How good is the new E-Ink Pearl?

[jhempel24]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Hmm, why would you want to convert epub to HTML? epub is zipped HTML...

Book Designer can't open Epub files but can open HTML, which can then be edited and saved back to HTML, and THEN can be put into Mobipocket to make a .mobi file.

Book Designer is awesome, a little learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, the it's easy peasy.

[jhempel24]

Okay, just a quick update with a little fiddling....found a good output from Book Designer to make an HTML file. Then used Mobipocket Creator to make a Mobi file, and everything looks fabulous now!! Original concerns are now gone! Can't wait for my Kindle!! I called my Target Store (or one of them anyway), and the guy stated they should have it on launch day! I doubt that's true, but he actually seemed to know what he was talking about.

[Ortep]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Have you read my tutorial?

Yes I did, about 2 years ago in 2008. I ended up with files that I had to download that wanted others files to be downloaded that asked other files to be downloaded, error messages telling me that my system was under attack.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20616

And JSWolf telling me I had the wrong operating system

I gave up after a while.

I bought my first computer in 1980, an Apple II+ and I'm working in the IT business since 1985 with Unix, Linux, VMS, OS/2, Windows and some others, but Book Designers was the most complicated dish of spaghetti I ever encountered. I decided that if it was build like that, I wouldn't touch it with a pole.

But I guess that is not on topic here

[Ajax]

Originally Posted by jhempel24

Okay, just a quick update with a little fiddling....found a good output from Book Designer to make an HTML file. Then used Mobipocket Creator to make a Mobi file, and everything looks fabulous now!! Original concerns are now gone! Can't wait for my Kindle!! I called my Target Store (or one of them anyway), and the guy stated they should have it on launch day! I doubt that's true, but he actually seemed to know what he was talking about.

<-- Target guy


Target is not suppose to receive the new models until early to mid September and will not receive new displays until October, from the last time I saw any information.

[nimblem]

I am in colorado and i know our Target just got the Kindle two in this week

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm sorry, but that's a considerable exaggeration. A friend of mine has a Graphite DX and although the contrast is significantly better than a 2nd gen "Vizplex" screen it's still very definitely dark grey and light grey. Compare the background to a sheet of white paper. It is very definitely not white.

Although the more light that falls on the screen the lighter and whiter it looks. I suspect that if the screen really was pure white that it would be hard on the eyes. Too much contrast is bad just like too little. In my opinion they have hit on a good combination of very light-gray screen and very dark-gray text that works better than any other e-Ink reader I've ever seen. And BTW, the paper books I buy never seem to have a pure white paper. They are always dulled. If I happen to see a magazine with pure white paper it is always difficult to read--ditto for articles I print out on pure white paper.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Although the more light that falls on the screen the lighter and whiter it looks. I suspect that if the screen really was pure white that it would be hard on the eyes. Too much contrast is bad just like too little. In my opinion they have hit on a good combination of very light-gray screen and very dark-gray text that works better than any other e-Ink reader I've ever seen. And BTW, the paper books I buy never seem to have a pure white paper. They are always dulled. If I happen to see a magazine with pure white paper it is always difficult to read--ditto for articles I print out on pure white paper.

I think the Graphite DX's screen is excellent. I just didn't want someone to buy one (or a K3) with the expectation that it was going to be "black and white", because it really isn't.

[FranciscoB]

As this guy in the Amazon Kindle forum has measured, in the new Perl e-ink:
-- blacks are a lot darker;
-- white is only slightly clearer;

Link to source: Some reflectivity measurements

[Ben Thornton]

That's interesting. I hope that I'm not breaking any rules by quoting it:

Old (white) Kindle DX (6 months old):
white area density = 0.46, Lab = (65.8,-2.3,0.6)
black area density = 1.30, Lab = (26.6,-1.0,-2.2)
contrast in density = 0.84, contrast in lightness = 39.2

New (graphite) Kindle DX:
white area density = 0.42, Lab = (68.2,-2.4,0.9)
black area density = 1.58, Lab = (18.5,-0.1,-3.6)
contrast in density = 1.16, contrast in lightness = 49.7

I used a Datacolor Spectrocolorimeter model 1005. "Lab" is a color space measurement; the "L" stands for lightness--it matches the number on the box when you buy copier paper.

I have no idea how to turn these numbers into a percentage contrast. But from density numbers alone, white is a little whiter, black is a lot blacker.

EDIT: I've measured the paper and ink densities for some books I have, for comparison:
trade paper: ink = 1.69, paper = 0.07 (contrast = 1.62)
new pulp: ink = 0.87, paper = 0.19 (contrast = 0.68)
old pulp: ink = 0.79, paper = 0.24 (contrast = 0.55)

[jhempel24]

Looks like that got it pretty close.

[Sheikspeare]

Numbers have their place, but subjectivities are far more meaningful. A page has to look crisper and darker, and not just satisfy some sort of objective contrast index. It's our eyes that matter -- and if they can be tricked with illusions of lightness/darkness that's what really counts.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by Sheikspeare

Numbers have their place, but subjectivities are far more meaningful. A page has to look crisper and darker, and not just satisfy some sort of objective contrast index. It's our eyes that matter -- and if they can be tricked with illusions of lightness/darkness that's what really counts.

I agree that the acid test is actually seeing one. But, I'm not good at waiting, so I'm obsessing with numbers - and helping others who also need to obsess while waiting.

It's a kind of self-help group thing.

8 days ... (more for me )

[charleski]

Interesting numbers. While my 505 (which should be the same as the Kindle 2) is fine with good lighting, it certainly has noticeably lower contrast than a new (or even old) MMPB.

[Skydog]

IMO, there is considerable improvement with the Pearl e-ink display. I thought my original DX was good, but my DX Graphite is far superior, with dark, crisp text and a lighter background as opposed to the older greenish-gray. I am absolutely spoiled and look forward to receiving the K3.