Pocketbook Era or Kobo Libra 2 (or ?)

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Xaenor

You mentioned before that you changed your mind about purchasing an Era because some users mentioned poor contrast, and it just hasn't been the case for me. The blacks are black, the edges are sharp, the images are contrastive. That's all.

Yes, I did. I also came to the realization (finally) that I have too many eReaders. But without the early reports of a lower contrast screen I would have probably bought an Era (needed or not). I like PocketBooks.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Yes, I did. I also came to the realization (finally) that I have too many eReaders. But without the early reports of a lower contrast screen I would have probably bought an Era (needed or not). I like PocketBooks.

I seem to remember you were not interested in anything bigger than 6''?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rcentros

But these were early reviews. A lot of eReaders (even ones from Kobo) have had "teething problems." The only actual picture I've seen of an Era has been posted in this thread and it looks good, with high contrast.

Can you think of an example where the teething problems have extended to the screen contrast? Firmware glitches are pretty common & there have been some hardware issues. I couldn't find an example where any mention was made of the display contrast changing over the production run.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rcentros

The only actual picture I've seen of an Era has been posted in this thread and it looks good, with high contrast.

I tried taking a photo of the Clara HD and 2E side by side and the camera evens them out. But in person, the difference between the two is clear and obvious.

I don't think the Era screen is 'bad.' It's just that whatever Pocketbook did in the build of the Era took away any of the advantages of the Carta 1200 screen.

[kandwo]

It's probably the flush layer. I have an Onyx Boox Nova 3 and noticed my eyes getting tired when reading for extended periods, and looking closer the text was slightly blurry. The screen on the Nova 3 is noticeably less sharp than on the Kindle PW3, which lacks a glass layer.

Comparing just Carta 1200 screens: Leaf 2 > Libra 2 > Palma > Hisense A9.

The first two have a recessed screen. My theory is that it's either the front light tech or the water proofing coating that makes Libra 2 ever so slightly less sharp than the Leaf 2. The Palma uses a glass layer with micro etching. The Hisense A9 has a matte screen protector on top of its glass layer. So every layer seems to decrease sharpness and contrast somewhat.

All of these are good enough for me to read on, though. But I wouldn't want to go back to a Carta 1000 screen. Or to something on the same level as that.

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by kandwo

It's probably the flush layer.

Probably. I seem to recall that Leaf 2 and Era use the same Carta display model.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by cellaris

Probably. I seem to recall that Leaf 2 and Era use the same Carta display model.

There is no such thing as a 100% transparent medium; in addition, the light rays are partially both reflected and scattered on every surface and how sharply the separations come through depends on the fineness of the surface matting.
Glass can be matted much more finely than plastic films.

[cellaris]

The truth is that I have no idea why there is this difference, but the screen of my white Leaf 2 (I guess also the black one) has better contrast and sharpness than the one of my Era. Although as has been well said, this can be seen if you compare side by side. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about contrast. I think the Era's screen is good enough. And on the latest models I've seen the uniformity of the illumination is also impeccable, much better than the one I have. Anyway, I still think the screen quality of the Libra 2 (and its Tolino Vision 6 twin) is hard to beat.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by cellaris

Anyway, I still think the screen quality of the Libra 2 (and its Tolino Vision 6 twin) is hard to beat.

Nevertheless, I much prefer to use the TMC (with identical reading and library apps), even though it is much heavier.

[Xaenor]

I will leave you folks with a couple more photos of Era - not for the sake of arguing, but just to showcase the screen to anyone who might be choosing their next reader and sees this thread.

The first is my attempt to show the uniformity of frontlight in a dark environment, and the second is a high-contrast lock screen that I made by following the instructions posted here on MobileRead.

One (low-contrast font)
Two
Three (high-contrast font)

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I seem to remember you were not interested in anything bigger than 6''?

That's true, but I was going to make an exception because I like PocketBooks. I do have an old Aura HD which is 6.8" and it's not bad. I have a Tolino Epos that's 7.8" and I just don't like the size at all. So 7" would be my maximum (as long as my eyes hold out anyhow). The Era would have been an impulse buy because I was curious about it, and you really can't see PocketBooks in the U.S. unless you buy them.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Can you think of an example where the teething problems have extended to the screen contrast? Firmware glitches are pretty common & there have been some hardware issues. I couldn't find an example where any mention was made of the display contrast changing over the production run.

Teething problems are teething problems, it doesn't matter if they involve the contrast or something else. Light leaks, gradient light issues, poor buttons, bugs in the firmware, whatever. From what I've seen manufacturers usually correct these issues a couple months in. Since the sales of the Era seem pretty good and most of the user reviews I've seen for them lately have been positive, I'm guessing the original issue (something to do with the top layer of the screen?) must have been corrected (or at least alleviated).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I don't think the Era screen is 'bad.' It's just that whatever Pocketbook did in the build of the Era took away any of the advantages of the Carta 1200 screen.

In the early versions of the Era, at least, that seems to be true.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by Xaenor

I will leave you folks with a couple more photos of Era - not for the sake of arguing, but just to showcase the screen to anyone who might be choosing their next reader and sees this thread.

The first is my attempt to show the uniformity of frontlight in a dark environment, and the second is a high-contrast lock screen that I made by following the instructions posted here on MobileRead.

One
Two

The text here looks bleak and washed out to me. It reminds me of my Nova 3.

I would not like to read on it for longer periods of time. But on the other hand there are a lot of people reading on Nova 2/3 and not experiencing a problem, so... (Even more so if you add everyone reading on Kon-Tiki 1-3. Still, not for me.)

[Xaenor]

Originally Posted by kandwo

The text here looks bleak and washed out to me. It reminds me of my Nova 3.

I put the text contrast to a minimum, since the intention was to demonstrate the lighting and that's how I normally read.

Here is a photo in the dark with the high contrast setting:

Picture