Display
Paperwhite: Surely, it is a stupid name,
but it helps us understand why this is the Kindle that Amazon thought that they
were trying to create from the first generation: this device holds the promise
of a crisper, easier-to-read display. The addition of front lighting technology
is clearly a big part of it, but there are also many other things. There are
also many more pixels for Amazon to work here - more than 60%, according to the
company's numbers, and the contrast is increased to 25%. Even with the built-in
light turned off, it's immediately apparent with the reader and its predecessor
placed side by side on similar settings. It is the main difference between this
e-reader and the Barnes & Noble's model. In other words, the Simple Touch
loses its contrast when upgrading to GlowLight version, the offering text is
quite erratic.
The problem is that you really will not
need to worry about how the text looks like with lights off. If data from
Amazon are reliable, you'll be spending all of your time reading with the light
on. The company says it paid special attention to selecting LEDs that didn't
wear down the device's battery. According to Amazon's own estimates, it did
quite well on that: it rates the battery for eight weeks of reading time with
the light on.
If you have any doubts about how much the
company believes in their calculations, please note that the light up
immediately when you take it out of the box and start it. That bodes well, we'd
say. Of course, the result will be different depending on the setting you
choose. We let it run at full blast for a long time (save for when it
automatically shuts off to go to sleep, of course) with 3G open, and we had a
pretty significant battery drain.
One other remarkable thing about the screen
is how evenly the light is distributed. Given the attempts we've seen at
front-lit e-readers in the past, we were fairly impressed even with what Barnes
& Noble was able to do with its patent pending GlowLight technology. But,
if you put it next to Paperwhite, the difference is as clear as day and night.
A quick look at the Nook shows a much brighter top, making it immediately
apparent where inside the device the light is coming from.
Look
carefully and you will see spots at the bottom of the screen
In case you're still not sure, leaning Nook
and you will see it come from the bottom bezel. On the other hand, Amazon has
tried to reduce the gap between the bezel and the screen. If you look for it,
you can see the light source, but unless you peer closely, the light appears to
be coming from all sides. Look carefully and you will see spots at the bottom
of the screen - when on a white page, with the light turned up to full blast.
Under these conditions, you may have noticed some unevenness at the bottom.
However, in general, the light is more evenly distributed than GlowLight did.
You also immediately understand the
"White" of this whole Paperwhite proposition. While the screen of
GlowLight has a bluish tint, Kindle Paperwhite deserves more of a Timex
comparison. Maybe that's a bit dramatic, but you get our point: the new
Kindle's lighting allows for significantly whiter pages than what you'll find
on the Nook and most E Ink displays.
How dis Amazon has achieved such feats?
According to the company, lighting technology is the result of nearly four
years of R & D (i.e., this isn't something the company just cooked up when
it heard about Barnes & Noble's GlowLight). To explain how the technology
works, Amazon has described the setup as an optical fiber laid flat across the
display, above the screen, accompanied by a nano-imprinted light guide that
allows for even light distribution.
Kindle
Paperwhite’s front light technology
Of course, even with that hurdle is
overcome, Paperwhite still have some issues that we had with E Ink screen.
First, we met a bit of ghosting - more than what we see on the Nook, but not as
much as most of the latest Sony Reader. You still get a full page refresh every
six pages or so, which has been the industry standard for about a year.
Software
Improving the reading experience is not
just a matter of decorative screen. The company also has plenty of new tricks
about the software. You will still be welcomed by a "Special Offer"
(unless you are willing to pay $ 20 to get rid of them). In the case of the
Kindle Touch, starting things up was just a matter of hitting the Power button.
With Paperwhite, you will have to swipe the screen to unlock. Hitting the
button will only light up the screen.
Hitting
the button will only light up the screen.
Amazon's relying a lot more heavily on
images, taking advantage of that increased pixel count with a row of three book
covers, each of which represent your recent choices. Fresh download has the
word "New" and takes up more screen space. You will also see a small
dotted progress bar that let you know how much you've read. You can access the
rest of the download library by clicking below them, and you can also mix and
view everything by title, author or collection. Under this, you have a
collection of "Singles" stories that Amazon thinks you should buy for
$ 2 per story. They are located just above a small banner of Special Offer ad.
