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armarni · 03-19-2014, 09:23 AM

Here's my very recent experience of this issue (just to muddy the waters further!)

I bought a Silver Kobo Glo a few days ago in WHSmiths (Kobo retail partner in the UK.) I found the light far too bright for night reading and as a result stumbled upon this thread.

This 1st glo had a serial number of 613A29xxxxxxx, identified in this thread as being an earlier model, and indeed it had a light that was very blue and very bright. I took it back the next day and they checked their remaining stock, which was all 613A, so I got a refund and went to Asda Walhmart to check their stock. They had a 613B model, so I purchased it, thinking that it would have the yellower, dimmer led's. However, this model also had a blue cast to the lighting, and was equally bright on a brightness setting of 2 (setting it to 1 causes it not to come on again if switched off). This particular unit also had a very inferior screen in regards to ghosting.

I had always assumed that all eink screens (using the same generation technology) would be equal, but the screen on this second unit held the image from the previous page far more visibly than the previous unit. So much so that I could make out what actual words had been on the previous screen if the new page had white in that part of the page. Also, if I used the brightness control, the box that had surrounded it would be visible as a faint but still quite distinct image until the next full refresh.

Naturally, I took this unit back, and then returned to WHSmiths hoping to get my original unit back. They couldn't find it, but I bought another one from them. This had a serial number 613A2Bxxxxxxx. It has a light which I would describe as blueish, but much less harsh than the original blue light. In terms of brightness I would say that it is no different to the other 2 that I tried, but the screen doesn't display the horrendous ghosting of the 2nd unit. I've attached a photo of it on brightness setting 2/100.

So, to some up my experience, a serial number starting 613B is not a guarantee of getting the more yellow light, and some eink screens have far worse ghosting than others

03-19-2014, 09:23 AM	#52
armarni Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2014 Device: Kobo Glo	Here's my very recent experience of this issue (just to muddy the waters further!) I bought a Silver Kobo Glo a few days ago in WHSmiths (Kobo retail partner in the UK.) I found the light far too bright for night reading and as a result stumbled upon this thread. This 1st glo had a serial number of 613A29xxxxxxx, identified in this thread as being an earlier model, and indeed it had a light that was very blue and very bright. I took it back the next day and they checked their remaining stock, which was all 613A, so I got a refund and went to Asda Walhmart to check their stock. They had a 613B model, so I purchased it, thinking that it would have the yellower, dimmer led's. However, this model also had a blue cast to the lighting, and was equally bright on a brightness setting of 2 (setting it to 1 causes it not to come on again if switched off). This particular unit also had a very inferior screen in regards to ghosting. I had always assumed that all eink screens (using the same generation technology) would be equal, but the screen on this second unit held the image from the previous page far more visibly than the previous unit. So much so that I could make out what actual words had been on the previous screen if the new page had white in that part of the page. Also, if I used the brightness control, the box that had surrounded it would be visible as a faint but still quite distinct image until the next full refresh. Naturally, I took this unit back, and then returned to WHSmiths hoping to get my original unit back. They couldn't find it, but I bought another one from them. This had a serial number 613A2Bxxxxxxx. It has a light which I would describe as blueish, but much less harsh than the original blue light. In terms of brightness I would say that it is no different to the other 2 that I tried, but the screen doesn't display the horrendous ghosting of the 2nd unit. I've attached a photo of it on brightness setting 2/100. So, to some up my experience, a serial number starting 613B is not a guarantee of getting the more yellow light, and some eink screens have far worse ghosting than others Attached Thumbnails