Paperwhite screen... worse? (than K3)

TXCiclista · 10-04-2012, 01:17 AM

Got my eagerly-anticipated Paperwhite yesterday and I've been bugged what seemed to be ever-so-slightly fuzzy text. It wasn't something I could put my finger on until I actually whipped out my K3. Lo and behold, the text on the K3 is noticeably crisper. I'm not sure what to make of it, since I know I had to send my K3 back 3x to get a screen I considered ideal. Is it possible I've gotten a bum PW? Does the touch overlay result in a softening of text that's not there on the non-touch K3? Does anyone have ideas? In general, I like the PW, but I'm just OC enough, that fuzzier text may result in a return. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Blossom · 10-04-2012, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXCiclista

Got my eagerly-anticipated Paperwhite yesterday and I've been bugged what seemed to be ever-so-slightly fuzzy text. It wasn't something I could put my finger on until I actually whipped out my K3. Lo and behold, the text on the K3 is noticeably crisper. I'm not sure what to make of it, since I know I had to send my K3 back 3x to get a screen I considered ideal. Is it possible I've gotten a bum PW? Does the touch overlay result in a softening of text that's not there on the non-touch K3? Does anyone have ideas? In general, I like the PW, but I'm just OC enough, that fuzzier text may result in a return. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Some other have reported the same fuzziness with Text. There seems to be a quality control issue going on with the PWs. You can call for a replacement which is what others are doing.

TXCiclista · 10-04-2012, 01:39 AM

OK. Thanks for letting me know. I'll give that a shot. It was just hard for me to read "this is sooo much better than any Kindle I've ever owned" comments and not think "see an eye doctor?"

Blossom · 10-04-2012, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXCiclista

OK. Thanks for letting me know. I'll give that a shot. It was just hard for me to read "this is sooo much better than any Kindle I've ever owned" comments and not think "see an eye doctor?"

It seems to be 50/50 at the moment between those who love it and those who either are picky or have a bad unit. It was this way with the K4S when it came out too.

ixtab · 10-04-2012, 02:03 AM

Just my 2 cents: while the "uneven lighting" issues some are reporting (see other threads) are definitely a hardware problem, "blurry" fonts are more likely to be a software problem. You may (or may not) just want to wait for a firmware update. In any case, contacting Amazon's Kindle Customer Support to let them know about the problem is a good idea.

jswinden · 10-04-2012, 09:31 AM

The PW font issues might be software. Mine is very inconsistent in how the fonts appear page to page. I tried reading a bit last night but it was very difficult as much of the text was thin and washed out, but a few spots of text here and there were crisp and sharp. Every once in a great while I would get a good page where almost all of the text was crisp and sharp, but then the next pages would be crap again. Combine that with the darker background which looks very blue and gray and it is impossible to read on it more than a few minutes at a time. When I put my Touch next to it the text on the Touch looked crisp and sharp and dark but the text on the PW looked like fuzzy and thin and faded much like the old Sony PRS-600 I had back in pre-Pearl screen days. The Sony PRS-x00 line was terrible as it was their first generation of touch screens and the substrate they used made the text difficult to read.

Canuck_in_Japan · 10-04-2012, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXCiclista

Got my eagerly-anticipated Paperwhite yesterday and I've been bugged what seemed to be ever-so-slightly fuzzy text. It wasn't something I could put my finger on until I actually whipped out my K3. Lo and behold, the text on the K3 is noticeably crisper. I'm not sure what to make of it, since I know I had to send my K3 back 3x to get a screen I considered ideal. Is it possible I've gotten a bum PW? Does the touch overlay result in a softening of text that's not there on the non-touch K3? Does anyone have ideas? In general, I like the PW, but I'm just OC enough, that fuzzier text may result in a return. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Pictures or it didn't happen.

JoeC · 10-04-2012, 10:20 AM

Any lighting issues aside, when I place my Touch next to the Paperwhite under regular lighting the Paperwhite fonts are slightly crisper.

AnemicOak · 10-04-2012, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeC

Any lighting issues aside, when I place my Touch next to the Paperwhite under regular lighting the Paperwhite fonts are slightly crisper.

Agreed.

jswinden · 10-04-2012, 10:48 AM

For those of you who got good working units that is true. For those of us who got a POS not so much. I'm not sure why you guys with good units want to keep stressing how wonderful your units are every time we try to openly discuss real issues with our defective units. I'm happy you got great units, but it doesn't better the discussion by gloating over it or perhaps trying to contradict what we are saying by saying "but mine is soooooooo perfect." After all, this is not a GD Apple forum.

Here is the bottom line: Amazon chose to have the PW manufactured by cheap (near slave) labor in a country that has historically been incredibly hostile to America (and much of the West) for well over a half century. Amazon got what they paid for. That is, cheap manufacture of PW with terrible quality control. Unfortunately for those of us who got defective units, we did NOT get what we paid for.

BobDyl · 10-04-2012, 10:51 AM

I wonder if this has to do with the capacitative touch layer in the Paperwhite. When I compare my PW to my KT side by side (light off on the PW), the text on the KT is both crisper and somehow "closer" - it's hard to describe but the KT text looks printed on the screen while the PW text sits under the surface. Also I think the fonts for the KT have been better optimized. This I hope can be fixed with a firmware update on the PW.

AnemicOak · 10-04-2012, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jswinden

For those of you who got good working units that is true. For those of us who got a POS not so much. I'm not sure why you guys with good units want to keep stressing how wonderful your units are every time we try to openly discuss real issues with our defective units. I'm happy you got great units, but it doesn't better the discussion by gloating over it or perhaps trying to contradict what we are saying by saying "but mine is soooooooo perfect." After all, this is not a GD Apple forum.

All I see being pointed out is that not all units have problems.

geoffwood · 10-04-2012, 11:18 AM

While I suspect there are variations in hardware quality, as there are with any manufactured goods, I believe the greater variation is in people's expectations. Some expect more than others and anything less than perfection is viewed as a complete failure.

As to people who choose to lecture about "slave labor" in a "hostile country" with "cheap manufacturing" and "poor quality control", it sounds as though your opinion was formed well before you ever opened the box. As other manufacturers have shown, China is capable of world class manufacturing and the quality control is as good as is demanded by their customer. Cliched stereotypes really don't help your point, if you really do have a "defective" unit, as you come off as just extremely biased and seeking any reason to bash.

Cooling1978 · 10-04-2012, 11:22 AM

There is definitely a difference in appearance between the K3/KTouch screens and the Paperwhite, but whether or not it is a negative change is entirely subjective. The text on my Kindle Touch screen appears to be right on the surface of the screen, while the text on the Paperwhite seems just slightly farther back. I'm certain this is due to the extra layer on the PW model. I am personally not bothered by it. It's just different.

Dc5e · 10-04-2012, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cooling1978

There is definitely a difference in appearance between the K3/KTouch screens and the Paperwhite, but whether or not it is a negative change is entirely subjective. The text on my Kindle Touch screen appears to be right on the surface of the screen, while the text on the Paperwhite seems just slightly farther back. I'm certain this is due to the extra layer on the PW model. I am personally not bothered by it. It's just different.

I agree with this. It should be expected that extra layers on top of the screen would degrade visual quality.

10-04-2012, 01:17 AM	#1
TXCiclista Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle (Keyboard or Paperwhite, unsure)	Paperwhite screen... worse? (than K3) Got my eagerly-anticipated Paperwhite yesterday and I've been bugged what seemed to be ever-so-slightly fuzzy text. It wasn't something I could put my finger on until I actually whipped out my K3. Lo and behold, the text on the K3 is noticeably crisper. I'm not sure what to make of it, since I know I had to send my K3 back 3x to get a screen I considered ideal. Is it possible I've gotten a bum PW? Does the touch overlay result in a softening of text that's not there on the non-touch K3? Does anyone have ideas? In general, I like the PW, but I'm just OC enough, that fuzzier text may result in a return. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

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10-04-2012, 01:39 AM	#3
TXCiclista Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle (Keyboard or Paperwhite, unsure)	OK. Thanks for letting me know. I'll give that a shot. It was just hard for me to read "this is sooo much better than any Kindle I've ever owned" comments and not think "see an eye doctor?"

10-04-2012, 02:03 AM	#5
ixtab (offline) Posts: 2,907 Karma: 6736092 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: K3, K4, K5, KPW, KPW2	Just my 2 cents: while the "uneven lighting" issues some are reporting (see other threads) are definitely a hardware problem, "blurry" fonts are more likely to be a software problem. You may (or may not) just want to wait for a firmware update. In any case, contacting Amazon's Kindle Customer Support to let them know about the problem is a good idea.

10-04-2012, 09:31 AM	#6
jswinden Nameless Being	The PW font issues might be software. Mine is very inconsistent in how the fonts appear page to page. I tried reading a bit last night but it was very difficult as much of the text was thin and washed out, but a few spots of text here and there were crisp and sharp. Every once in a great while I would get a good page where almost all of the text was crisp and sharp, but then the next pages would be crap again. Combine that with the darker background which looks very blue and gray and it is impossible to read on it more than a few minutes at a time. When I put my Touch next to it the text on the Touch looked crisp and sharp and dark but the text on the PW looked like fuzzy and thin and faded much like the old Sony PRS-600 I had back in pre-Pearl screen days. The Sony PRS-x00 line was terrible as it was their first generation of touch screens and the substrate they used made the text difficult to read.

10-04-2012, 10:20 AM	#8
JoeC Addict Posts: 319 Karma: 2257942 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Kindle Oasis 2 and 3, Scribe	Any lighting issues aside, when I place my Touch next to the Paperwhite under regular lighting the Paperwhite fonts are slightly crisper.

10-04-2012, 10:48 AM	#10
jswinden Nameless Being	For those of you who got good working units that is true. For those of us who got a POS not so much. I'm not sure why you guys with good units want to keep stressing how wonderful your units are every time we try to openly discuss real issues with our defective units. I'm happy you got great units, but it doesn't better the discussion by gloating over it or perhaps trying to contradict what we are saying by saying "but mine is soooooooo perfect." After all, this is not a GD Apple forum. Here is the bottom line: Amazon chose to have the PW manufactured by cheap (near slave) labor in a country that has historically been incredibly hostile to America (and much of the West) for well over a half century. Amazon got what they paid for. That is, cheap manufacture of PW with terrible quality control. Unfortunately for those of us who got defective units, we did NOT get what we paid for.

10-04-2012, 10:51 AM	#11
BobDyl Member Posts: 14 Karma: 2010 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kindle Voyage	I wonder if this has to do with the capacitative touch layer in the Paperwhite. When I compare my PW to my KT side by side (light off on the PW), the text on the KT is both crisper and somehow "closer" - it's hard to describe but the KT text looks printed on the screen while the PW text sits under the surface. Also I think the fonts for the KT have been better optimized. This I hope can be fixed with a firmware update on the PW.

10-04-2012, 11:18 AM	#13
geoffwood Addict Posts: 226 Karma: 511024 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: K4NT+K4T+PRST1	While I suspect there are variations in hardware quality, as there are with any manufactured goods, I believe the greater variation is in people's expectations. Some expect more than others and anything less than perfection is viewed as a complete failure. As to people who choose to lecture about "slave labor" in a "hostile country" with "cheap manufacturing" and "poor quality control", it sounds as though your opinion was formed well before you ever opened the box. As other manufacturers have shown, China is capable of world class manufacturing and the quality control is as good as is demanded by their customer. Cliched stereotypes really don't help your point, if you really do have a "defective" unit, as you come off as just extremely biased and seeking any reason to bash.

10-04-2012, 11:22 AM	#14
Cooling1978 Member Posts: 21 Karma: 33016 Join Date: Oct 2011 Device: Kindle	There is definitely a difference in appearance between the K3/KTouch screens and the Paperwhite, but whether or not it is a negative change is entirely subjective. The text on my Kindle Touch screen appears to be right on the surface of the screen, while the text on the Paperwhite seems just slightly farther back. I'm certain this is due to the extra layer on the PW model. I am personally not bothered by it. It's just different.