Paperwhite Second Gen: First Impressions

[Barty]

Originally Posted by levante

As I said before, my PW2 is perfect in every detail except one: It's worse for reading than my PW1 for its poor contrast. I bought a new kindle expecting a device better than the one I had. Hopefully the replacement will be ok.
I'm just a consumer who wants what Amazon announces: a reader with a more white screen and darker text.

hmm, that sounds like "other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

Yeah, that's my #1 disappointment. To me, the Pw1 had worse black than the unlit pearl screen due to the light layer. I had high hope when I heard "new carta screen," thinking that would get the pw2's black back to unlit pearl level, but it's actually gotten worse.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Barty

Yeah, that's my #1 disappointment. To me, the Pw1 had worse black than the unlit pearl screen due to the light layer. I had high hope when I heard "new carta screen," thinking that would get the pw2's black back to unlit pearl level, but it's actually gotten worse.

Comparing my PW1 and PW2 side by side, the blacks are identical, but the screen background is definitely lighter on the PW2, supporting Amazon's claim of improved contrast on the PW2.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by Barty

hmm, that sounds like "other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

Yeah, that's my #1 disappointment. To me, the Pw1 had worse black than the unlit pearl screen due to the light layer. I had high hope when I heard "new carta screen," thinking that would get the pw2's black back to unlit pearl level, but it's actually gotten worse.

I thought contrast was supposed to be 25% better. What happened?

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by xendula

@Jack, because of the cover, it is so worth it getting rid of SO: you open the cover and the last page you read is right there, with the light at the last brightness level you used. It sounds so stupid that something so small can be so darn awesome, but it is it's like a real book in a way.

I agree. I paid the $20 to get rid of the offers because I had the cover. It works great.

[fearindex]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Comparing my PW1 and PW2 side by side, the blacks are identical, but the screen background is definitely lighter on the PW2, supporting Amazon's claim of improved contrast on the PW2.

Contrast can be improved by blacker blacks or whiter whites. By many accounts PW2 is able to produce a somewhat more even and lighter background than PW1. The blacks don't have to be better for the contrast advertising to be true.

[Helgetus]

Originally Posted by charmian

... I also prefer the sliding button that the Kindle Keyboard had.

That was exactly my first impression when I had the PW1. I could not switch on the PW with my thumb, as I usually did with the K3 slider. I had to do it with my nail rather than my thumb soft tip. But with the original PW cover you don't have to bother switching it on. That is just so convenient. I open my PW and I can start reading. Like with a real book that you open at the bookmark position.

[ersott]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Comparing my PW1 and PW2 side by side, the blacks are identical, but the screen background is definitely lighter on the PW2, supporting Amazon's claim of improved contrast on the PW2.

Agree.

I can't read in my pw1 with lights down, the screen were sad grey.

With my pw2 and lights down, i can see very well, screen is crisper...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fearindex

Contrast can be improved by blacker blacks or whiter whites. By many accounts PW2 is able to produce a somewhat more even and lighter background than PW1. The blacks don't have to be better for the contrast advertising to be true.

Yes, that is precisely what I was saying .

Originally Posted by fearindex

Contrast can be improved by blacker blacks or whiter whites. By many accounts PW2 is able to produce a somewhat more even and lighter background than PW1. The blacks don't have to be better for the contrast advertising to be true.

I would also point out that a blacker text is not necessarily going to provide more contrast. If the text is blacker and the font is thinner, it might be less contrasty. If the text is blacker and the background is whiter, it might be more contrasty. However, if the text is blacker and the background is whiter, but the background is also dirty/dingy/shadowy looking, it might be less contrasty.

My PW2 has a whiter background than the PW1s I had. I think the blackness of the text is about the same, but it has been almost a year since I sent the last PW1 back. But since my PW2 background is somewhat darker than the sides, text tends to fade into the background a bit. That is, the text looks washed out. So my PW2 has less contrast than any non-lighted, Pearl screen Kindle I've ever owned. (That includes K3, KDXG, K4B, and Touch.)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I would also point out that a blacker text is not necessarily going to provide more contrast. If the text is blacker and the font is thinner, it might be less contrasty. If the text is blacker and the background is whiter, it might be more contrasty. However, if the text is blacker and the background is whiter, but the background is also dirty/dingy/shadowy looking, it might be less contrasty.

Contrast, as quoted by eInk is not a subjective measure, dependent upon choice of fonts, etc, but a purely objective quantity measured by an instrument called a photometer, which measures the whiteness of the whites, and the blackness of the blacks.

[Barty]

I think I'm going to get a replacement and play the screen lottery.

[sparklemotion]

The text on my PW2's really did not look nearly as black as it does on my PW1. The same fonts also looked slightly thinner too. The more yellow screen was the worst for contrast, but even on the more bluer of the PW2's I had the text was lighter.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Barty

I think I'm going to get a replacement and play the screen lottery.

What is wrong with yours, Barty?

[ersott]

I must say that use azw3 with embebed fonts ;-)

Originally Posted by HarryT

Contrast, as quoted by eInk is not a subjective measure, dependent upon choice of fonts, etc, but a purely objective quantity measured by an instrument called a photometer, which measures the whiteness of the whites, and the blackness of the blacks.

eInk definitions aside, the reality is often different from the measurements. It doesn't matter how white the background and how black the text is if the background also contains shadows in places. I seriously doubt Amazon measured the shadows. How could they, they seem to vary with each device. The shadows seem to be caused by the light layer which sits on top of the eInk. So my point is that a white background measurement and black text measurement taken without the light layer in place is not an accurate depiction of what we see.

I also believe that a one unit squared black spot on a 100 unit squared white background will seem to have less contrast than a 10 unit squared black spot on a 100 unit squared white background, if the whites and blacks in both scenarios are equal. The more black that appears on the white, the higher the contrast appears to our eyes. So thin text does not appear as contrasty as thicker text.