Amazon acknowledges text quality issues on its color Kindle e-readers
In its FAQ pages, Amazon openly warns about the disadvantages of its new colored Kindle models and these are particularly relevant for frequent readers: The Colorsoft displays offer poorer text sharpness than conventional black and white e-readers, according to Amazon.
Amazon admits weaknesses of the Colorsoft displays
Amazon has updated the FAQ pages for its new Kindle Colorsoft models, openly admitting for the first time that the color e-readers don’t offer the best book reading experience. The company warns users that the texture and brightness of Colorsoft displays look different than traditional Paperwhite models – due to the color filter layer.
If you prefer a sharper black and white display, you should choose the Kindle Paperwhite, which offers the fastest page changes and the highest contrast ratio of all 2024 Kindle devices, writes Amazon in the updated product descriptions. This is quite astonishing honesty for a manufacturer that normally promotes the benefits of its products.
Technical background of the restrictions
The reason for the limited text quality lies in the E Ink Kaleido 3 technology used, writes Good e-reader. While the system offers a color resolution of 150 ppi – an improvement over the previous generation’s 100 ppi – it only achieves half of the 300 ppi that black and white displays manage.
The Kaleido 3 system works via a color filter array that has been placed closer to the ink layer to increase color accuracy. Compared to the previous generation, color saturation has been increased by 30 percent, but the system does not completely reduce light scattering and color loss – a problem that does not occur with emissive LCD displays. The technology means that color e-paper always looks a bit washed out when viewed next to a black and white e-reader.
This is due to the physical nature of the color filters, which absorb some of the reflected light and thus reduce the contrast. Amazon is the only company in the e-reader space that clearly communicates the disadvantages of color e-paper for reading digital books. Competitors like Rakuten Kobo or Tolino don’t mention these limitations at all on their product pages, even though they use the same Kaleido 3 technology. Amazon is showing unusual transparency about the weaknesses of its new color displays.
Digital marketing enthusiast and industry professional in Digital technologies, Technology News, Mobile phones, software, gadgets with vast experience in the tech industry, I have a keen interest in technology, News breaking.
