Rumor on Amazon Eink Color Touch

[HansTWN]

I would take a 9.7" version with full Android and Wacom pen.

[pdurrant]

I want a robust display before a colour display
I want a hi-res (300dpi+) display before a colour display
I was a higher contrast display before a colour display

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I want a robust display before a colour display
I want a hi-res (300dpi+) display before a colour display
I was a higher contrast display before a colour display

But suppose you wanted or needed a new Kindle eInk and instead of $100 for the old gray scale, you could pay $120 for a color display, and everything else would be the same.
Suppose the price was still $100 with color and everything else the same.

It sounds good to me.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

But suppose you wanted or needed a new Kindle eInk and instead of $100 for the old gray scale, you could pay $120 for a color display, and everything else would be the same.
Suppose the price was still $100 with color and everything else the same.

It sounds good to me.

If the colour display was the same as or better than the greyscale display in every way, and the device was only marginally more expensive (say up to 25%) than the greyscale version, I would certainly go for the colour display.

But currently, the colour low power displays all seem to have significant drawbacks over 'equivalent' eInk greyscale ones.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

You might be right about the size of the market as a percentage, but the question is would there be enough demand to support it. A million people might be a small market, but it is significant. A half million is also significant.
I am thinking that I would love to have color on my Kindle for reading other than books as long as it didn't cost an arm and a leg. Color schematics would be great as would maps and color photographs.
I don't need video!
I am assuming the battery would last 12 hours or more hopefully up to 16 continuous.

The grey scale Kindle is fine for reading books, and I have 3G on it as well. Still I don't expect that to last forever so I think of the future. Color sounds good, and it should improve over time.

Yes, it is always relative. It reminds me of when the first phones with color came out (it was an Ericsson, I think it was before they went along with Sony). Polls at the time said that color on phones was down on the list of what people wanted, but it stormed the market and suddenly everybody was scrambling to make a phone with a color LCD. The same could happen here, you never know.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

I just don't see the point of 6" color readers - that size is really only good for reading novels.

Agree!

While there are certain documents that may take advantage of the color capabilities, 6" screen is way too small, in my opinion. That's the main reason why iPads are so popular, even for Magazines.

On such a small screen, zoom features and special apps like the one Nook Tablet has for Magazines, are a must for complex layouts. Otherwise, we cannot see all details as sharp or clear as with bigger screens.

I can be wrong, but most people who has eink devices, they use that for novels and classics, which are pure text books basically, no graphics or stuff with color.

And by the way, not all Mangas are in color.

Originally Posted by jocampo

And by the way, not all Mangas are in color.

And not all manga is in black and white. I'm not sure what your point is. There are plenty of novel-sized books in various genres which use colour. And, as someone who sells ereaders every day at work, I can definitely say that there are some people out there who are disappointed that they can't see book covers in colour, let alone maps, illustrations, colour-coded diagrams and photographs.

I'm with pdurrant on wanting a robust, higher res display first. I'm just saying that 6" screens are useful for more than just novels. It's like saying that normal paperback books are mostly fiction - you're forgetting about the wealth of non-fiction books available in that sort of form factor, both in physical and electronic editions. There is a huge range of scientific and technical ebooks out there, and a great many of them use photographs or colour-coded diagrams.

e: Come to think of it, even fiction uses maps and illustrations - take fantasy or children's novels, for instance. Not always in colour, but I suspect that's more because printing the pbooks completely in black and white would be cheaper, something which isn't really an issue with ebooks, so something which might change over time as ebooks become more the norm.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

If the colour display was the same as or better than the greyscale display in every way, and the device was only marginally more expensive (say up to 25%) than the greyscale version, I would certainly go for the colour display.

But currently, the colour low power displays all seem to have significant drawbacks over 'equivalent' eInk greyscale ones.

Originally Posted by afv011
Yes, it is always relative. It reminds me of when the first phones with color came out (it was an Ericsson, I think it was before they went along with Sony). Polls at the time said that color on phones was down on the list of what people wanted, but it stormed the market and suddenly everybody was scrambling to make a phone with a color LCD. The same could happen here, you never know.

Well, I will show what an "Old Salt" I am. When I was young, we didn't have table salt, because tables weren't invented yet. We only had rock salt and then we discovered sea salt when we had that big flood. (Still it has been a while and I might have that mixed up.)

I remember when I bought my first computer Monitor. It was a choice between a monochrome "Hercules" monitor or a color monitor that had either 4 or 16 colors. I chose the Hercules because it was very sharp but it was monochrome.

I think and hope that color eInk will improve rapidly.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Well, I will show what an "Old Salt" I am. When I was young, we didn't have table salt, because tables weren't invented yet. We only had rock salt and then we discovered sea salt when we had that big flood. (Still it has been a while and I might have that mixed up.)

Was that Noah's flood?

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by afv011

Was that Noah's flood?

That's the one!

[CommonReader]

I would certainly love to get a colour eink screen with the same resolution we are getting for smartphone displays or the display of the new iPad now. The lack of high resolution is the biggest drawback of eink screens right now. Not just for non fiction books; there are also many novels with maps and other illustrations. However, if the colour screen's resolution were even less than what we are getting right now in black and white then it would be rateher pointless, indeed.

[Barty]

One thing we've learned is anything with kindle in its name will sell a boatload. Expect same for the kindle color.

The current resolution isn't great, but not that crucial with eink. It's the lack of contrast that bugs me. Why can't it look as good under normal lighting as it does in sunlight? I can't be roasting all day while I read.

It would also help a lot if we had more than 16 shades of gray. That eink hasn't progressed in these two areas is worrisome. Is it because they have no real competition, or is the tech a dead end?

[ATimson]

Originally Posted by Barty

It would also help a lot if we had more than 16 shades of gray. That eink hasn't progressed in these two areas is worrisome. Is it because they have no real competition, or is the tech a dead end?

I think the answer is (c): device manufacturers are more interested in a race to the bottom in prices than in improving tech at the same price point, so the display manufacturers are naturally going to concentrate their efforts in that area.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I want a robust display before a colour display
I want a hi-res (300dpi+) display before a colour display
I was a higher contrast display before a colour display

All seconded .... forcefully.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by cyvros

And not all manga is in black and white. I'm not sure what your point is. There are plenty of novel-sized books in various genres which use colour. And, as someone who sells ereaders every day at work, I can definitely say that there are some people out there who are disappointed that they can't see book covers in colour, let alone maps, illustrations, colour-coded diagrams and photographs.

I'm with pdurrant on wanting a robust, higher res display first. I'm just saying that 6" screens are useful for more than just novels. It's like saying that normal paperback books are mostly fiction - you're forgetting about the wealth of non-fiction books available in that sort of form factor, both in physical and electronic editions. There is a huge range of scientific and technical ebooks out there, and a great many of them use photographs or colour-coded diagrams.

e: Come to think of it, even fiction uses maps and illustrations - take fantasy or children's novels, for instance. Not always in colour, but I suspect that's more because printing the pbooks completely in black and white would be cheaper, something which isn't really an issue with ebooks, so something which might change over time as ebooks become more the norm.

That's what 10 inches tablets are for ... What you mentioned is the exception to the rule, not the norm.

Me, for example. I mainly read IT books. Lot of images, complex layouts, color, tables, I found myself than only and iPad with its 10 inches screen can display that at a decent size. I use my Kindle eink for that on occasions, but on landscape mode and some tables are still too small to read.