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I can understand Sony's position on front lighting. They were the first to experiment with touch screens and front lighting and these were not always successful. The early touch screens required a layer on top of the e-ink image and that affected clarity and captured more glare, and reviews too notice. IR touch screens solved this problem because they don't require a layer.
All of the current front lit screens require a layer to distribute the light. But as with any layer, it is not completely transparent, adds at least one surface that can refract light, and this scatters both incoming and outgoing light to some extent. So the text clarity and contrast suffers. This degradation can be minimized, but not eliminated.
I noticed this right away when I started transitioning from my Kindle Touch to the Paperwhite. And it still bothers me somewhat. I keep the light level at 2 and lower in all conditions, if I turn up the light it seems to me the b/w contrast diminishes (the white gets whiter but the black gets grayer in equal proportion). Mostly the reason I have stuck with the Paperwhite in spite of this, is because it is lighter and easier to hold than KT with its lighted cover (and yes, I was tired of Caecilia). Not so much because the screen is better, or that it is more convenient for night reading.
We aren't currently offered an apples to apples choice in the matter: you either get 1024x758 screen with front light, or an 800x600 screen without one. The Nook Glowlight is a good case study, since it is virtually identical to the earlier Nook Simple Touch. I have not compared them side by side myself, but from all reports I've seen, there is some perceptible diminishment of contrast and clarity. Clearly that has not deterred people from spending more for a Glowlight and having the convenience of having a light source built in. But others opt for the NST, either to save money or because they don't think they need a built in light source, or because they prefer the clearer screen.
So I have to admire Sony for offering something different, and we will have to see how they do with this. I can't see myself getting another e-ink device unless something happens to my Paperwhite. The new devices aren't going to be dramatically better, and I think I'm ready to transition to a tablet as my primary reading device going forward, when there are a few more devices of 'new Nexus 7 class' to choose from. So I'm saving up for one of those.
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