Kindle Voyage vs. other ereaders: screen comparison at 0 brightness

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Ghosting can vary between individual devices more than across models, generations, and brands.

I suspect so. No-one else seems to have had a Kobo Touch C as bad as mine.
Also some people (myself) don't mind the brief flash on page turn and see no ghosting because refresh every page. Twice on current firmware there is a longer double flash and power off-on cured that. Only saw it in one book.

The brightness/contrast seems to vary too for same model, though you'd only notice side by side.

[Canis_lupus]

Congratulations leifan89 on getting a Voyage in great condition.

I have found that I can read on my Voyage with ambient light but all my other front lit Kindles need the light on (usually around 14 brightness so it is not just making up the difference of the Voyage light not turning all the way off).

[leifan89]

> I never read with the light off.

Interesting! I always prefer to read with the light off as much as possible, probably why I cared about this.

> This is totally unscientific.

I did not pretend to be scientific I'm very well aware that these are subjective opinions based on observations in non-perfect (but realistic for me) lighting conditions, and I'm well aware that Kindle's (or any other brand's) QA means that each device behave slightly differently (hell, I had 2 PW5's that looked different). I'm just showing what I see where I sit and read

Re: all the discussions of Oasis 2 vs. 3's screen warmth, I had both for a brief few weeks before I sold the Oasis 2, and I did notice that my Oasis 3 had a darker/grayer screen than my Oasis 2, when, theoretically, they should've been identical (well, the 3 did have a warm light, maybe that did change something, who knows).

> So the photos are not valid as the Voyage as the light on the the others do not.

Yes, I was made aware of this after having taken the photos (and before posting this, hence I included a caveat). When I get a chance later this week, I hope to take photos comparing them side-by-side again, all of them running in KOReader with the light off. Stay tuned!

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Also the voyage was very expensive compared to a PW3, and hardly better in real life. Now it's gone. An Oasis gen2 is likely a better value S/H buy with 7″ screen and buttons, if not buying a brand new Libra 2.

What do you mean by "hardly better in real life"? The screen is noticeably sharper, which makes it much easier to read on for extended periods of time. The PW3 screen is a bit blurry in comparison and I can't read on it for as long as the Voyage, which is easier on the eyes.

The Libra 2 screen is worse - it looks dark and dirty in comparison, and not as sharp. But it's good enough and everything else about the Libra 2 is much nicer: physical page turn buttons, white corpus, better UI, bigger screen. Given all that I prefer reading on my Libra 2.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by leifan89

Interesting! I always prefer to read with the light off as much as possible, probably why I cared about this.

I can't stand the yellowish/greenish gray of an unlit eink screen. I also always read indoors, never out in the sun. So I always have the light on to make the screen off-white (in daylight) or light yellow (in artificial light). For me that's the best advantage of the frontlight - to whiten the screen. An unlit eink screen looks ugly to me, I can't read on it.

Originally Posted by kandwo

The Libra 2 screen is worse - it looks dark and dirty in comparison, and not as sharp.

My Libra 2 looks very nice, creamish white and very sharp (yes the Voyage was sharper, but not by much). Of course that's with the light on. With the light off all eink screens look dark gray and dirty, even the Voyage, unless you read in sunlight or in very bright artificial light, which I never do (I don't like bright ambient light).

[John F]

+1 to always having the light on.

Many times it doesn't make a difference, but I still have it on.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by John F

+1 to always having the light on.

Many times it doesn't make a difference, but I still have it on.

The only time I've found it not making a difference is in direct sunlight, and I never read (in fact I almost never am) in sunlight.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The only time I've found it not making a difference is in direct sunlight, and I never read (in fact I almost never am) in sunlight.

If I'm outdoors, and the sun is out, the front light doesn't seem to make a difference (either in direct or indirect sunlight). I would say even on cloudy days, outdoors, the light doesn't make a difference.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by John F

If I'm outdoors, and the sun is out, the front light doesn't seem to make a difference (either in direct or indirect sunlight). I would say even on cloudy days, outdoors, the light doesn't make a difference.

Well, perhaps; I never take my ereaders out (I live in an apartment in a city, and there's no comfortable place for reading outdoors near my home). Indoors only direct sunlight makes no difference.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by John F

I would say even on cloudy days, outdoors, the light doesn't make a difference.

This is my experience, such as it is, reading outdoors. Yet another anecdote: my Kobo Mini is my beach/pool reader and it's fine even on a cloudy day or in the shade at the lake, but I can't read on it comfortably indoors even with a light source.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

This is my experience, such as it is, reading outdoors. Yet another anecdote: my Kobo Mini is my beach/pool reader and it's fine even on a cloudy day or in the shade at the lake, but I can't read on it comfortably indoors even with a light source.

I no longer can read comfortably indoors on my old nonlit Kindles either; and yet I read on them for several years, with pleasure, 10+ years ago. Of course it might be my eyes (though I'm not yet old enough for cataracts), but more likely I've been spoiled by frontlit ereaders. Also I kept a bright bedside lamp for reading with those oldies, which I no longer use. My current room lighting (except for sunny days) is not bright enough for unlit screens to look good or even comfortable.

[dedeca]

I have a PW3 and a PW5 and sometimes I find myself reading on the PW3 because the screen sharpness is noticeably better. I also had a PW4 but I had to sell it because the screen contrast was horrible compared to others. Unfortunately I didn't get to pick up a Kindle Voyage, but reading some comments here and some reviews elsewhere, it seems that there is general agreement that the Voyage has better sharpness. And I wonder if one day Amazon will release an e-reader with the same screen quality.

[John F]

Originally Posted by issybird

This is my experience, such as it is, reading outdoors. Yet another anecdote: my Kobo Mini is my beach/pool reader and it's fine even on a cloudy day or in the shade at the lake, but I can't read on it comfortably indoors even with a light source.

Did you get your Mini after your your front lit ereader(s)?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by leifan89

Interesting! I always prefer to read with the light off as much as possible, probably why I cared about this.

Then why did you buy a Kindle Voyage as the light cannot be shut off?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kandwo

What do you mean by "hardly better in real life"? The screen is noticeably sharper, which makes it much easier to read on for extended periods of time. The PW3 screen is a bit blurry in comparison and I can't read on it for as long as the Voyage, which is easier on the eyes.

The Libra 2 screen is worse - it looks dark and dirty in comparison, and not as sharp. But it's good enough and everything else about the Libra 2 is much nicer: physical page turn buttons, white corpus, better UI, bigger screen. Given all that I prefer reading on my Libra 2.

I'm going to disagree. The PW3 screen is good. The PW4 screen is less sharp and more muddy looking. The PW5 screen is also good.

The Libra 2 screen is very good. It's not dark and dirty looking at all. If it was, I would have returned it. The Libra 2 screen has quite good contrast and is very clear.