Comparison question for those with a Kindle Touch and a Kindle PW

[sparklemotion]

For those that have both, do you find the screen on your kindle touch to be whiter than the screen on your PW when the PW light is off? I wonder if I just have a really good Kindle Touch. The background on my touch is definitely whiter in comparison to my PW with the light at 0. Is that the norm?

If I compare them outside in bright sunlight, they are quite similar, but in natural indoor light during the day, my touch is noticeably whiter.

[HarryT]

There's considerable variation between individual eInk panels. My Touch and PW look pretty much the same when the PW light is off, but it's not too surprising that yours don't.

[Julius Caesar]

Kindle Paperwhite has an extra layer for capacitive screen. So, it is not surprising that Paperwhite is grayer.

[sparklemotion]

Thanks for the reply, Harry.

Originally Posted by Julius Caesar

Kindle Paperwhite has an extra layer for capacitive screen. So, it is not surprising that Paperwhite is grayer.

I didn't realize that would cause it to look grayer. That's interesting! Thanks for the input.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I didn't realize that would cause it to look grayer.

It won't. The capacitive touch screen isn't really a layer - it's a completely transparent chemical coating, which won't affect the appearance of the screen.

[Blossom]

I don't own a Touch but the background on my PW is about the same as the one on K4 Silver. My K4 Black and K3 have lighter backgrounds. Not a problem though for me. The light and custom fonts fix any contrast issues.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It won't. The capacitive touch screen isn't really a layer - it's a completely transparent chemical coating, which won't affect the appearance of the screen.

Ah I see. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Blossom

I don't own a Touch but the background on my PW is about the same as the one on K4 Silver. My K4 Black and K3 have lighter backgrounds. Not a problem though for me. The light and custom fonts fix any contrast issues.

Oh, it's not a problem for me either. I was just wondering what people's experiences were with both devices. My touch has an obviously whiter background than my PW when the PW light is off.

Interesting that your K4 and K3 have lighter backgrounds too. I asked because more than a few people have said their PW background is so much whiter than their touch background with the PW light off, so I was wondering if mine was an anomaly.

[Hoyt Clagwell]

My touch is whiter then my PW when the light is off.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

Interesting that your K4 and K3 have lighter backgrounds too. I asked because more than a few people have said their PW background is so much whiter than their touch background with the PW light off, so I was wondering if mine was an anomaly.

I think the truth is eInk varies. I have a good K3 but my brother in law's contrast isn't on his as good as mine. I have two K4s. My first one has horrible contrast and my newest one is the best I've seen on a eInk reader. The PW isn't as bad as my first K4 in background shading but it's close in lightness of text. I'd say without the light I wouldn't be happy with using it.

I can say the PW has become my sole reader. I don't even need to switch around anymore. Even with my K4B's amazing contrast it still can't compete with the PW.

[jswinden]

My Touch screen is very tan, so all three PWs I had we're lighter than it. But the text rendering is much better on my Touch than it was on those PWs. And a capacitive layer is a layer whether physical or sprayed on. I still believe that the problems I had with my PWs were mostly due to that layer of crap they sprayed on the screen. There is no way in hell they can get a sprayed on layer perfectly consistent, smooth, flat, etc.

[tomsem]

They are pretty close, but I would give the edge to my Kindle Touch in terms of 'whiteness.'

[BeccaPrice]

You didn't ask about the k3, but I find my paperwhite (when turned off) has the same gray-scale values as my k3 does. The light makes all the difference.

[DuckieTigger]

My Touch is also slightly lighter than the PW with light off. The KT seems to catch light better in very low lighting - on the PW the angle to the light has to be just perfect to compete. But then with the light on, even at level 0, there is never ever anything too dark too still comfortably read.

[Barty]

The two PWs I've seen need the light to be up 5-6 to have the same background shade as my k3. Obviously, increasing the light on the PW above 7 will make the background look lighter, but the "ink" is always darker on the k3 in all conditions.

[sparklemotion]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Originally Posted by Blossom

I think the truth is eInk varies. I have a good K3 but my brother in law's contrast isn't on his as good as mine. I have two K4s. My first one has horrible contrast and my newest one is the best I've seen on a eInk reader. The PW isn't as bad as my first K4 in background shading but it's close in lightness of text. I'd say without the light I wouldn't be happy with using it.

I can say the PW has become my sole reader. I don't even need to switch around anymore. Even with my K4B's amazing contrast it still can't compete with the PW.

The PW has become my sole reader too. I love having one reader and not having to sync anymore. The contrast on my touch is definitely better than on my PW though and the text on my touch is darker as well. However, my PW fonts now look much nicer with the custom fonts I'm currently using so I'm happy about that.