Kyobo Mirasol-based ebook reader launched in South Korea

[charmian]

How is it worse at being a reader? I can see how it would be a substandard tablet, but except for the weight, I'm not sure how it is bad at being a reader. I guess we'll have to wait until the reviews come in.

[pata]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

The post I was responding to finished: "I wonder who'll be the first to use the display in a ebook reader available in the rest of the world?

Unlike The Digital Reader, I think people will pay more for a device with a reflective, hi-res, high speed colour display that gives weeks of battery life."

I was addressing that question.

Well none of us have seen it, but given the information posted in this thread, yes I think it would flop at that price. Competing with the Fire and existing NC2

This is what I responded to in the first part of my reply. If mirasol shows up in States it's not going to come as an alternate reader in the catalog devices--it's not going to be a choice between the kindle e-ink, kindle mirasol, kindle lcd. It's much more likely that it'll be choice between the kindle touch and kindle fire* (*with new mirasol display). I can definitely see Amazon going with Mirasol if Apple does come out with a retina display iPad 3 next year.

Originally Posted by murraypaul

it is worse at being a tablet, and competing with the eInk readers it is worse at being a reader. Again, my question is how much of a market is there in between those two products? How many people buying a tablet would accept a poorer tablet to get some eInk like properties?

Something which was as good as eInk at reading, and as good as LCD at being a tablet could be a market changer, but this doesn't seem to be there yet.

Why would you buy this rather than a Fire/NC2/Vox? And how many other people would do the same?


With only 2GB of memory, no GPS, front or back camera, and so on? I don't think so.

I don't see how you can say this is a worse tablet just from specs. The kindle fire and the nooks don't have GPS, nor cameras either. The nook color only comes with 2GB of storage, expandable to 32 GB via SD card as is the Kyobo (the Kindle fire only comes with 8GB and is none expandable). Until reviews are available or we have the device in our hands, I'd withold judgment on its capabilities as a tablet or ereader.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by pata

I don't see how you can say this is a worse tablet just from specs. The kindle fire and the nooks don't have GPS, nor cameras either. The nook color only comes with 2GB of storage, expandable to 32 GB via SD card as is the Kyobo (the Kindle fire only comes with 8GB and is none expandable). Until reviews are available or we have the device in our hands, I'd withold judgment on its capabilities as a tablet or ereader.

That isn't a fair reply to what I said.

You said:

and the comparison should to to devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus or 7.7 which start at $400.

To which I replied:

With only 2GB of memory, no GPS, front or back camera, and so on? I don't think so.

That has nothing to do with the cheaper Fire or NC2.
You specially compared it with the higher-priced, higher-specced tablet, and my response was that simply doesn't stand up to inspection.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by pata

hmm, kinda underwhelming. Mirasol uses tech similar to what causes "the iridescence effect in butterflies' wings". They have had indeed a butterfly in the demo up in their site. But now that I see it, colors are nothing at all like you'd expect from a butterfly's wing. It's muffled and bland, like indeed that of that color e-ink solution.


aside from that, it's the first time I see some people using LCD displays as a "goal" for contrast. LCDs are very known for their grays passing as blacks. How do you get black when you got light behind? Mirasol is reflective however.

[Lbooker]

Two more videos of this new reader shot in a Kyobo store :
Books with pictures :


Facebook and Twitter :

[pdurrant]

Thanks for the video links. They've definitely chosen to use a glass faceplate. Only time will tell if that's a requirement or a design choice. My guess would be it's a design choice.

[vishcompany]

I quite like the display, the way it looks in these videos.
Yes, colours in reflevtive screens will never as bright as in backlit screens, but I find them good enough already now. Give it some time and this technology will still get better. And cheaper.

Now I'm just courious, how colour-eInk will look like.

[pata]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

That isn't a fair reply to what I said.

You said:


To which I replied:


That has nothing to do with the cheaper Fire or NC2.
You specially compared it with the higher-priced, higher-specced tablet, and my response was that simply doesn't stand up to inspection.

... Is someone else using your account in 'The Death of The Spec' thread?! I really don't understand how you'd argue that I can't compare a lower-priced, lower-specced tablet to another higher-priced, higher-specced tablet, given what you've read and written there.

[Lbooker]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It does have a built-in light, but it's a front-light. Like eInk, the Mirasol display is opaque. A back-light doesn't work.

From this article : https://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39135/?p1=A1

"The Mirasol display makes color in the same way as the wings of iridescent butterflies or peacock feathers—by being an imperfect mirror that tunes the color of incoming light before reflecting it back to the viewer.
In a Mirasol display, this is done by small cavities known as interferometric modulators, tens of microns across and a few hundred nanometers deep, beneath the display's glass surface. "It's the air gap between the back of that glass and a mirror membrane at the bottom of the modulator that sets the color," says Chui. Each modulator's mirror membrane can snap upward against the glass when a small voltage is applied, closing the cavity and displaying a black color to the viewer. Mirasol modulators are made using techniques similar to those used to pattern metals and deposit materials in computer chip manufacturing.
Modulators come in three types: for red, green, and blue. Each pixel in a Mirasol display is actually made up of several modulators that display the three basic colors at different brightness levels. Switching these modulators on and off in the right combination offers full color at different brightness. In dark conditions, light is directed onto the panel's modulators from LED lights at the edge of the panel."

[kartu]

Originally Posted by vishcompany

Yes, colours in reflevtive screens will never as bright as in backlit screens...

Bah, why not? Just Get out in a sunny day.

[pata]

Originally Posted by Lbooker

Two more videos of this new reader shot in a Kyobo store :
Books with pictures :


Facebook and Twitter :

Nice vids, thanks for the links. The loading times were longer than I was expecting for just opening an epub(?) book. My biggest concerns for this device isn't the screen but with the UI. Gingerbread sucks, even more so when ported to a bigger screen. The Kindle Fire has its own lagging problems too even after Amazon supposedly spent a long time polishing their interface. My great fear is that this device won't get decent apps on a decent OS. :|

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by kartu

Bah, why not? Just Get out in a sunny day.

The reflective technology displays (eInk, reflective LCD) have an additional
advantage, besides their much lower power consumption, they can be made
with a nonreflective surface. Little or no glare, therefor they can be easily
read outdoors in the sunlight. The reflective surface is at the bottom of the
display's layers. Color displays take more light to effect a good contrast and
saturation, compared to a black and white display. So, the indoor use of a
color reflective display may require better lighting than we are normally used
to in our mancaves, or some added dedicated lighting or a built in light source
would likely be needed.

Luck;
Ken

P.S.; There once was a time, long long ago, when people read from stacks of paper
glued together into what they called "books". Now many of those strange people would
even maintain a favorite stuffed chair and have a special "reading light" that they used
whenever they engaged in their perverse activity.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by pata

... Is someone else using your account in 'The Death of The Spec' thread?! I really don't understand how you'd argue that I can't compare a lower-priced, lower-specced tablet to another higher-priced, higher-specced tablet, given what you've read and written there.

You are free to compare it, but the response will be that it isn't anywhere near as good.

I still have no idea what you are trying to say. You said that the Mirasol should be compared to a $400 Galaxy Tab-like, rather than the Kindle Fire and Nook Color 2 which seem the more obvious comparisons, all being targeted primarily as eReaders and around around the same price. I don't know why.

It isn't that the specs aren't the same, the functionality isn't. Being able to take pictures or use Skype is functionality, the resolution of the camera is specs. Being able to locate your position on a map is functionality, time-to-acquisition is specs.

[sun surfer]

I would LOVE this new mirasol e-reader! I'm so sad that it's only in South Korea.

I wouldn't mind paying the price for it because it is the only thing that is colour and e-ink. Oh, I hope some good ones come out next year.

The only thing I wish e-ink readers would improve is processor speed. I have a 950, so one of the better ones (though probably not the best processor), and I lament its slowness on anything requiring more than simple page turns. The Kyobo demo videos made it look like it was fast, but that may not really be the case. Well, even if it was slow, I'd still pay the $300 to have colour e-ink.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

I would LOVE this new mirasol e-reader! I'm so sad that it's only in South Korea.

I wouldn't mind paying the price for it because it is the only thing that is colour and e-ink. Oh, I hope some good ones come out next year.

The only thing I wish e-ink readers would improve is processor speed. I have a 950, so one of the better ones (though probably not the best processor), and I lament its slowness on anything requiring more than simple page turns. The Kyobo demo videos made it look like it was fast, but that may not really be the case. Well, even if it was slow, I'd still pay the $300 to have colour e-ink.

Mirasol is a different technology from the "Triton" color eInk technology. Ectaco has a
Color eInk "jetBook" that they are already selling for academic use.

Luck;
Ken