issue when using dark mode

[sovre]

I have been using my new Kindle paperwhite in dark mode lately.

While reading in dark mode, I first noticed faint gray lines on the screen in a grid pattern. I thought perhaps this was just a side-effect of using dark mode on the e-ink display and chose to ignore it, but recently I have also noticed text and images from the home screen "bleeding through" while I am reading books. Lines and text from the home screen do not stand out as much as the actual text of the book I am reading but are nevertheless visible.

Is anybody else experiencing this? Is this normal or the sign of a defective Kindle?

I'm also curious what causes this to happen.

When I am reading in the regular "black on white" mode, everything seems fine.

Thanks for your feedback.

[NiLuJe]

That sure *looks* like the usual ghosting artefacts, made more obvious by night mode, even with the fancy tricks used by the PW4/KOA2/KOA3 (speaking of bleed-through).

The grid patterns might be the (ordered) dithering patterns being made more obvious by night mode, again. This is either more obvious or less obvious than the ghosting, depending on what's on screen, and depending on how exactly the dithering is implemented. My lack of first-hand experience with these devices means I can't actually tell you if that should ever actually be visible on a Kindle.
I can generate torture tests that do exhibit those things, though .

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by sovre

but recently I have also noticed text and images from the home screen "bleeding through" while I am reading books. Lines and text from the home screen do not stand out as much as the actual text of the book I am reading but are nevertheless visible.

Is it still as bad if you turn on the option to make it refresh the screen after every page turn?

[Deskisamess]

For me, the inverted screen is just flat out hard to read. Even in a bright room, it's so dark and low contrast, even with the front light all the way up. At night in a dark room it's a little better, but very hard on my eyes.

I don't see the ghosting exactly, but the screen seems "shadowy" for lack of a better word. It may be my particular eye issues, but it's very unpleasant, both on the new Paperwhite and my KO2.

[cats2books]

I tried the dark mode on my new oasis and found it to be unusable. At first it seemed like it was a good option for night time reading, plus I figured it would be even better at preserving the battery. However, every time I turned the page it would flash and I would see the white screen for a fraction of a second. That was with or without page refresh set on. It was too annoying to read that way.

[tomsem]

I don’t have any particular issues with it on my Paperwhite: no ghosting, lines, etc.

The only time screen flashes white is when I would see black flash in normal mode. It is not every page, more like when opening book, hitting chapter boundaries, or displaying and leaving a page with an image on it.

That said, I cannot say there are conditions in which I would have a clear preference for using it. In low light conditions, it still needs significant front lighting to make it readable, so for me it is not so different than normal mode (which for me is not comfortable in completely dark environments). It is just fun to turn it on once in awhile.

I use Dark theme all of the time on my phone and tablets, however. There the benefits for my eye comfort are more salient.

[Barty]

Alas, inverted mode is a rude reminder of how not black black is on eink displays.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Barty

Alas, inverted mode is a rude reminder of how not black black is on eink displays.

Yep.

This is why we need to leapfrog display technology with brain implants that can project images directly to visual cortex and overlay (or replace) what is coming in through our eyes.

Elon Musk launched Neuralink a couple of years ago, I’m sure we’ll have something along these lines before we’ll have display technology that truly replicates paper. If Bezos really cared about reading he’d throw a few billion at his own research venture.

[Paul_y2k]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I don’t have any particular issues with it on my Paperwhite: no ghosting, lines, etc.

The only time screen flashes white is when I would see black flash in normal mode. It is not every page, more like when opening book, hitting chapter boundaries, or displaying and leaving a page with an image on it.

That said, I cannot say there are conditions in which I would have a clear preference for using it. In low light conditions, it still needs significant front lighting to make it readable, so for me it is not so different than normal mode (which for me is not comfortable in completely dark environments). It is just fun to turn it on once in awhile.

I use Dark theme all of the time on my phone and tablets, however. There the benefits for my eye comfort are more salient.

I have mine in dark mode and also noticed the white page flash. I disable page refresh and it disappeared. Switched it back and it came back.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Paul_y2k

I have mine in dark mode and also noticed the white page flash. I disable page refresh and it disappeared. Switched it back and it came back.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

Page refresh is OFF by default. I’ve never felt any need to change it.

To be clear having it OFF does not eliminate flash, just reduces it to a minimum.