Why are eink screens so gray?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by etherspin

cool , im not familiar with the sony range, i thought they perhaps had some larger non vizplex type screens like the irex range

All means all. The iRex has a Vizplex screen as well.

Dale

[etherspin]

wow! why the contrast difference i wonder

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by etherspin

wow! why the contrast difference i wonder

There is no contrast difference. The perceived background colour of an eInk screen depends critically on the lighting conditions. In strong direct sunlight, the screen background will appear virtually white; in dim artificial light it's a relatively dark grey. That's the same for all eInk devices.

[etherspin]

ok, is it a touchscreen issue or something?when i was shopping i was showcased the irex line, the hanlin v3 and the cybook, the hanlin and cybook seemed to have a whiter "white"

[HarryT]

You're right - I used to have an iRex iLiad myself, and it certainly had poorer contrast than the CyBook or Sony does. Sorry - I thought that we were only discussing 6" devices, which do all use the same screen. The iRex screen is made separately (although also by PVI) and I share your view that it does have a somewhat darker background.

[nelsonescorcio]

Originally Posted by Alisa

I'm going to be completely scandalous and admit that I would prefer if the screen were whiter.

I completely agree with you.

The grey screen is not the result of an option made: it is the result of the present day limitations of e-ink tecnologie.

I would like a better contrats: whiter screen; darker text. This contrast might not be very good on a backlight screen, but on a e-ink (or on paper) it is. That is why magazines usually have much whiter pages than a newspaper: the cost of it. Only.

Yes, present e-ink screens are VERY readable. But that is not the point, is it? Being readable should not be enough. I love my Cybook, I read on it every day. But if a new one was going on sale tomorrow with a, say, 30% better contast, I would by it - no question about it.
And that day WILL come.

[columbus]

As a recent purchaser of the 505, who had not seen one in the flesh before buying, I have to say when I first used it I was a little disappointed with the greyness of the 'paper'. Having been used to white high contrast reading on my laptop.

I have very quickly changed my mind, having previously suffered quite bad eye strain from LCD, even to a lesser degree with pbooks. So far no matter what the lighting conditions the eink screen has not caused any problems. ( I found it impossible to read a paperback in bright sunlight but with the 505 it is no problem)

If Sony had made the silver case a little darker the screen may have been perceived as whiter. What do you guy's with the darker cases feel?

[nelsonescorcio]

Originally Posted by columbus

As a recent purchaser of the 505, who had not seen one in the flesh before buying, I have to say when I first used it I was a little disappointed with the greyness of the 'paper'. Having been used to white high contrast reading on my laptop.

I have very quickly changed my mind, having previously suffered quite bad eye strain from LCD, even to a lesser degree with pbooks. So far no matter what the lighting conditions the eink screen has not caused any problems. ( I found it impossible to read a paperback in bright sunlight but with the 505 it is no problem)

Then again, you are comparing what is not comparable: The reason your eyes hurts with LCD screens is the projected light - the whiter, the more agressive it is (that is why many people - including myself - prefer blue background on word processing...).
In a e-ink device, things are quite different - the whiter is not more agressive. On the contrary: the higher the contrast, the more confortable it is to your eyes - like a good quality magazine.

[columbus]

Originally Posted by nelsonescorcio;

Then again, you are comparing what is not comparable: The reason your eyes hurts with LCD screens is the projected light - the whiter, the more agressive it is (that is why many people - including myself - prefer blue background on word processing...).
In a e-ink device, things are quite different - the whiter is not more agressive. On the contrary: the higher the contrast, the more confortable it is to your eyes - like a good quality magazine.

Am obviously well aware they are not really comparable, the point was that anybody used to reading on LCD will find e-ink Gray at first. Also when compared to the tea stain colour of the average paperback.

One point nobody has raised is the ghosting, - lines of white text left on shut-down or sometimes page change. This shows that the background has the potential to be whiter than it is. Is this due to the battery economy? Or is mine faulty.

[DaleDe]

I have been in contact with some folks at e-Ink and they are preparing an official explanation of the reason for the screen not being white. I will post it when I get it. The general gist is: They are trying to make it as white as possible. The electronic ink in the bubble is white. It appears gray, in part, do to the layers of plastic between the user and the ink. These layers provide UV protection, the anti-glare finish, etc. More coming.

Dale

[Sydney's Mom]

I was surprised when I first saw the screen, too, but found I like the darker background for bedtime reading. There is too much glare with a booklight - with the grayer background, I can set the booklight on low, and have no glare at all.

[Over]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

I have been in contact with some folks at e-Ink and they are preparing an official explanation of the reason for the screen not being white. I will post it when I get it. The general gist is: They are trying to make it as white as possible. The electronic ink in the bubble is white. It appears gray, in part, do to the layers of plastic between the user and the ink. These layers provide UV protection, the anti-glare finish, etc. More coming.

Dale

It makes sense, as I noticed that under direct sun, the screen looks whiter.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by columbus

One point nobody has raised is the ghosting, - lines of white text left on shut-down or sometimes page change. This shows that the background has the potential to be whiter than it is. Is this due to the battery economy? Or is mine faulty.

Ghosting is normal with the current generation of eInk technology. It's not a fault in your specific device.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Ghosting is normal with the current generation of eInk technology. It's not a fault in your specific device.

... and that's the reason that the screen flashes "black" between pages - to remove the remnants of the previous page. On some devices (eg the CyBook) this can be disabled, and the "ghosting" builds up pretty quickly if you do so.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You're right - I used to have an iRex iLiad myself, and it certainly had poorer contrast than the CyBook or Sony does. Sorry - I thought that we were only discussing 6" devices, which do all use the same screen. The iRex screen is made separately (although also by PVI) and I share your view that it does have a somewhat darker background.

The eInk part is still the same, iRex has their own display controller though (In PC terms... same monitor but different video card). I've seen opinions vary as to which has the better contrast.

A lot of it has to do with the age of the two devices that you're comparing, more than anything else. Current eInk, no matter which device, will fade a bit after first use and lose some of it's contrast. So if you're comparing a used device from one manufacturer to another's that was just pulled out of the box, then the newly opened one will have better contrast. You can see the same variation even if you're comparing two devices that are the same brand/model.