Kindle Voyage - First Impressions

[Barty]

Originally Posted by peterreader

That's why I took the picture. But the different colors also do distract me while reading. The problem with this is that the more you know about it the more you will lead your attention to the screen issue. I just wanted to know if someone else can see the color gradient or if it's just in my imagination. You helped me with this, thank you!

From the picture, I can readily see the bottom is whiter and the top is yellower. How that translates to real life I do not know.

Ultimately only you can say if something bothers you enough to be a deal breaker. FWIW, I don't see this with my PW2. You can get a PW2 and do a side by side comparison and see if you prefer the better uniformity over the higher resolution.

I think the next voyage will probably fix this, just as the PW2 fixed the color blobs and light cones at the bottom from the first PW. (By "fix", I mean minimize the fault to the satisfaction of most people, not necessarily eliminate it altogether.)

this is the problem with displays. You can never tell for sure if you are just unlucky or particularly sensitive or other people are just not as picky or they really did get the "perfect" unit. You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by peterreader

I also own a Paperwhite - a device that I'm totally happy with. The main reason for ordering a Voyage was the auto-brightness-feature and the sharper text. Both things are, in my opinion, so helpful that they are worth the extra money. But if you pay that much you also expect a device with no failures. That is not expected too much.

That much? How d you decide what is the leve for expecting perfection? I bought a Cybook Gen 3 that was much more expensive than the Voyage and I did not expect it to be perfect. So why do you exepect something that is pretty cheap to be perfect?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

It matters what you think it looks like to you in each, all, the most used reading environment. Your picture shows the typical color gradient that some won't tolerate, while others won't see it or won't care.

I am not sure if 14 is too bright for a darkish environment. On my PW I am happy to read at brightness 10 all the time (in very dark through sunlight). My wife usually preferes 12 or higher at all times. If you took the picture to show off a possible fault and it is not your prefered reading brightness, then the picture does not help you any.

To me, 14 would be way too bright. I've been using 4% or 5% on my H2O in the bedroom when I am reading with the lights out.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No negativity, Gordon. Just saying that, after having had four Voyages, the previous poster has had ample opportunity to see what Voyage screens look like, and make up his mind whether or not he likes them. I really, really like the Voyage, but some people don't. Everyone has to make their own mind up about it.

Every Voyage screen has a color gradient, but most people don't see it. I don't see it visually, but if I look at the pixel values on a photograph of the screen of my Voyage, it's there. Hence the advice to make your own mind up!

Why is it that Kobo can do a larger Carta screen with a front light that doesn't have such color gradients and Amazon seems unable to? The only thing the my H2O has is a shadow at the bottom of the screen where the page number is. But I don't notice a color gradient with the light on full.

Amazon had the same problem with the PW1 and the PW2. Since they had such a problem, you'd think they'd have fixed it with different LEDs for the light. My guess is it's the same LEDs used in the PW1 and PW2.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Amazon had the same problem with the PW1 and the PW2. Since they had such a problem, you'd think they'd have fixed it with different LEDs for the light. My guess is it's the same LEDs used in the PW1 and PW2.

The light source has nothing to do with it - you could use a candle and the gradient would be there on the Kindle. It is how the light reflects / refracts / absorbs / turns in the lightguide layer that makes a difference. The surface treatment of the rough (simulates paper - haha) surface on PW / Voyage may have something to do optically as well. Is the H2O perfectly smooth like a sheet of glass? If so, that might be the main difference between Kobo and Amazon.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

The light source has nothing to do with it - you could use a candle and the gradient would be there on the Kindle. It is how the light reflects / refracts / absorbs / turns in the lightguide layer that makes a difference. The surface treatment of the rough (simulates paper - haha) surface on PW / Voyage may have something to do optically as well. Is the H2O perfectly smooth like a sheet of glass? If so, that might be the main difference between Kobo and Amazon.

Yes, the h2O is smooth. I don't notice the light layer when the light is off.

Do you think maybe the capacitance touch layer might have something to do with the color shifts? The H2O doesn't have such as it uses IR touch.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Yes, the h2O is smooth. I don't notice the light layer when the light is off.

Do you think maybe the capacitance touch layer might have something to do with the color shifts? The H2O doesn't have such as it uses IR touch.

It is possible. But capacitive screen are used in virtually any screens now - lcd, olead, eink. On eink there appears to be a grid dot pattern that can be seen at certain angles and light - I could see it on a Bookeen reader I had, and very slightly on my PW. I am not convinced that it changes the light differently depending on the top or bottom of the screen. Oled screen by their nature have color shifts toward pink, green, purple at extreme viewing angles (greater than 160° on the screens I have seen myself in person). Not sure what the cause of it is either, but it happens with Samsung as well as Motorola screens. If it is the glass used, might have something to do with what the Voyage suffers from.

[Clawdia]

Anyone know how long it was that the PW2 was released after the PW1? Wondering how long it might be before the next version of the Voyage might be released. Waiting to see the one I get for Christmas and see how the screen looks to my eyes before deciding what to do, whether to keep it, go to a PW2, or whatever - upgrading from a Kindle Keyboard, so would expect either to be an improvement.

[JoHunt]

Originally Posted by Clawdia

Anyone know how long it was that the PW2 was released after the PW1? Wondering how long it might be before the next version of the Voyage might be released. Waiting to see the one I get for Christmas and see how the screen looks to my eyes before deciding what to do, whether to keep it, go to a PW2, or whatever - upgrading from a Kindle Keyboard, so would expect either to be an improvement.

PW1 release date: October 1, 2012
PW2 release date: September 30, 2013
Voyage release date: October 21, 2014

So October 2015 would be a good guess for release of Voyage II

[GordonGekko]

One Youtube review states that you can only notice a slight color gradient when reading in complete darkness. I usually only read in a moderately lit room with the backlight set between 15 and 17, if there is no gradient in this circumstance that would be welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doS3zES63rA

Mentioned around the 8 minute mark.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GordonGekko

One Youtube review states that you can only notice a slight color gradient when reading in complete darkness. I usually only read in a moderately lit room with the backlight set between 15 and 17, if there is no gradient in this circumstance that would be welcome.

Gordon, as has been said before, whether or not someone sees the colour gradient is primarily a matter of personal perception. You really do need to try it for yourself and see if you see it and, if you do see it, whether it bothers you.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by HarryT

All that varies is how different people perceive them.

That is not really correct. Yes there is some colour gradient on them all, but there is clearly a lot of variation on how much of a colour gradient there is on the screens, not just related to an individuals perception of the gradient.

I am sure there are at least a couple of people who have posted images in this thread of Voyage screens they were unhappy with (that showed a distinct yellow tinge) but later posted pictures of replacement models they were far happier with.

However, anyone who has bought a Voyage and isn't happy with the screen, even after trying a couple of replacements, send it back for a refund and either wait for Amazon to improve the Voyage with their next release (as the PW2 is compared to the PW1), or consider spending your money on trying out an Aura H20 instead. And let Amazon know why.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

However, anyone who has bought a Voyage and isn't happy with the screen, even after trying a couple of replacements, send it back for a refund and either wait for Amazon to improve the Voyage with their next release (as the PW2 is compared to the PW1), or consider spending your money on trying out an Aura H20 instead. And let Amazon know why.

Having owned (and subsequently sold) an H2O, that's not a course of action I'd personally recommend. The H2O may have better lighting in the view of some people, but it has significant issues, in particular a rather poor touch screen which makes trying to select text or activate small hyperlinks an exercise in frustration. Believe me, after you've turned the page 10 times in a row, when what you really wanted to do was read a footnote on the current page, you'll wish you'd kept your Voyage.

[badgoodDeb]

Although I've just had to add 2-3 more of my Amazon Cloud collections as starred collections onto my device, because I cannot manage to touch the "cloud" location while I'm in the "add a book to a collection" screen". It worked last month. (I've been working on a Christmas present for a month.) Now that the update has "fixed" it so only the collections *on* my device show up in the "add a book to a collection" screen, this month I can't get to the cloud collections. It did initially work, even after the change. It may yet work again. But yesterday and today, no dice. It kept selecting the HOME key instead of the "cloud" type collections.
So even Voyages aren't perfect. Maybe I should power cycle it again. How do I do that on a Voyage? I forgot, now that I don't have a button to press and hold.

[HarryT]

You reboot a Voyage the same way you reboot any other Kindle: press and hold the power button for about 20s.