looks like. So, remember, it only happens when turning pages (rendering). If you turn the page avoiding the direct sunlight it will be rendered properly and it will not change if you expose it afterwards. However if the page turn was done under direct sunlight, the text will remain faded I bought my PRS-300 on mid. December in the US. I read in some other threads where it was said that some displays were defective... If that's the case, mine's for sure. BR Juan Attached Thumbnails Last edited by dolmen; 01-20-2010 at 03:18 PM.

01-20-2010, 03:32 PM	#8
tnronin Zealot Posts: 118 Karma: 210 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Mid-Tennessee Device: PRS-300	Ah ok, I'll have to look into it. Thanks for the clarification. I dunno if this will be a problem for me or not. I sure hope not. ETA: I exposed the 300 to a very bright light and it didn't fade. Maybe I'll be ok. Last edited by tnronin; 01-20-2010 at 03:40 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
PRS-650 PRS-350 Please report eventual fading under direct sunlight of new models	sigmax	Sony Reader	11	09-26-2010 12:50 AM
Do you see screen fading problem when using Kindle DX devices in direct-sunlight?	jack0909	Amazon Kindle	4	09-09-2010 08:17 AM
PRS-900 Fading in the sun	vxf	Sony Reader	15	08-21-2010 11:36 PM
Screen fading NOT in the sun	snape	Sony Reader	4	07-27-2009 08:51 PM
Sun Fading	SanAntone	Amazon Kindle	23	07-08-2009 06:36 PM

01-20-2010, 12:46 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	This isn't a problem with eInk displays generally, but unfortunately a small number of individual screen do have the problem. Unfortunately, all you can do is try to exchange the device.

01-20-2010, 01:39 PM	#4
Levelpart Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Sony PRS 600	This happens on my prs 600 too and I guess it's due to the way the e-ink technology works

01-20-2010, 03:25 PM	#6
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	My 505 does the same, and I thought it was normal. It's not, for some reason a certain percentage of eink screens (which includes kindles and whatnot) do this. Some are worse than others. It doesn't bother me enough to go through the trouble of exchanging it, I just angle my Reader so my shadow covers it.

01-20-2010, 03:30 PM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,931 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	My 505 is great in direct sunlight. It seems though that some Vizplex screens made by LG are to blame for sunlight fading.

01-20-2010, 04:26 PM	#9
Levelpart Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Sony PRS 600	I'd say most readers suffer from this problem but not everyone experiences it since it depends on the sunlight intensity. The fading effect is (I think) caused by the radiation emitted by the sun which causes some kind of interference on the e-ink display. On the following picture we can see how e-ink displays are made so it seems plausible that a high level of electromagnetic radiation might interfere in some way with character rendering on the screen.

01-20-2010, 05:55 PM	#10
R0B_IX Enthusiast Posts: 32 Karma: 48 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-300	That's very interesting. I haven't seen it on my PRS-600, but I have always been at least slightly in the shade while reading. Out of curiosity, does the same thing happen if you were to hold a bright flashlight above the screen while turning the page? Also, does it get more noticeable over time? Without looking up more details about how e-ink refreshes the display it would be impossible to tell, but I wouldn't suspect light to be the primary culprit here; a bi-product of light seems much more likely.

01-20-2010, 06:48 PM	#11
Dusty Connoisseur Posts: 68 Karma: 500076 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Canada Device: sony 300, T1	I stepped outside just now and tested my 300 in bright sunshine. There is a notable difference but not enough to bother me.

01-21-2010, 08:37 AM	#13
R0B_IX Enthusiast Posts: 32 Karma: 48 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-300	The reason why I asked about a flashlight was because I was hoping for a source that wouldn't give off a lot of heat while still being bright (flashlights tend to have some sort of insulator between the light source and the user).

01-21-2010, 08:57 AM	#14
Harry001 Addict Posts: 208 Karma: 729 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: New York City, USA Device: palmone lifedrive+sonyreader 505+NookColor+HPTouchpad \32GB+NookSimple	never saw that and i am reading a lot while lying on my terrasse and that is a lot nearer to the sun because i live on the 17. floor and that's where my terrasse is ;-) keep reading harry