Concerning Kindle PaperWhite's Text Quality

Steinhoff · 10-09-2013, 10:14 PM

Hey guys, I noticed that with "refresh every page" disabled, the text sharpness
and blackness degrades and gets blotchy after every page until a full page refresh.
Is this problem inherent with e-ink devices? Or would it be possible for other e-readers on the market besides Kindle to have a uniform crisp display of text without refreshing every page(black flickering). Thanks for the reply guys.

jswinden · 10-09-2013, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steinhoff

Hey guys, I noticed that with "refresh every page" disabled, the text sharpness
and blackness degrades and gets blotchy after every page until a full page refresh.
Is this problem inherent with e-ink devices? Or would it be possible for other e-readers on the market besides Kindle to have a uniform crisp display of text without refreshing every page(black flickering). Thanks for the reply guys.

I think this is fairly uniform across eIink readers. I've owned several Sony Readers and a Kobo reader as well as several Kindles. They all exhibited this trait to one extent or another. I always set my readers to refresh after every page turn because I don't like fuzzy text. With the new PW, even a refresh after every page turn does not slow down my reading speed as the PW turns pages faster than I ever could in a printed book!

Steinhoff · 10-10-2013, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jswinden

I think this is fairly uniform across eIink readers. I've owned several Sony Readers and a Kobo reader as well as several Kindles. They all exhibited this trait to one extent or another. I always set my readers to refresh after every page turn because I don't like fuzzy text. With the new PW, even a refresh after every page turn does not slow down my reading speed as the PW turns pages faster than I ever could in a printed book!

Thanks for your reply, since you own a kindle PW2, do you reckon the 2nd gen has made any difference in this department or is it still the pretty much the same?

jswinden · 10-10-2013, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steinhoff

Thanks for your reply, since you own a kindle PW2, do you reckon the 2nd gen has made any difference in this department or is it still the pretty much the same?

I think it might have improved a bit in the PW2 as it can go for a dozen pages before refreshing whereas the PW1 could only go about half that many pages before refreshing.

HarryT · 10-10-2013, 02:57 AM

Ghosting is inherent in eInk screens. It's not a fault.

fearindex · 10-10-2013, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steinhoff

Hey guys, I noticed that with "refresh every page" disabled, the text sharpness
and blackness degrades and gets blotchy after every page until a full page refresh.
Is this problem inherent with e-ink devices? Or would it be possible for other e-readers on the market besides Kindle to have a uniform crisp display of text without refreshing every page(black flickering). Thanks for the reply guys.

My experience from PW1 and regular e-ink Kindles is that while the problem itself is somewhat inherent to e-ink (I prefer full-screen refreshes on every turn and enable them from settings where possible), I think the increased resolution in PW or its screen has introduced artifacts that weren't there before. One of those is the - just mentioned in the first impressions thread - bolding of fonts in partial refreshes.

I think the partial refreshes work better on the baby Kindle, where they mostly show in ghosting until the full refresh, but at least my PW1 has introduced some additional crud when doing partial refreshes. I have assumed this is because the increased resolution in PW either brings out a bug or simply makes partial refreshes a little harder to achieve accurately.

I don't yet have experience with PW2.

crev · 10-10-2013, 05:40 AM

I got my PW2 yesterday and I am really disappointed with the screen in terms of ghosting. All the fuss they were making about he Regal Waveform technology (who knows what is actually behind this?) and then in the end the PW2 has as much ghosting as my PW1!
I also refresh after every page as the blurriness bothers me.

Yolina · 10-10-2013, 05:45 AM

I got so used to the K3 always refreshing every page anyway that it didn't even occur to me not to do the same with the PW and now the PW2.

Steinhoff · 10-10-2013, 06:38 AM

To be honest, I know this device is not perfect but still this is an important issue that needs to be addressed not just from amazon. The fuzzy uneven text really ruins your immersion while reading. And "refreshing every page" to me is not really a great alternative cause of the black flickering.

HarryT · 10-10-2013, 07:03 AM

I don't have "fuzzy uneven text" on mine.

Steinhoff · 10-10-2013, 08:13 AM

Well, you need a pair of glasses mate. Cause I am sure mine isn't just an isolated incident. And if you ain't got any thing constructive to say. Please dont bother replying. I thank you for your decency.'

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't have "fuzzy uneven text" on mine.

HarryT · 10-10-2013, 08:23 AM

I do consider it constructive to say that I'm not seeing fuzzy text on my PW2. I've been using eInk devices since 2006, so I do have a certain amount of experience of them.

fearindex · 10-10-2013, 08:31 AM

If you both could, why not take a photograph of text on the PW screen right before a full-screen refresh flash - is it every fifth or sixth page? Or more on PW2, twelve was mentioned somewhere? I don't recall...

Anyway, because people do have different perceptions, photographs would be useful to determine whether or not this is a unit to unit variance or simply a perception variance?

Also, mentioning what font and font size you use - and whether or not you use the "always on" refresh, would help too to rule out software variance?

bwaldron · 10-10-2013, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steinhoff

And "refreshing every page" to me is not really a great alternative cause of the black flickering.

While I thought this would bother me before I purchased my first e-ink device (Cybook Gen3) years ago, I found it to be a non-issue: my mind completely ignores the flash when reading. I set all my devices that have such an option to refresh every page.

I have no fuzzy text or ghosting issues with my PW2.

HarryT · 10-10-2013, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fearindex

If you both could, why not take a photograph of text on the PW screen right before a full-screen refresh flash - is it every fifth or sixth page? Or more on PW2, twelve was mentioned somewhere? I don't recall...

More than happy to. Here's an overall picture of my screen, and a close-up. I certainly do not consider that to be "fuzzy and uneven". Do you?

10-09-2013, 10:14 PM	#1
Steinhoff Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: Kindle PaperWhite 1&2, Kobo Glo, Aura HD, Nook Glowlight	Concerning Kindle PaperWhite's Text Quality Hey guys, I noticed that with "refresh every page" disabled, the text sharpness and blackness degrades and gets blotchy after every page until a full page refresh. Is this problem inherent with e-ink devices? Or would it be possible for other e-readers on the market besides Kindle to have a uniform crisp display of text without refreshing every page(black flickering). Thanks for the reply guys.

10-10-2013, 06:38 AM	#9
Steinhoff Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: Kindle PaperWhite 1&2, Kobo Glo, Aura HD, Nook Glowlight	To be honest, I know this device is not perfect but still this is an important issue that needs to be addressed not just from amazon. The fuzzy uneven text really ruins your immersion while reading. And "refreshing every page" to me is not really a great alternative cause of the black flickering. Last edited by Steinhoff; 10-10-2013 at 06:40 AM. Reason: wrong spelling

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10-10-2013, 02:57 AM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Ghosting is inherent in eInk screens. It's not a fault.

10-10-2013, 05:40 AM	#7
crev Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2013 Device: PW1	I got my PW2 yesterday and I am really disappointed with the screen in terms of ghosting. All the fuss they were making about he Regal Waveform technology (who knows what is actually behind this?) and then in the end the PW2 has as much ghosting as my PW1! I also refresh after every page as the blurriness bothers me.

10-10-2013, 05:45 AM	#8
Yolina Wizard Posts: 1,179 Karma: 11573197 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Voyage	I got so used to the K3 always refreshing every page anyway that it didn't even occur to me not to do the same with the PW and now the PW2.

10-10-2013, 07:03 AM	#10
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I don't have "fuzzy uneven text" on mine.

10-10-2013, 08:23 AM	#12
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I do consider it constructive to say that I'm not seeing fuzzy text on my PW2. I've been using eInk devices since 2006, so I do have a certain amount of experience of them.

10-10-2013, 08:31 AM	#13
fearindex Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 279043 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: Kindle(s)	If you both could, why not take a photograph of text on the PW screen right before a full-screen refresh flash - is it every fifth or sixth page? Or more on PW2, twelve was mentioned somewhere? I don't recall... Anyway, because people do have different perceptions, photographs would be useful to determine whether or not this is a unit to unit variance or simply a perception variance? Also, mentioning what font and font size you use - and whether or not you use the "always on" refresh, would help too to rule out software variance?

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