Los Angeles Times: Amazon's $290 e-reader misfire

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

The perception of screen colours also might depend on pre-conditioning of the rods and cones.

I find that the lighting of my ereader appears white to me if I read on it after having spent some time reading a physical book with yellowed pages, even without a side-by-side comparison. Whereas if I spend time reading a newer physical book with glossy white alkaline paper, and then read on my ereader, the lighting appears yellow.

For me, I just need to tilt the reader a bit with the right ambient lighting (a cloudy day is perfect for this), and at a suitable light setting the light shifts from 'none, the paper is just white' to yellow, to blue, from which I conclude that diffraction gratings are weird.

[Kolja]

I'm 73 and have near perfect color discrimination. According to one online color challenge site, 1 out of 255 women and 1 out of 12 men have some form of color vision deficiency. Go to xrite.com to take the Color Challenge test for fun.
I think the hue of the screen can change after your eyes accommodate to it, but unevenness of color persists. I can always see the uneven color and shadows, etc. and it really bothers me. I don't mind a warmer screen as long as it is even. It is also more difficult to appreciate color unevenness under the bright fluorescent lighting present in Best Buy and Apple stores.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by Kolja

I'm 73 and have near perfect color discrimination. According to one online color challenge site, 1 out of 255 women and 1 out of 12 men have some form of color vision deficiency. Go to xrite.com to take the Color Challenge test for fun.

Now I'm wondering what a tetrachromat would see. Statistically speaking, there's probably at least one woman on this forum who's a tetrachromat, but she probably doesn't know it (how often do you realise that you can see colours that nobody else can, without telepathy?). I wonder if she hates her Kindle screen.

(Men are very rarely tetrachromats: you need to be heterozygous for OPN1MW1 / OPN1MW2, and since these are alleles of OPN1MW on the X chromosome, you could only manage to be one while male by being XXY rather than XY. No male tetrachromats have ever been identified, but admittedly we've only been looking for female ones for a few years.)

[meeera]

Originally Posted by NullNix

Now I'm wondering what a tetrachromat would see. Statistically speaking, there's probably at least one woman on this forum who's a tetrachromat, but she probably doesn't know it (how often do you realise that you can see colours that nobody else can, without telepathy?). I wonder if she hates her Kindle screen.

I've not been formally tested for tetrachromacy, but have taken a few informal tests with perfect scores. My partner and others have commented on my colour perception also. It's quite possible I'm a tetrachromat. It's one of several reasons I've avoided lit Kindles for my own use, though I sometimes recommend them to others.

[cerem0ny]

I'm red green colourblind... Which does nothing for not being distracted while reading on my Kindle Oasis! >:-(

[Localhorst86]

I believe that I have pretty good vision, even after my laser eye surgery last year to remove my myopia (And according to the xrite test someone linked I have a color vision score of 0 which means perfect color vision). All the reports in this forum about ununiform lighting on the lit kindles has kept me from upgrading my non-lit kindle 4 to a new, lit one, particularly after seeing some of the photos taken of the oasis. I really don't want to buy a device that migth disappoint me.

Are the kobos really that much better?

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by Localhorst86

....

Are the kobos really that much better?

The H2O is. I cannot vouch for the other models.

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by Localhorst86

I believe that I have pretty good vision, even after my laser eye surgery last year to remove my myopia (And according to the xrite test someone linked I have a color vision score of 0 which means perfect color vision). All the reports in this forum about ununiform lighting on the lit kindles has kept me from upgrading my non-lit kindle 4 to a new, lit one, particularly after seeing some of the photos taken of the oasis. I really don't want to buy a device that migth disappoint me.

Are the kobos really that much better?

Yes. Though only if you import from chapters indigo Canada, I have done so twice with perfect results... I went through about six Kobo H2os from stores in Australia and all were pretty terrible also though.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Yes. Though only if you import from chapters indigo Canada, I have done so twice with perfect results... I went through about six Kobo H2os from stores in Australia and all were pretty terrible also though.

I got mine from a WHSmith and it's perfect.

[Josieb1]

I have two Kobos, a H20 and a Glo HD. I am very happy with the screens on both models but I did struggle to get good screens. I had a previous Glo HD, which developed a fault, and I've both an old Glo and an Aura but I've never had a perfect screen first time, on average it's three or four tries with returning or exchanging before I've got a good screen with Kobos. It's been the same with Kindles apart from my Voyage.

My Kindle Voyage is the only model I've even had of any ereader (and I've had almost every lighted model of kindle plus the Kobos listed above) that I've had a good screen at the first try.

[Rbneader]

Originally Posted by Localhorst86

I believe that I have pretty good vision, even after my laser eye surgery last year to remove my myopia (And according to the xrite test someone linked I have a color vision score of 0 which means perfect color vision). All the reports in this forum about ununiform lighting on the lit kindles has kept me from upgrading my non-lit kindle 4 to a new, lit one, particularly after seeing some of the photos taken of the oasis. I really don't want to buy a device that migth disappoint me.

Are the kobos really that much better?

No, the proportion of screen complaints I've seen are about the same.

Remember, most people have great experiences with the Amazon Kindles. They don't make a fuss and get quoted in the news, so people tend to gloss over them, same as any product.

It's much easier returning products with Amazon than Kobo, so if you think you're a likely candidate for seeing screen colors than I'd go with Amazon for the easy return policy.

Maybe try out backlit ereaders with a cheaper used ereader like the old B&N Simple Touch with lighting. About $30-50 on eBay last I checked. That way you're not spending a lot of money but still get the lighting. FWIW, I've also noticed that the B&N screens are much more even than the screen on the Chinese Android ereader I got.

[cerem0ny]

Then of course, there are people in denial who refuse to accept there are any faulty devices at all! Maybe you're one of the 'lucky ones'. Ignorance is bliss.

The problem is is that reading is such an intimate activity, you're enjoying words for the sake of them, and as such they really should be displayed properly in all of their literary glory . The intimacy of being absorbed in a good book is cheapened for people who've spent 500 bucks on a device promising to be the pinnacle of e-reading only to have the colour of the background change to its primary opposite with every word. And having weird splotches on the side of every book you read, forever. If I was watching Keeping up with the Kardashians or stalking my exes on Facebook it probably wouldn't matter to me as much, if at all. Problem is is that I'm very easily distracted when I'm reading a book, I need the experience to be seamless otherwise it lessens my enjoyment. Same with watching a movie, listening to music, anything that requires me to be engaged properly. It's a psychological concept called 'flow', where all the elements of an activity come together in a way that inspires you.

It's like enjoying your favourite bass riff on a pair of tinny computer speakers - it just leaves you disappointed and angry more than anything. You'd be better off just not listening to the song at all. Or enjoying the best steak in the world with a cheap, sour wine. Take another swig when someone rolls their eyes at you for being too fussy . Stay positive peeps!

[ApK]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Then of course, there are people in denial who refuse to accept there are any faulty devices at all! [...]
Take another swig when someone rolls their eyes at you for being too fussy . Stay positive peeps!

I won't roll my eyes about that, and I'm not in denial (I have no opinion on the Voyage or Oasis screens, having little experience with either), but I will roll my eyes at this:

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Regardless there are enough defective units to warrant an article in the LA times about it.

Please. He's a writer in the popular press, not an investigator for the FTC. All the article means is that the writer found some opinions on the Interwebs consistent with his own opinion and the story he wanted to write.
I'm not saying the defects aren't real, just that that article isn't necessarily "warranted" by anything of the sort.

To be clear, this post is a rant on the state of journalism and the media, not on the defects in the Oasis screen, which, again, I have no opinion on.

ApK

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by ApK

Please. He's a writer in the popular press, not an investigator for the FTC. All the article means is that the writer found some opinions on the Interwebs consistent with his own opinion and the story he wanted to write.
I'm not saying the defects aren't real, just that that article isn't necessarily "warranted" by anything of the sort.

*takes another drink*

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Problem is is that I'm very easily distracted when I'm reading a book, I need the experience to be seamless otherwise it lessens my enjoyment. Same with watching a movie, listening to music, anything that requires me to be engaged properly. It's a psychological concept called 'flow', where all the elements of an activity come together in a way that inspires you.

This is, of course, not only the raison d'etre for the Oasis in particular, but for all Kindles in the first place, which makes it even more of a shame that shoddy QC is spoiling it for some people.