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jswinden · 10-10-2013, 10:48 AM

After reading several hours on my PW2 in various lighting situations I have decided to keep my PW2. However, it is far from being the perfect eInk reader with whiter screen and darker more contrasty text that it is advertised to be. But it is the best eInk reader I've found so far.

Before I get into the screen and lighting discussion, I want to say I like the firmware improvements and features on the PW2.

As you can see from the photo of my PW, when at the optimum light level(s) for reading the screen is a bit shadowy looking all over except around the perimeter edges. It looks a bit dingy or dirty looking. The lower I set the light level the dingier and darker the screen appears, and the higher the light level the whiter and cleaner the screen appears. It is not bad, but it can affect reading. The key is to discover the optimum light level(s) at which to read wherein the text looks the best and the light doesn't cause eyestrain.

Optimum light level(s) for reading: I'm defining the optimum light level(s) for reading to be when the light is as bright as my eyes can comfortably read before starting to cause eyestrain. (Your settings might be different of course.) On my PW2 that seems to be:

Level 14 when reading in my home/office room with plenty of artificial lighting and daylight coming through the windows.
Level 12 when reading in my recliner with only a table lamp nearby but not directly illuminating the PW and after sunset, so no daylight entering the room.
Level 7-10 when reading in my recliner after sunset with no artificial lighting except the PW2.

Note: My optimum light level(s) for reading are based on using the included Caecilia Condensed font at size 3 (where 1 is smallest size and 8 is largest).

When at the optimum light level(s) for reading, the included fonts are so thin that they lack enough darkness and contrast to be usable with my dingy screen. They look washed out, my eyestrain is bad, and the system is a big fail for me. However, when I substitute a thicker/fatter font or bold the text, the text is dark enough and contrasty enough to read for hours without eyestrain.

Bottom line is this, I can read comfortably on my PW2 without eyestrain for hours at a time as long as I modify the fonts to make them thicker which causes them to display darker and with more contrast. To do this I either have to use an embedded font that is thicker/fatter or I have to add CSS code to make all paragraph text bold. Either way, that means taking the time to deDRM every eBook, modify it, rebuild it, then send it to my Kindle cloud. Doable and easy, but a PITA.

Photo: Text in this photo is the included Caecilia Condensed font at size 3 at normal weight.

10-10-2013, 10:48 AM	#990
jswinden Nameless Being	I'm going to keep my PW2, but... After reading several hours on my PW2 in various lighting situations I have decided to keep my PW2. However, it is far from being the perfect eInk reader with whiter screen and darker more contrasty text that it is advertised to be. But it is the best eInk reader I've found so far. Before I get into the screen and lighting discussion, I want to say I like the firmware improvements and features on the PW2. As you can see from the photo of my PW, when at the optimum light level(s) for reading the screen is a bit shadowy looking all over except around the perimeter edges. It looks a bit dingy or dirty looking. The lower I set the light level the dingier and darker the screen appears, and the higher the light level the whiter and cleaner the screen appears. It is not bad, but it can affect reading. The key is to discover the optimum light level(s) at which to read wherein the text looks the best and the light doesn't cause eyestrain. Optimum light level(s) for reading: I'm defining the optimum light level(s) for reading to be when the light is as bright as my eyes can comfortably read before starting to cause eyestrain. (Your settings might be different of course.) On my PW2 that seems to be: Level 14 when reading in my home/office room with plenty of artificial lighting and daylight coming through the windows. Level 12 when reading in my recliner with only a table lamp nearby but not directly illuminating the PW and after sunset, so no daylight entering the room. Level 7-10 when reading in my recliner after sunset with no artificial lighting except the PW2. Note: My optimum light level(s) for reading are based on using the included Caecilia Condensed font at size 3 (where 1 is smallest size and 8 is largest). When at the optimum light level(s) for reading, the included fonts are so thin that they lack enough darkness and contrast to be usable with my dingy screen. They look washed out, my eyestrain is bad, and the system is a big fail for me. However, when I substitute a thicker/fatter font or bold the text, the text is dark enough and contrasty enough to read for hours without eyestrain. Bottom line is this, I can read comfortably on my PW2 without eyestrain for hours at a time as long as I modify the fonts to make them thicker which causes them to display darker and with more contrast. To do this I either have to use an embedded font that is thicker/fatter or I have to add CSS code to make all paragraph text bold. Either way, that means taking the time to deDRM every eBook, modify it, rebuild it, then send it to my Kindle cloud. Doable and easy, but a PITA. Photo: Text in this photo is the included Caecilia Condensed font at size 3 at normal weight. Last edited by jswinden; 10-10-2013 at 10:55 AM.