What's next for E-readers?

[HbNledn]

Ereaders have been stuck on a very similar tech for years.
is there any new e-ink panel in the near future?
Are there recent developments on the color e-ink displays?

[theducks]

Why does there need to be a LOT of change in e-readers?
Scrolls were used for centuries. The differences was the content.

Bound books MOS (more of the same). What improved was mostly at the publishing end. Faster printing, color plates, faster binding, Printed covers. More uniform sizing (made Librarians happier ), all reducing production costs. The differences was the content, production and distribution

Then e-reading arrived. Devices were huge (desktop), then things improved down to hand held, then better screens for text, Better battery life (something the old ways did not use), then color. And lastly, cheaper manufacturing. The difference was again the content, and production paths. that could bypass centralized editing and printing.

Do we really need ultra high DPI? Those Ink Printed images were half-toned to avoid ink globs on mass produced books. Paper/velum had texture that affected resolution. I see little visual (text quality) difference between my first Astak and my current Kobo. Sure, I now have a lit page, a little less weight and storage for more books than I can read in a month without a trip to my Library (be it B&M or my desktop PC).

[crossi]

The hardware is as good as I need it to be except for possibly improved batteries. I can't think of any bells and whistles that I particularly want them to add. I DON'T want them to be made smaller (too hard to grip) or larger (won't fit in pockets). They could use improved software for library management. That I'm not really happy with.

[Barbara1955]

It's Not the e-reader that needs improved. It's the e-books Still way too many errors! Have Proof Readers gone by way of the Dodo Bird?

[HbNledn]

I agree , e-readers are as good as it is. But it could be improved. A faster response is a minor but a handy improvement. Again better contrast would be an improvement.

Biggest improvement would be color e-ink. Since it would be possible to design different pages for books. As it is all books look the same.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by crossi

The hardware is as good as I need it to be except for possibly improved batteries. I can't think of any bells and whistles that I particularly want them to add. I DON'T want them to be made smaller (too hard to grip) or larger (won't fit in pockets). They could use improved software for library management. That I'm not real.

A 6" reader that is waterproof and has color changing frontlight would be nice. I'm guessing that'll be the Paperwhite 5 or Clara 2.

[fjtorres]

The tradeoff that favors eink (marginally) is weight + battery since LCD can match most everything else. So the balance of power between the camps isn't going to change; eink isn't getting viable color or any new must have feature. And we're already at the point where "entry level" = backlit touchscreen. People who like LCD have ample choice of tablets and large phones and those who prefer eink have their choices. No compelling needs drive the market.

The technology doesn't look to get significantly better any time soon and neither do user needs. It's like tricycles: it's a small market that does what it needs to do at a fair enough price and doesn't show enough growth potential for anybody to throw R&D money at it.

[kyteflyer]

I'd still like a smaller device than 6"... I mostly read in bed, lying down, and I cannot hold my kindle or kobo one handed (arthritis). 5" would be almost perfect. Front lit of course. And not 4:3. I have come to prefer a longer device rather than squarish. Comes from reading on my phone a lot. None of this will ever happen of course. Seems like everyone wants to go even bigger with their screens.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I'd still like a smaller device than 6"... I mostly read in bed, lying down, and I cannot hold my kindle or kobo one handed (arthritis). 5" would be almost perfect. Front lit of course. And not 4:3. I have come to prefer a longer device rather than squarish. Comes from reading on my phone a lot. None of this will ever happen of course. Seems like everyone wants to go even bigger with their screens.

Are you sure you can't read off LCD?

Cause you just described a phone: high resolution, color changing screen, well-lit, 5-6in screen, and 16x9 or more.
There are lots of phones you can buy SIM-less and use as mini tablets. Some are cheaper than eink readers.

Edit:
https://www.amazon.com/BLU-2018-Fact...p_ob_title_wld
Typical screen around 282 dpi, prices under $100.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Are you sure you can't read off LCD?

Cause you just described a phone: high resolution, color changing screen, well-lit, 5-6in screen, and 16x9 or more.
There are lots of phones you can buy SIM-less and use as mini tablets. Some are cheaper than eink readers.

I read on my phone but I'd kinda like to switch to an ereader of similar size.

[RZetlin]

Colour and larger screen size.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I read on my phone but I'd kinda like to switch to an ereader of similar size.

Any you find of those will be 4x3.
16x9 is a feature of video-focused devices.
Every once in a while somebody tries doing that and eink phone but the maeket isn't there.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...ight=yotaphone

Or, if you believe in Indiegogo:

https://the-digital-reader.com/2019/...-e-ink-screen/

[Tarana]

I don't really see any major advances on ereaders. Minor software updates, maybe a larger unit. What more do you need from a dedicated ereader?

My minor improvement would be more options on how to organize your ebooks, especially when the account is shared by multiple family members. It's pretty clunky the way it is and while that partly may be how I understand how to use it, I see plenty of complaints from you folks who DO know how to use it.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I'd still like a smaller device than 6"... I mostly read in bed, lying down, and I cannot hold my kindle or kobo one handed (arthritis). 5" would be almost perfect. Front lit of course. And not 4:3. I have come to prefer a longer device rather than squarish. Comes from reading on my phone a lot. None of this will ever happen of course. Seems like everyone wants to go even bigger with their screens.

My late sister had this problem. I got something like this for her and it worked fairly well with a touch screen. Didn't work at all with buttons. I used it recently after an injury left me bedridden for a couple of weeks and it worked well. There are lots of styles available of different things people have come up with. Etsy has quite a few as does Amazon. The origami covers work fine, but you have to raise it up several inches to read on your side. Worked pretty good just sitting it on my chest if I was lying on my back.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by HbNledn

I agree , e-readers are as good as it is. But it could be improved. A faster response is a minor but a handy improvement. Again better contrast would be an improvement.

Biggest improvement would be color e-ink. Since it would be possible to design different pages for books. As it is all books look the same.

There's an ongoing thread about ClearINK in the News forum. I've only been partly following it, but it looks like someone might be coming out with a ClearINK device next year. That said, I've got no idea what I would do with a color eInk reader. I like books looking the same on my eReader. I consider it a huge advantage to be able to pick a font I like and use it with any book.