Quote:
Originally Posted by fearindex
That is a fair point, and yes I have considered it a lot from many angles - literally. 
Here are a couple of stories of mine where I've researched the issue from the Kindle 4B lighted cover perspective:
Differences between Kindle 4/5 official lighted cover versions
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,164293.0.html
Fixing Kindle 4/5/Touch lighted cover - no more light shining in your eyes!
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,131020.0.html
Anyway, I agree that the PW2 light is more even than the Kindle 4B lighted cover when considered literally. The 4B light hotspots quite a bit and definitely isn't completely even to the sides. If someone find that unevenness bothersome, I have no quarrel with that - the light certainly isn't fully even and doesn't probably even try to be. No single LED point could light such a page evenly.
But there are some distinct differences why that is different. The biggest one is the way the unevenness of 4B light seems more natural - after all, it is like the unevenness of any light shining on the surface of a book. It is not an unevenness inherent to the surface itself. At least to my perception, a light source falling down on a surface and then getting darker the further you go from it feels quite natural - the brain adjusts to it quickly.
Contrast this to PW2, in a dark reading scenario, only the screen itself is lit - the contrast to the surroundings and the frame of the device is jarring. What you are seeing, then, is only a lighted screen - and if a lighted screen looks uneven, it is different than unevenness from an external lighting would be. You are seeing unevenness in the surface of the device itself, not an unevenness caused by light spreading over it.
And not only that, the way PW1/PW2 is lighted, with the help of four LEDs and a lightguide means that the light won't fall down on the screen in any kind of natural-feeling pattern such as e.g. a single overhead light would. It is a constructed light path and unevenness there does look and feel quite different from how at least I perceive external lighting. PW1 especially was prone to generating a almost randomly splotchy look, something that the 4B lighted cover could never do. |
My K4BNT book cover built in light covers the whole book, no shading. I believe the lights vary as do the covers (as mine had to be sanded to be able to turn pages without catching). My light is brighter than I believe Fearindex pictures show.
The darkness of the text is why I am using my K4BNT every dark night (no backlighting in room).
Also the built in cover with light is more in the center. I believe the older covers were more to the side. Clip on lights are a pain in the you know what to put on every night. So the cover with the light is what I will be using until the PW2 becomes a PW3 or darker text for me.
I also did Fearindex's little tabby on the light itelf so no glare to my eyes. I added masking tape to the light lens too, mine was way too bright. But still nothing is perfect, so I use this modifications to read by.
Glad you like your PW2 though Fearindex.