Kyobo eReader with new Mirasol® display technology

[JimStar]

I've bought it in Korea.
It's good that it has English too, not Korean only... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMOCpIPlArk

New Mirasol tech:
http://www.mirasoldisplays.com/ereader

Display is VERY COOL! Nice colors, fast enough and very good readable without backlight (more accurately - it is a SIDElight), the battery lifetime must be longer than in eInk displays (stated in some sources as 20-400% less energy consumption) and a LOT longer than in plain Android LCDs... But it has a good backlight for night-reading too...
Some sluggish reaction to touches - but I think it is a customized Android problem, or some sensor defects... It is a first device with Mirasol, some defects or glitches in the first devices are normal thing nowadays...

I have not tried yet to install applications or a plain Android on it - but even in this state it is relatively well usable...

Sorry my English...

[JimStar]

Backlight enabled...

[JimStar]

Backlight disabled...

[spellbanisher]

It looks very nice and i can see it supplanting eink as the dominant display technology in dedicated ereaders. The only difficulty will be in bringing down the costs to appeal to mass markets. Thanks for sharing the pics.

[zinj]

Very nice! If you can use it comfortably with just English I might be ready to import one.

[RainingLemur]

Wow. That looks really good. I want to see one in person.

[JimStar]

Originally Posted by zinj

Very nice! If you can use it comfortably with just English I might be ready to import one.

Not very comfortable - it is custom restricted Android, the Home app is replaced with Kyobo store app, and application installing is denied. I think I'll try to unlock and root it to install apps, or I will try to install a plain Android - but not now, I have no time, very busy with my work...

One thing that is really BAD at the time in comparison with "eInk Pearl" - Mirasol has a LOT darker background without backlight. The photo does not convey it well - when I see with my eyes, the difference is better visible... The Mirasol background is rather "dark grey" without backlight, and "eInk Pearl" is almost white. So, in low light - I read Sony VERY comfortable, as the paper, but reading Mirasol in low light without backlight enabled - is very uncomfortable and I need to strain my eyes...
I hope that Mirasol will beat this problem in newer versions of displays, as it did eInk (that were dark too in first versions)...

Sorry my English...

[pata]

thanks for the impressions and pictures. I was very excited about this device but now I'll wait until it's more easily obtainahle.

[wodin]

Yes, thanks!

It still seems a bit spendy to me, especially as it would need to be rooted in order to be useful.

Have the wizards over at XDA rooted it yet?

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by JimStar

The Mirasol background is rather "dark grey" without backlight, and "eInk Pearl" is almost white. So, in low light - I read Sony VERY comfortable, as the paper, but reading Mirasol in low light without backlight enabled - is very uncomfortable and I need to strain my eyes...
I hope that Mirasol will beat this problem in newer versions of displays, as it did eInk (that were dark too in first versions)...

I'm sorry but... haven't they done it already? Isn't that precisely the point of backlight? Got low light, turn on backlight. You're out on a sunny day? Turn it off. Best of both worlds.

[JimStar]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

I'm sorry but... haven't they done it already? Isn't that precisely the point of backlight? Got low light, turn on backlight. You're out on a sunny day? Turn it off. Best of both worlds.

The sense of Mirasol (over TFT) - is energy economy, and backlight eats a LOT of all energy. So it makes sense NOT turn on backlight in the same circumstances where eInk is excellently readable and needs no backlight. So, if in low light where I read eInk VERY comfortable, I need turn on backlight in Mirasol - I get almost the same energy consuming as in TFT. And in this case - I can use TFT the same way and the more expensive and more sluggish Mirasol makes no sense if I will read most the time in low light...

So, Mirasol IMHO is very cool technology, it is very good readable without backlight when enough light is present, but at the time, in this version, in low light circumstances - it is worse than eInk in energy consuming as it needs backlight to read comfortable. In this case it has no benefits over plain TFT as it is more sluggish than TFT and has fewer colors.
I really HOPE that Mirasol tech will be much better with this "darkness" in new versions of displays - as I wrote I think that it is really COOL technology... Just a little thing needs to be fixed...

Sorry my "you know what"...

[=X=]

Very cool thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by JimStar

Display is VERY COOL! Nice colors, fast enough and very good readable without backlight (more accurately - it is a SIDElight), the battery lifetime must be longer than in eInk displays (stated in some sources as 20-400% less energy consumption) and a LOT longer than in plain Android LCDs... .

I'm not understanding you here are you saying marisol last longer than an eInk device?

Originally Posted by JimStar

The sense of Mirasol (over TFT) - is energy economy, and backlight eats a LOT of all energy. So it makes sense NOT turn on backlight in the same circumstances where eInk is excellently readable and needs no backlight. So, if in low light where I read eInk VERY comfortable, I need turn on backlight in Mirasol

I agree a pure white background is ideal, but I wouldn't mind having a device like this. I read both in daylight and at night. At night I'm usually reading in bed so I have my charger handy.

It sounds like the Marisol is as gray as the original eInks. I found reading in low lighting difficult with my SONY/Kindle 2. What I would have to do is increase the font size and then I would be able to read comfortable. One thing you can do with the Marisol is change the setting to night mode so you have a dark background and light fonts it should help with the contrast.

=X=

[JimStar]

Originally Posted by =X=

I'm not understanding you here are you saying marisol last longer than an eInk device?

I wrote about backlight as a key of "long" or "not long".
Mirasol is 20-400% more energy effective in comparison with eInk. BOTH these technologies are designed to use the reflected abmient light, not LED-backlight (to save the battery power), so this comparison does not take into account the backlight, as the backlight LEDs are eating a LOT and LOT more energy than both eInk and Mirasol. So, as long as you enable backlight - this super-energy-effectiveness becomes microscopic in comparison with LEDs appetite and you can forget about this new technology "longlife".
I just had this in mind - if I can use Mirasol without backlight, it will live a lot longer than eInk devices. But at this time - I can't use it without backlight most the time as most of the time I read in low light environment... And in such an environment eInk will live a LOT longer than Mirasol as it does not need the backlight in low light environment.

Sorry if I explain some messy - it is difficult for me to formulate such things well in English.

[zinj]

I guess the prototypes we kept seeing being presented to the press over the last couple of years were shown in brightly-lit rooms with lots of fluorescent light. Those displays were before they added the frontlight and they appeared very readable. Your average living room or bedroom is significantly darker and, according to JimStar, the screen is basically unreadeable without the frontlight in those conditions.

[JimStar]

Originally Posted by zinj

Your average living room or bedroom is significantly darker and, according to JimStar, the screen is basically unreadeable without the frontlight in those conditions.

Just one thing that I need to clarify: not unreadable at all, I can read it in low light conditions, but I need to strain my eyes very much and it is very uncomfortable, I need turn the device left and right, up and down, to find better reflection angle to achieve better contrast... And the color reproduction is much worse in low light... But when I sitting on the same place get in hands my Sony with eInk Pearl - I start reading it very comfortable and just forget that I'm reading electronic device not paper...

But in good light conditions - Mirasol is well readable without backlight, colors are nice, contrast is relatively comfortable. Good technology anyway.
Fingers crossed that they will fix the "background darkness" problem in new display versions...