iPad vs. Kindle displays - at 400x magnification

[Tom Diego]

Wow, I thought that up close the kindle display would look like a honeycomb, with each cell having a black blob that pops up or down to provide contrast. Seeing the chunkiness of it makes me wonder if they are making the crystals smaller to allow for better color separation to improve contrast, or just improving the colors of the crystals, as previously mentioned.

According to E-Ink, the company, each microcapsule is roughly the width of a human hair.  In this explanation http://www.e-ink.com/technology/howitworks.html, they mention that "These microcapsules are suspended in a liquid 'carrier medium' allowing them to be printed using existing screen printing processes onto virtually any surface, including glass, plastic, fabric and even paper."  This probably accounts for the less than perfect arrangement.  Incidentally, I e-mailed them last week and asked how many microcapsules there are in a 6" display.  They haven't yet responded.

[rockstone]

I think I am going to do this... and also with the bill for 139 and no tax or shipping. 

+1

^^ And no $20-a-month wireless bill.

+1000000000000 

My colleague has got am Ipad and keeps dissin the Kindle. Time get this sorted out...

[Scheherazade]

It is definitely a good argument for eInk readers.  Even if we can't notice the difference at whatever magnification we use these devices at, I guarantee the differences are affecting us in some way.  I've always said that besides the obvious things that make reading on an eReader better that the grid on screens like the iPad just won't be able to compete with the kind of smooth text eInk can produce.  Good to see proof of it.

[Archer531]

+1

+1000000000000 

My colleague has got am Ipad and keeps dissin the Kindle. Time get this sorted out...

Tell him to start a book today with you and then ask him how many times in the following month he has to recharge it? Oh, and he just has to keep it in a jacket pocket like your Kindle.

[Ann in Arlington]

My colleague has got am Ipad and keeps dissin the Kindle. Time get this sorted out...

  I so don't get that.  I'd love to have an iPad. . .not ready to spend the money on one, but they are cool -- for all the things they can do that are NOT displaying e-books!   A friend of mine who has a kindle just got one as he had knee replacement surgery and figured it'd be easier to keep up with e-mail and all using the light iPad in his lap rather than his Macbook Pro. . . .he says he likes it at night for reading since it lights itself, but that he figures he'll still use the Kindle for 'carrying around' reading.  He's also a total Macophile so, really, it was inevitable.

[jmiked]

Even if we can't notice the difference at whatever magnification we use these devices at, I guarantee the differences are affecting us in some way.

Based on......?  


Mike