New Firmware for Paperwhite ver. 5.3.3

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

Yes.

Thanks! I guess I will update next time I charge the Kindle.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Thanks! I guess I will update next time I charge the Kindle.

You're welcome! I was concerned about it too, but took the plunge and crossed my fingers. Thankfully it's working fine.

[Stingo]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Thanks! I guess I will update next time I charge the Kindle.

But note that for me after I upgraded they were gone. I then restarted the unit again and they were there.

[mike.s]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No. The "whiteness" of the screen is determined by hardware. There's no way it could be changed by a firmware update.

Actually, it might be possible. With LEDs, brightness is almost always controlled using PWM, varying the ratio of on/off. Frequently, it's implemented at a fixed frequency, where when the on time increases, the off time decreases.

White LED color output can vary somewhat when one compares short "on" times with longer ones. That's because the color changes for different currents, and it takes a finite time to turn the LED on or off. So even though the "full on" current stays the same, the average current for each on cycle varies slightly.

So, if one instead does PWM by keeping the on time constant and only changing the off time (and hence the frequency), a more consistent color can be achieved across all levels of brightness. You just need to ensure that the frequency is kept high enough to avoid perceptible flicker. There are other factors which would still cause a bit of color shift (such as LED temperature), but current is the main influence.

I have no idea if the PW hardware supports that, or if newer software does that, but it's not impossible.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by mike.s

Actually, it might be possible. With LEDs, brightness is almost always controlled using PWM, varying the ratio of on/off. Frequently, it's implemented at a fixed frequency, where when the on time increases, the off time decreases.

White LED color output can vary somewhat when one compares short "on" times with longer ones. That's because the color changes for different currents, and it takes a finite time to turn the LED on or off. So even though the "full on" current stays the same, the average current for each on cycle varies slightly.

So, if one instead does PWM by keeping the on time constant and only changing the off time (and hence the frequency), a more consistent color can be achieved across all levels of brightness. You just need to ensure that the frequency is kept high enough to avoid perceptible flicker. There are other factors which would still cause a bit of color shift (such as LED temperature), but current is the main influence.

I have no idea if the PW hardware supports that, or if newer software does that, but it's not impossible.

That is some interesting stuff. If somehow the leds and the controller are capable of creating different color-temperature of white, that would work. If it can be adjusted by software alone, than it might even work with software update alone. Right now the leds are pretty much the same color ( a bluish tint). Since the eink background is pretty much warm colored (yellowish) the screen appears whiter with higher lightlevel. It could simply be the blue light finally outblasting the yellow background. The way to compensate for that should be to have the leds not the same color, but more blue at low level, and warmer at high level. That could make the screen appear at the same color temperature, but only different intensity. But all that would only work if the color temperature of the leds in the PW can be changed with software alone.

[tomsem]

So...is there anything specifically different with this update? I haven't noticed anything so far.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by tomsem

So...is there anything specifically different with this update? I haven't noticed anything so far.

Nothing I noticed either. All my fonts still work. I think it may be just a bugs fixed release.

[Sapporo]

Does this update deliver any significant upgrades in PDF functionality?

I'm thinking about getting an e-reader, and my opinion is split between Sony prs-t2 and Kindle Papewhite. Sony currently has superior PDF functionality (faster pan-and-zoom, reflow etc.).
Did the 5.3.3. quicken up the handling of PDF files? Are there still low-memory warnings in larger PDFs? Any new zoom or crop options?

PDFs are a really important feature for me, since i read a ton of them for school. But I'd also really like to have a lit screen. Can't decide what to do.

Thanks!

[HarryT]

If reading PDFs is a priority for you, no 6" device is a good choice. You should be looking at a 9" or 10" tablet - the iPad, or an Android equivalent.

[johnnyb]

Originally Posted by Sapporo

Does this update deliver any significant upgrades in PDF functionality?

I'm thinking about getting an e-reader, and my opinion is split between Sony prs-t2 and Kindle Papewhite. Sony currently has superior PDF functionality (faster pan-and-zoom, reflow etc.).
Did the 5.3.3. quicken up the handling of PDF files? Are there still low-memory warnings in larger PDFs? Any new zoom or crop options?

PDFs are a really important feature for me, since i read a ton of them for school. But I'd also really like to have a lit screen. Can't decide what to do.

Thanks!

Actually I think that the PW has better PDF capabilities than the Sony...
I checked out the latter and it has much the same options than the PRS 650 back in the day but the implementation is inconsistent to the point where one feature rules out or blocks another... also the reflow feature does a worse job than Amazon's online conversion, especially when it comes to line breaks...
If you have mostly single column PDFs the size of paperbacks, go for the Paperwhite, if not, get an iPad (or Nexus 10) and Readdle Documents (or ezPdf respectively)...