Diptyx Open Source E-Reader

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by jackm8

Eink is eink, resolution and screen generation doesn't matter a lot. This device having no touch screen and backlight, will make the appearance of its display better, compared to back lighted displays of newer generations.

I've never owned a backlit e-reader. I have owned many that are frontlit, and if that's what you're referring to, I'm puzzled how you think the absence would be an improvement. Also, having gone through ereaders with many different resolutions, "resolution doesn't matter a lot" is another statement I can barely even parse, let alone agree with.

[Renate]

Despite (or because) having eyes as old as I am, I will always pay top dollar for higher resolution and contrast on Eink displays.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I've never owned a backlit e-reader. I have owned many that are frontlit, and if that's what you're referring to, I'm puzzled how you think the absence would be an improvement. Also, having gone through ereaders with many different resolutions, "resolution doesn't matter a lot" is another statement I can barely even parse, let alone agree with.

To get the light spread evenly over the whole display, the surface of a light layer is micro-etched with a complicated pattern to affect how much light gets internally reflected and how much leaks out at different locations. The etching will affect what you are looking at underneath it.

[jackm8]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I've never owned a backlit e-reader. I have owned many that are frontlit, and if that's what you're referring to, I'm puzzled how you think the absence would be an improvement. Also, having gone through ereaders with many different resolutions, "resolution doesn't matter a lot" is another statement I can barely even parse, let alone agree with.

As long as it's lit, and there's a touch panel of some sorts, there will be a substantial distance from the actual e-ink screen and the surface of the device. This will make the final picture somewhat fuzzy, no matter the internal resolution of the device. Ergo, screen without all that layer, will end up looking better when directly compared. Offcourse, with added drawback that it'll be unreadable when used in low light environment.
As far as reading text is concerned, I don't see much of a difference in higher resolutions of e-ink screens. They are fundamentally a different tech compared to lcd, so even low resolution screen will end up looking great. Images and fixed page documents are a different story, but considering this device is small, I don't think that it's even useful for that.

Originally Posted by Renate

Despite (or because) having eyes as old as I am, I will always pay top dollar for higher resolution and contrast on Eink displays.

I hope I'm not coming out too preachy, but you should first invest in quality lighting in your home. Dimmed, soft, but very bright lighting is more important than the screen that you're reading on. Ideally you'd build something like in this video, but just smart purchase, positioning, and shading of lightbulbs will get you far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bqBsHSwPgw

[Cactus Chef]

Either the software or the source book look like they need work. What is he reading, a TXT file?

Reminds me of when I loaded homebrew on my Nintendo DSLite like 20 years ago to turn it into a makeshift e-reader.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by jackm8

... you should first invest in quality lighting in your home.

I like lighting.
For reading I now use a desk lamp pointed at the ceiling.
In other situations indoors I wear a brimmed hat so I don't have to see any lights.
In my old apartment I had a 50 Watt LED street lamp (literally) mounted on the ceiling with a very large stainless steel salad bowl hanging underneath.
There was a ton of light and none of it direct.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

Either the software or the source book look like they need work. What is he reading, a TXT file?

Reminds me of when I loaded homebrew on my Nintendo DSLite like 20 years ago to turn it into a makeshift e-reader.

As far as I can tell from the webpage, the only format that can be used is non-DRMmed ePub. OTOH, ghod alone knows what ePub features are supported by the renderer though my betting is that it will not have ePub3 support. Italic and bold in the screen samples but whatever else is supported is unknown. The only chapter headers shown are left aligned though in my 5 copies of Alice in Wonderland, they are centred and the italic text at the bottom of the page is indented. See attached images. I do wonder if the clip-on light in the Diptyx image comes in the box.

One thing I find rather strange is that the thickness is 14mm folded and unfolded.

For me, the lack of search is a dealbreaker. I don't want to scan through multiple pages of books listed by author to find a book when I have multiple devices capable of using search to locate books.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by jackm8

As long as it's lit,

If you can tell me the name of an e-ink ereader that IS "backlit" as you said, I might pay more attention to your highly opinionated and unsubstantiated assertions and assumptions (about the lighting in other peope's reading environment, for example). If, on the other hand you actually can't tell the difference between the words "front" and "back", then I'm disinclined to trust your claimed expertise.