Disappointed with the 2019 Basic Kindle screen

[TTT]

Hi!

I've just bought a basic 2019 kindle, and I'm kind of disappointed with the screen quality. Previously I had a Kindle 4 non-touch, which has supposedly the same dpi, but I can't help noticing how things in the new kindle look noticeably worse than in the K4NT.

I've set the two of them to the same font and the same size (Caecilia and 2nd and 3rd font size) and the edges of the letters are quite jagged in the 2019KT, particularly in italics. Also, the icons an text in the UI do not look sharp.

My question is: is this normal?. Everywhere I look online people say that, yeah, the resolution might be less than that of the PW, but that as long as you restrict yourself to reading books (as opposed to image-heavy media like comics) it's ok. Given that I had the K4NT unit, that had the same 167 dpi, I thought that I'd be fine, but I guess not. Maybe is it a defective unit?

Thanks a lot!

[Deskisamess]

Amazon gives you 30 days to return it, no questions asked. IMO, you should return it and get the Paperwhite.

There is most likely more obvious "fuzziness" because the added layer for the front light. The K4 non-touch doesn't have the front light.

[tomsem]

However, the 10th gen basic Kindle has a more recent eInk display (Carta vs Pearl I think?), which should have better contrast and less ghosting. You also have the ability to adjust the font weight (which I would do in this case), and custom fonts feature is built in. PW4 is a little better, sure, but there’s nothing really wrong with the basic, I found mine very pleasant to read on (it’s now in use by a sibling).

[TTT]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Amazon gives you 30 days to return it, no questions asked. IMO, you should return it and get the Paperwhite.

There is most likely more obvious "fuzziness" because the added layer for the front light. The K4 non-touch doesn't have the front light.

It's weird, though, isn't it? I'd expect that the effect of having that layer would be "fuzzying" the display, as in making everything blurry, but in this case it looks as it was too sharp, like when you have an image that exhibits aliasing.

I'll think about returning it and buying a PW, but I must confess that it kind of bothers me having to pay Amazon more for something that worked ok in 2012's cheap version :

Originally Posted by tomsem

However, the 10th gen basic Kindle has a more recent eInk display (Carta vs Pearl I think?), which should have better contrast and less ghosting. You also have the ability to adjust the font weight (which I would do in this case), and custom fonts feature is built in. PW4 is a little better, sure, but there’s nothing really wrong with the basic, I found mine very pleasant to read on (it’s now in use by a sibling).

Yeah, that's what I find more puzzling, that by all accounts the visualization in this model should be better than in my old K4NT, but it really doesn't feel so to me. Maybe it's the increased contrast that makes these imperfections more apparent.

BTW, with font weight you mean making the letters bolder or making them bigger? I've been unable to locate a control to manage the former. As for the custom fonts I'll look into it, thanks!

[TTT]

Originally Posted by TTT

BTW, with font weight you mean making the letters bolder or making them bigger? I've been unable to locate a control to manage the former.

Nevermind, I've just found it It looks like it depends on the book format, some of them have and and some others don't.

[Deskisamess]

You can get a certified refurbished Paperwhite for the same cost as the basic.

https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Kindl...5963641&sr=8-6

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by TTT

Nevermind, I've just found it It looks like it depends on the book format, some of them have and and some others don't.

Interesting, it seems to be there for everything I have, including ‘personal documents’. But I cannot check everything of course.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Interesting, it seems to be there for everything I have, including ‘personal documents’. But I cannot check everything of course.

The bolding doesn't work with the old .mobi format, only with AZW3 and KFX. The same goes for custom fonts.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The bolding doesn't work with the old .mobi format, only with AZW3 and KFX. The same goes for custom fonts.

Thanks, I guess I don’t have many things in ‘old .mobi’ format.

[j.p.s]

The K4NT not only did not have a light guide layer, it also did not have a capacitive touch layer.

Also, regarding the PW4, some people find it fuzzy, perhaps because of the plastic in the very top layer that makes the screen flush.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by TTT

Hi!

I've just bought a basic 2019 kindle, and I'm kind of disappointed with the screen quality. Previously I had a Kindle 4 non-touch, which has supposedly the same dpi, but I can't help noticing how things in the new kindle look noticeably worse than in the K4NT.

I've set the two of them to the same font and the same size (Caecilia and 2nd and 3rd font size) and the edges of the letters are quite jagged in the 2019KT, particularly in italics. Also, the icons an text in the UI do not look sharp.
...

I don't like any of the built-in fonts in any of the Kindles after the Kindle Keyboard and NT4 (too light), so I always install a darker font. My favorite is Constantia, which I use about 99% of the time on Kindles (and other readers).

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by TTT

Hi!

I've set the two of them to the same font and the same size (Caecilia and 2nd and 3rd font size) and the edges of the letters are quite jagged in the 2019KT, particularly in italics. Also, the icons an text in the UI do not look sharp.

You have the right font, but you have to set the boldness to 1 to make it exactly match the NT. I also recommend setting the library to list view and setting page refresh on.

But yes you are right, I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in seeing that they clearly designed the UI for 300 ppi screens and shoved it onto the basic so that it looks blurry when it didn't on the first four generations of Kindles.

This is just a software issue imo (not as in a bug, it just behaves differently). I also remember the Kindle Touch showing aliasing when the no touch did not and they released in the same year.

[TTT]

Thanks a lot for all your kind responses!

I've played today with the font options and I have to say that it looks better, particularly Palatino with 2 touchs of bold. Even so, when reading outside, the letters still don't look totally right to me. It's like the top of the characters is too thin. At this stage I wouldn't discard a little bit of autosuggestion for my part , though

I'll try it these 30 days, but I'm seriously considering returning it and upgrading to the PW (although what j.p.s said about some people finding the PW4's display fuzzy does not bode well DD). The weird-looking GUI I can stand, but, given that it is its main use, I guess it doesn't make sense to keep an ereader if you don't find the reading experience pleasant.

Thanks again!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by TTT

Thanks a lot for all your kind responses!

I've played today with the font options and I have to say that it looks better, particularly Palatino with 2 touchs of bold. Even so, when reading outside, the letters still don't look totally right to me. It's like the top of the characters is too thin. At this stage I wouldn't discard a little bit of autosuggestion for my part , though

I'll try it these 30 days, but I'm seriously considering returning it and upgrading to the PW (although what j.p.s said about some people finding the PW4's display fuzzy does not bode well DD). The weird-looking GUI I can stand, but, given that it is its main use, I guess it doesn't make sense to keep an ereader if you don't find the reading experience pleasant.

Thanks again!

You could also try to find an used Voyage. It had the best display and sharpest/darkest text of all Kindles, past and present. Even the latest and greatest Oasis is not quite at the level of the Voyage in terms of screen quality. The Voyage still gets firmware updates too.

[Deskisamess]

Weird looking GUI?

.