Can I turn off the front-light (KV,PW2/3)?Thanks.

[JHarry]

Hello,I am going to buy a Kindle(KV,PW2/3)
However, my friend told me that these devices cannot turn off the light
My questions are:
1.Is that true?for KV,PW2,PW3?
2.Can we turn off the light ?

Thank you very much!

[knc1]

Originally Posted by JHarry

Hello,I am going to buy a Kindle(KV,PW2/3)
However, my friend told me that these devices cannot turn off the light
My questions are:
1.Is that true?for KV,PW2,PW3?
2.Can we turn off the light ?

Thank you very much!

Your friend obviously never learned how to use the search features of this forum for already existing solutions.
See the FGA thread.

[eschwartz]

Hint: You are looking for an extension called Front Light Master -- or its prequel, FLToggle.

[HarryT]

Worth noting, though, that on its lowest setting, the light is the faintest of glimmers in a pitch dark room. There is really no reason to wish to turn it off; its power consumption on its lowest setting is negligible and if there is any kind of illumination in the room, you aren't going to see the frontlight if you turn it right down.

[JHarry]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Worth noting, though, that on its lowest setting, the light is the faintest of glimmers in a pitch dark room. There is really no reason to wish to turn it off; its power consumption on its lowest setting is negligible and if there is any kind of illumination in the room, you aren't going to see the frontlight if you turn it right down.

I just want to confirm that the feature maybe new and just for PW3/KV
However, not.
Maybe the front-light won't hurt our eyes.Haha.

Thank you very much.

[JHarry]

Originally Posted by knc1

Your friend obviously never learned how to use the search features of this forum for already existing solutions.
See the FGA thread.

Currently I found that there was nothing about "turn off front-light"for PW3/KV
I just wonder the reason why Amazon do that.

[JHarry]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Hint: You are looking for an extension called Front Light Master -- or its prequel, FLToggle.

Thank you
But it seems that jailbreak for PW3/KV is not easy for beginners.(hardware jailbreak!)

Thank you all the same.

[eschwartz]

Correct, jailbreaking is a real pain now. I assumed since you were posting in the Developer's Corner you were already aware it would most likely require jailbreaking.


I hope you aren't one of those rare people who seem to be unable to tolerate the light at any level. Contrary to HarryT's convictions, we have gotten a few of those people, and I don't see anything wrong with some people having unusual levels of (un-)tolerance.

That being said, most people who were afraid it might be a problem, turned out not to find it a problem.

[HarryT]

Oh, I didn't say that nobody wanted to turn it off; just that there was no reason to want to do so.

[eschwartz]

I think if you are one of those odd people, the fact that your eyes are more sensitive is a valid reason...

And I don't assume they are just imagining things.

[HarryT]

Let's look at it rationally.

If you are reading in conditions sufficiently light to allow you to read without the front light, you can reduce the front light to a level at which it can't be seen.

If you're reading in conditions that are so dark that you can't see the screen without the front light, then you need the light to read with.

Is there a scenario in which you need to turn the light off? I can't think of one; perhaps someone can give an example of one?

[eschwartz]

Not being an ophthalmologist and never having consulted one on the matter, I cannot say with any certainty that you are wrong. But I cannot say with any certainty that you are right either.

I would be extremely hesitant to say such a problem is all in the imagination. I find it very reasonable to think that such sensitivity could exist.
Are you a licensed ophthalmologist/have done research on what the doctors actually say, or are you an "armchair internet doctor"?


That being said, I also am quite willing to believe that people will imagine problems that don't exist, or preemptively worry about non-issues.

Hence, my advice is that people who are concerned about the light should stop worrying "because it generally isn't a problem", NOT "because if you are having this problem, I promise you are just imagining it you fool".

[shamanNS]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Worth noting, though, that on its lowest setting, the light is the faintest of glimmers in a pitch dark room. There is really no reason to wish to turn it off; its power consumption on its lowest setting is negligible and if there is any kind of illumination in the room, you aren't going to see the frontlight if you turn it right down.

No, there is/was no reason for Amazon not to including that function, it stands to reason that value of zero should be off and not "almost off".

One concrete example for needing "true off" state: My PW1 now has hairline crack in light-guide layer which causes that area to be extra extra bright. And if my Kindle wasn't jailbreaked now I would be f*cked. Because that line is almost the same brightness even when Kindle is set to lowest value.
Since it is jailbreaked I can turn the light off and at least read on it when outdoors without having that bright line killing my enjoyment.

[AirRaven]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Is there a scenario in which you need to turn the light off? I can't think of one; perhaps someone can give an example of one?

A family member of mine is legally blind - the only way she can read her Kindle is to have the text set to the highest size setting and for the device to be extremely close to her face.

She finds the light the screen emits to be quite painful to focus on at that kind of distance for extended periods - she never had that problem with older unlit models. It just leaves her eyes feeling more strained/tired significantly faster- completely stripped the pleasure from reading on the device, and she ended up going back to her old K4.

It's a genuine concern for some people - I'm glad that there's some way to turn it off, even if it's awkward to set up these days.

[knc1]

The KT2 (a.k.a: the new basic Kindle) might be a better choice than the K4 which it replaces.

- - - -

There is (somewhere here) directions for changing the size and position of tap zones (on other models) - that should also be possible on the KT2 so they can be set to nose size.