Would you ever buy a non front-lit e-ink reader?

[Josieb1]

No I wouldn't, I love a front lit screen.

[markom]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Would you ever buy a non front-lit e-ink reader?

I'm very curious about this.

...
Don

This question should be asked after there are (affordable) 10"-13" frontlit e-ink readers or reformulated to "Would you ever buy a non front-lit 6"-8" e-ink reader?"

[gamba66]

Im a special case, as I am only interested in large screen readers suitable for pdf reading.

I used to own a kobo touch and an onyx m92, now I own thr hanvon e920 with 200 dpi 9.7" pearl screen and capacitive touch (no capactive layer, touch is behind the pearl display)

I prefer pdf format for books because they are more true to the original book formats and looks than those epub files, just my personal opinion

Of course this reader is non-frontlit, but I am more than satisfied in the most lighting conditions, I own a very good fitting and sufficiently working belkin ebook light, but I rarely use it because the screen is very readable in most situations! I am very happy though with the belkin light, it has a nice fit and covers all the screen with light due to its long arm!

I am sure there wont be any front-lit large screen readers above 8" ever, most 6" manufacturers already have trouble spreading the light evenly over the display and even maintaining the good readibility and stability from the original pearl display (people complain about dark spots or lighted areas or even lighted pixels)

Pocketbook recently released the pocketbook color lux, a frontlit 8" color reader, which should be sharper in terms of dpi than the 9.7" jetbook color, but has a extreme lack of sharpness and very bad viewing angles thanks to the frontlight (8" is simply to large to be lighted evenly) Of course the additional color.layer of the triton2 makes things worse, but frontlit has its troubles already in many 6" readers

An additional issue for largescreen readers would be the increased energy consumption since larger screens require alot more leds than small readers.. This could be solved with more weight (larger batt) but this is one of the worst problems current large screen readers have currently

Surely, I would prefer a lighted 9.7" reader but I doubt we will see something like that ever.. Also contrast gets worse just a little with the frontlit layer

[markom]

Originally Posted by gamba66

...

I am sure there wont be any front-lit large screen readers above 8" ever, most 6" manufacturers already have trouble spreading the light evenly over the display and even maintaining the good readibility and stability from the original pearl display (people complain about dark spots or lighted areas or even lighted pixels)

...
Surely, I would prefer a lighted 9.7" reader but I doubt we will see something like that ever.. Also contrast gets worse just a little with the frontlit layer

Hope you're wrong and that we'll see some as early as mid 2015.

Plastic Logic's Flexible frontlighting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AnlRZ9Ohjs

[gamba66]

Originally Posted by markom

Hope you are wrong and we'll see some as early as mid 2015.

Plastic Logic's Flexible frontlighting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AnlRZ9Ohjs

Thank you very much for that video, that is rep worthy!

Unfortunately, if you watch closely, you see how uneven the lighting is (even when not bended) and that it is also very dependant on the viewing angle.. There is even a large light or stuck pixel on the upper-left side of the display

I am sure frontlighting will be improved (seems to work for 6" already) even more in the next generations but every technology has its physical limitations, lets hope they are not already reached in displays bigger than 8"

Also I am very sceptical of plastic logic, since they canceled their que reader, they have shown alot of prototypes (even color e-ink which looked better than triton) but they havent released anything usable commercially except bus stop signs.. And they only contract other companies which hasnt brought us any products, atleast in the consumer side of the market..

[samhy]

The Kobo Aura is a godsend in the warm days (and nights) we've been experiencing lately! Before, I would have had to choose between keeping the windows open and turning on the lights when the sun is setting. Now, I have the windows open and I read on the Aura without almost no mosquito trying to join me

However, I don't need a light all the time so I'm happily reading on the Mini. Now if a Glo Mini would ever be released, I might end up with only one ereader

[Mivo]

I only have two dedicated e-readers, the Pyrus mini (4.3") without front lightning, and the Kobo Glo. Like Samhy, I would happily pay for something that is smaller than 6" and is front-lit, but apparently nothing like this exists yet.

Mostly this would be for the situations where I read on my back, on the couch or bed, where the smaller device is more comfortable to hold and use. I prefer the 6" one when sitting up. (And I can see myself getting a larger e-ink reader for reading at the desk!)

But to answer the question: No, I'm not likely to buy another e-ink reader that isn't front-lit. I often read late at night or early in the morning, so the option to switch on the built-in light is definitely a huge plus. I use the iPad for PDFs, browsing, mail and light work, but for long reading sessions the LCD is too bright for me (and it has become so much brighter after I discovered e-ink/digital ink readers!).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Mivo

I use the iPad for PDFs, browsing, mail and light work, but for long reading sessions the LCD is too bright for me (and it has become so much brighter after I discovered e-ink/digital ink readers!).

Forgive the obvious questions, but why not simply turn the brightness down? You can turn the iPad's backlight down all the way to "off".

[Turt99]

If I was asked this question before I got my paperwhite I would have thought that it wouldn't matter that much. My thinking was that it would be nice but that you could easily just turn on a light.

Now that I have it, I don't think I would get one without. With my paperwhite I never adjust the light, it is always on a very low setting, I found that the light just assists with making sure the text is always clear. In and out of shade, or having the sun go down, no problem just keep reading.

[gamba66]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Forgive the obvious questions, but why not simply turn the brightness down? You can turn the iPad's backlight down all the way to "off".

Even if you turn it all the way down, you can't turn the backlighting completely off and if you could, you wouldn't see anything.

To see how bright an iPad is (doesnt matter if ipad 1 or 4) just turn the backlight all the way down and then go into a completely darkroom, it will still shine pretty bright.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by gamba66

Even if you turn it all the way down, you can't turn the backlighting completely off and if you could, you wouldn't see anything.

To see how bright an iPad is (doesnt matter if ipad 1 or 4) just turn the backlight all the way down and then go into a completely darkroom, it will still shine pretty bright.

Thank you - I had it in my mind that you could turn it all the way off; I'm obviously mistaken.

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Forgive the obvious questions, but why not simply turn the brightness down? You can turn the iPad's backlight down all the way to "off".

Gamba already answered it, but yes, the "problem" is that if you turn down the iPad's brightness, the contrast gets fairly bad and it becomes hard to decipher the text (causes eye strain, like reading in twilight). I did find some color themes in Marvin that allow for a pretty decent reading experience (I used the iPad as my primary ebook reading device for a couple years), but e-ink readers are easier on my eyes when reading fiction for longer periods of time.

My ideal device would have the "stillness" and print quality of an e-ink display, and the responsiveness of a retina LCD display. One day, perhaps!

[AHMavrick]

Don't have a "lit" screen reader. None of my paper books have them either. To me it's just not an issue. We have two "dark" screen readers and treat them just like our paper books. For us it is an issue to save weight and space since we live in an RV. Using e-books saves both for us and we like to read a lot. We tended to leave used books stores with about 3 or 4 grocery bags full of books. Now we save gas and download online. It may cost us more per book if we have to buy them but the free books do help out.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thank you - I had it in my mind that you could turn it all the way off; I'm obviously mistaken.

Only AMOLED have that feature, as there's no backlight.

[hidari]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.haxor

does Apple iTunes have an app like this one?