Kindle Paperwhite problems and issues

[mngharry]

I received my Kindle yesterday, and really love it, but it has two issues that bother me. I was wondering whether others had them too.

1. The first is that when the light is turned on, there's a tiny speck of light on the screen that never goes away. It's very small but against a dark background, or when it happens to be over a letter, it suddenly shows up in its distracting presence. Upon closer inspection, while displaying a dark page in complete darkness, I found that there are two other specks of light too, but which are less bright.

2. The second issue is that the display, in a sense, becomes corrupted when the content changes without the e-ink refreshing. Sometimes, after I open a book, I can see a faint outline of the book cover, or the Kindle interface behind the book's text. When I turn a page again, the text becomes corrupted, and some of the letters become distinctly thinner and others bolder, and the edges of the letters are less fine and somewhat pixelated. This doesn't occur too often, but often enough to bother me. However, most of time, I can see how the text becomes less and less fine until the e-ink refreshes. I tried turning the "refresh after every page" setting on, and it seemed to fix the issue, but I'd rather not use it.

I want to love my Kindle and am hoping that I'll stop noticing these issues with use, but they have been really bothering for the two days I have been using the Kindle.

[lanfearl]

Originally Posted by mngharry

1. The first is that when the light is turned on, there's a tiny speck of light on the screen that never goes away. It's very small but against a dark background, or when it happens to be over a letter, it suddenly shows up in its distracting presence. Upon closer inspection, while displaying a dark page in complete darkness, I found that there are two other specks of light too, but which are less bright.

This isn't possible. You are talking about the screen like it is an LCD and you have a pixel that is stuck. The light is being projected from the bottom of the Kindle and it shoots it up to the top.

Where are you seeing this speck?

[mngharry]

I realize that a dead pixel is not possible on the Kindle's screen. Based on my understanding of Paperwhite's lighting technology, I would speculate that the speck of light is a defective spot in the light guide which instead of reflecting the light back in the direction of screen let's it pass outward through the light guide. I've tried taking a photo of the speck, but neither my iPhone nor my cheap point-and-shoot could capture it as I see it with my eyes.

[twowheels]

Have you tried cleaning the screen with a microfiber cloth? Is it possible that the speck is something on the screen that's refracting the light in a strange way?

[mngharry]

Yes, I have tried to remove it, but it doesn't go away. I have managed to take a picture that shows two of the specks. It's worse than it looks on the image, though, because the specks are not merely white, but glowing. The bigger one's brightness also seems to pulsate weakly.

[tomsem]

There was at least one report here about a hole that completely penetrated the the light guide layer. I suspect that the lasers that etch the holes in the bottom of the layer to allow the light to illuminate the screen occasionally misfire and burn a bigger than normal hole and cause 'artifacts'.

1. Yes this is an issue and I've seen two other accounts of this. One got a replacement PW.

2. That is how eInk screens work and why they don't look good without a page refresh for each page you go to. It is called ghosting. Go to the systems menu and turn on the page refresh every page option.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by mngharry

I received my Kindle yesterday, and really love it, but it has two issues that bother me. I was wondering whether others had them too.

1. The first is that when the light is turned on, there's a tiny speck of light on the screen that never goes away. It's very small but against a dark background, or when it happens to be over a letter, it suddenly shows up in its distracting presence. Upon closer inspection, while displaying a dark page in complete darkness, I found that there are two other specks of light too, but which are less bright.

2. The second issue is that the display, in a sense, becomes corrupted when the content changes without the e-ink refreshing. Sometimes, after I open a book, I can see a faint outline of the book cover, or the Kindle interface behind the book's text. When I turn a page again, the text becomes corrupted, and some of the letters become distinctly thinner and others bolder, and the edges of the letters are less fine and somewhat pixelated. This doesn't occur too often, but often enough to bother me. However, most of time, I can see how the text becomes less and less fine until the e-ink refreshes. I tried turning the "refresh after every page" setting on, and it seemed to fix the issue, but I'd rather not use it.

I want to love my Kindle and am hoping that I'll stop noticing these issues with use, but they have been really bothering for the two days I have been using the Kindle.

The first issue seems to be some sort of defect on the screen. E-ink devices do occasionally have something similar to a burnt pixel - when the e-ink capsule pops. So you might be seeing something like that. Why the light would glow through it, I don't know. But it might be some weird reflection. Either way, you are best off returning that device.

Unfortunately, the second issue you describe is part of ghosting and there is no real alternative to refreshing more often. It will be more/less noticeable using different fonts, so you might want to try that.

[wynand32]

I've wondered: other than the flashing and being a bit slower to change pages, is there a downside to forcing a refresh every page? Such as, in battery life? If not, then I'll probably turn that on myself, because the ghosting is worse than I expected...

Originally Posted by wynand32

I've wondered: other than the flashing and being a bit slower to change pages, is there a downside to forcing a refresh every page? Such as, in battery life? If not, then I'll probably turn that on myself, because the ghosting is worse than I expected...

Back when eInk readers were noticeably slower than they are today this option was introduced to speed up page turning by having a full refresh only after 5 or 6 page turns. I really think it is an outdated option with the faster eInk readers. I always turn on the option to refresh after each page.

[wynand32]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Back when eInk readers were noticeably slower than they are today this option was introduced to speed up page turning by having a full refresh only after 5 or 6 page turns. I really think it is an outdated option with the faster eInk readers. I always turn on the option to refresh after each page.

Alrighty, I'll probably give it a try then, thanks!

[JoeC]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Back when eInk readers were noticeably slower than they are today this option was introduced to speed up page turning by having a full refresh only after 5 or 6 page turns. I really think it is an outdated option with the faster eInk readers. I always turn on the option to refresh after each page.

I originally set up the option to refresh with each page turn but had to revert back for nighttime use due to the flash bulb like effect after each page turn in the dark. I don't have any real ghosting so a full refresh after 5 or 6 page turns doesn't detract from the reading experience for me.

Originally Posted by JoeC

I originally set up the option to refresh with each page turn but had to revert back for nighttime use due to the flash bulb like effect after each page turn in the dark. I don't have any real ghosting so a full refresh after 5 or 6 page turns doesn't detract from the reading experience for me.

Is the light flickering/flashing with page turns? Nevermind, I just turned mine all the way up and I see what you mean. The eInk turning black and then back to white does create quite a flash.

[JoeC]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Is the light flickering/flashing with page turns? Nevermind, I just turned mine all the way up and I see what you mean. Then eInk turning black and then back to white does create quite a flash.

I know there's nothing that can be done - it's just the nature of the beast. In a darkened room when you're trying to not wake up the person next to you the refresh on every page turn seems like a flash bulb going off.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by mngharry

I received my Kindle yesterday, and really love it, but it has two issues that bother me. I was wondering whether others had them too.

1. The first is that when the light is turned on, there's a tiny speck of light on the screen that never goes away. It's very small but against a dark background, or when it happens to be over a letter, it suddenly shows up in its distracting presence. Upon closer inspection, while displaying a dark page in complete darkness, I found that there are two other specks of light too, but which are less bright.

It sounds like a spec of dust got under the screen. My Sony PRS-700 got a couple of dust spots underneath the screen and created tiny glow spots as well. I got over it and stopped noticing it, however... my Sony was a few years old, not brand new out of the box. That would annoy me if I had noticed it when it was brand new.