Quote:
Originally Posted by karter
Can you tell me which are the pros and cons of doing that change? If there were no cons i guess the device would come with 1 page refresh rate configuration by default.
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Refresh every page:
Pros: Cleaner image, no ghosting
Cons:slightly slower page refresh, more battery drain
And then there is the flash itself which can be a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. Virtually all people get used to the flash on eink - many don't even notice any more. If the flash was bothering you too much, eink wouldn't be for you. It can also be an advantage to have the page refresh every page as it is possible to detect the refresh out of the corner of your eye. So if at the end of the page you take the time to look up very shortly and refocus your eyes, it is a visual clue when it is time to look at the page again. It will also give you a little feedback that you actually turned a page. So it is a toss wether the more frequent (each page) flash is a pro or a con, mostly a pro though.
The battery drain is only splitting hairs - I mean it is real, as eink uses a lot more power on a full refresh compared to the no flash. If you don't object to plug your ereader in once a week, you should be fine though, depending on how much you read (most people can probably go much longer than a week, and some very few will need to charge more often). There is theoretically cases where battery life really matters - e.g. if you go on a camping trip without any outlet or car close by, YMMW.
Why is it not default to refresh every page? The majority of people are not bothered by the little bit of ghosting, and it is still good enough. Makes it look better on the spec sheet to be able to claim a longer battery life. Seriously, who reads only 30 minutes a day. That may be the average time people read per day, but I would think that it is more likely that an above average reader buys a dedicated eink reader than the below average ones. So claiming months or weeks of battery life and then comparing it to how many hours of continues use a tablet lasts is not a fair comparison.
Have you seen a real paper book lately? Even a nice hardcover suffers from ghosting - the text of the other side of the page is visible, sometimes even the next page. The lower quality the paper is, the more ghosting (worst in MMPB). Ghosting may just add some authenticity when comparing to a paper book. So if switching from paper to ebook even with a little bit of ghosting it will still look better on eink while still simulating the look of paper a little. Those that want the option to have a pristine page each time got it. I doubt though that the majority is bothered by a tiny bit of ghosting.