PW small noise?

[Jesse83]

I had this in K4 too, when you use the experimental browser there is some noise while it loads up it's very low, you have to put your ear on the device to hear it. It's like a disk or something, but surely there is no disk, the storage is electronical? So what is doing that noise?

[DuckieTigger]

Since K4 and PW both don't have speakers it might come from your computer speakers. The wireless radio (both wifi and 3G) on my Kindle Touch sends static/clicking to my speakers hooked up to computer if it is 3 or less feet away and 3G or wifi is in use. My cell phones if laying too close do that too, but not as bad. Had the same thing happen to my car speakers when the Touch was talking to Amazon for some reason. No I was not driving and reading, I was driving and wife was reading.

[Jesse83]

Nothing of the sort I don't have any computer speakers, the noise comes from the Kindle anyway sure of that. Like I said it reminds me of the noise of a hard drive. Maybe it's related to Wi-Fi but the noise seems mechanical. Just try it people, I can't be the only one, start the web browser load any website and listen carefully, that can't be only me ? (on 2 different kindles ?)

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by Jesse83

Nothing of the sort I don't have any computer speakers, the noise comes from the Kindle anyway sure of that. Like I said it reminds me of the noise of a hard drive. Maybe it's related to Wi-Fi but the noise seems mechanical. Just try it people, I can't be the only one, start the web browser load any website and listen carefully, that can't be only me ? (on 2 different kindles ?)

The eink display uses a high-voltage electrostatic field to move the eink particles, which are embedded tiny in oil-filled beads (many beads per pixel).

You may be hearing components in the high-voltage power supply, which may vibrate while powering the eink display during display updates. A common fix for noisy components like that (such as in an LCD panel) is to cover them with a small blob of epoxy or silicone.

[Snorkledorf]

You can hear that tiny little hiss in a lot of electronics if you listen closely. I seem to remember first hearing it in an old Palm III or Genio or something, so it's not exclusively an e-ink thing.

You don't even have to use the browser, as long as you can get it to use its CPU. You can hear it from a Kindle Keyboard too if you turn it on and listen to the lower center area of the back panel. The Paperwhite is loudest near the upper center. I can't hear anything from my iPhone but maybe all the aluminum is blocking the sound...

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by Snorkledorf

You can hear that tiny little hiss in a lot of electronics if you listen closely. I seem to remember first hearing it in an old Palm III or Genio or something, so it's not exclusively an e-ink thing.

You don't even have to use the browser, as long as you can get it to use its CPU. You can hear it from a Kindle Keyboard too if you turn it on and listen to the lower center area of the back panel. The Paperwhite is loudest near the upper center. I can't hear anything from my iPhone but maybe all the aluminum is blocking the sound...

Some capacitors can also make sound. Their job is to filter out transistor switching spikes in the power supply lines, but in the process they can make some noise. Again, the typical solution is to put some epoxy or silicone rubber on them. The noise is typically more of a problem in higher voltage circuits though, such as the eink displays, or fluorescent backlights in older LCD panels. Also, in 3G kindles, the periodic 3G "handshake" can often be heard loudly in nearby speakers (even with the volume turned all the way down), or in a nearby radio (even if several feet away).

[qlob]

@geekmaster: Really? I use 3G a lot around speakers and have never heard it. I have hard that noise when my cell phone is near a speaker though.