In bodily books, yellowing pages are often an indication of age. However brand-new customers of Amazon’s Kindle Colorsofts, the tech large’s first shade e-reader, are already noticing yellow hues showing on the bottoms of their shows.
For the reason that complaints started the trickle in, Amazon has reportedly suspended shipments and introduced that it’s working to repair the difficulty. (As of publication of this text, the US $280 Kindle had a mean 2.6 star ranking on Amazon.) It’s not but clear what’s inflicting the discoloration. However whereas the difficulty is new—and surprising—the expertise just isn’t, says Jason Heikenfeld, an IEEE Fellow and engineering professor on the College of Cincinnati. The Kindle Colorsoft, which turned accessible on 30 October, makes use of “a really previous strategy,” says Heikenfeld, who beforehand labored to develop the last word e-paper expertise. “It was the primary strategy all people tried.”
Amazon’s e-reader makes use of reflective show expertise developed by E Ink, an organization that began within the Nineteen Nineties as an MIT Media Lab spin off earlier than growing its now-dominant digital paper shows. E Ink is utilized in Kindles, in addition to prime e-readers from Kobo, reMarkable, Onyx, and extra. E Ink first launched Kaleido—the premise of the Colorsoft’s show—5 years in the past, although the highway to full-color e-paper began effectively earlier than.
How E-Readers Work
Monochromatic Kindles work by making use of voltages to electrodes within the display screen that convey black or white pigment to the highest of every pixel. These pixels then replicate ambient gentle, making a paper-like show. To create a full-color show, corporations like E Ink added an array of filters simply above the ink. This strategy didn’t work effectively at first as a result of the filters misplaced an excessive amount of gentle, making the shows darkish and low decision. However with a number of changes, Kaleido was prepared for shopper merchandise in 2019. (Different approaches—like including coloured pigments to the ink—have been developed, however these include their very own drawbacks, together with the next price ticket.)
Given this design, it initially appeared to Heikenfeld that the difficulty would have stemmed from the software program, which determines the voltages utilized to every electrode. This aligned with experiences from some customers that the difficulty appeared after a software program replace.
However trade analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recommended in a put up on X that the difficulty is because of the e-reader’s {hardware}. Amazon switched the optically clear adhesive (OCA) used within the Colorsoft to a cloth that is probably not so optically clear. In its announcement of the Colorsoft, the corporate boasted “customized formulated coatings” that might improve the colour show as one of many new e-reader’s improvements.
By way of resolving the difficulty, Kuo’s put up additionally acknowledged that “Whereas element suppliers have developed a number of {hardware} options, Amazon appears to be leaning towards a software-based repair.” Heikenfeld just isn’t positive how a software program repair would work, aside from blacking out the underside of the display screen.
Amazon didn’t reply to IEEE Spectrum’s request for remark. In an electronic mail to IEEE Spectrum, E Ink acknowledged, “Whereas we can’t touch upon any particular person accomplice or product, we’re dedicated to supporting our companions in understanding and addressing any points that come up.”
The Way forward for E-Readers
It took a very long time for shade Kindles to reach, and the way forward for reflective e-reader shows isn’t seemingly to enhance a lot, based on Heikenfeld. “I used to work lots on this subject, and it simply actually slowed down in some unspecified time in the future, as a result of it’s a tricky nut to crack,” Heikenfeld says.
There are inherent limitations and inefficiencies to working with filter-based shade shows that depend on ambient gentle, and there’s no Moore’s Regulation for these shows. As a substitute, their enchancment is asymptotic—and we could already be near the restrict. In the meantime, shows that emit gentle, like LCD and OLED, proceed to enhance. “An iPad does a fairly rattling good job with battery life now,” says Heikenfeld.
On the identical time, he believes there’ll all the time be a spot for reflective shows, which stay a extra pure expertise for our eyes. “We dwell in a world of reflective shade,” Heikenfeld says.
That is story was up to date on 12 November 2024 to appropriate that Jason Heikenfeld is an IEEE Fellow.
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