When it comes to dedicated reading devices with E Ink screens, their lighting system is often a misunderstood subject.
A lot of people call the light a backlight but E Ink screens cannot be backlit because they aren’t transparent, so they use frontlights instead with LEDs located above the screen that are hidden under the bezel.
Because of the way frontlights work, it’s common for some areas of the screen to appear a little bit brighter than other parts of the screen.
Some frontlights are more even than others. Some have obvious blotchy areas or cloudy areas on the screen, some have gradients where the color changes slightly from one side to the other, and some have subtle shadow cones along the side of the screen where the LEDs are located.
Frontlights have gotten better over the years but they still aren’t perfect. The closest one that I’ve seen being perfectly uniform is the Kindle Oasis. It has 25 LEDs so that’s one reason why the light is so uniform. By comparison the entry-level Kindle only has 4 and the Paperwhite has 5.
Personally I have problems with my eyes getting distracted by uneven frontlights. It’s worse when the light is uneven along the side because then I notice it with every line and get taken out of the book. If the brighter spot is along the top or bottom I don’t notice it as much because I don’t see it with every line and I find it easier to ignore.
What about you? Do you get distracted by uneven frontlights while reading? Or is it something that doesn’t bother you? It’s still something that bothers me, as was the case with the Kobo Libra H2O, but I don’t hear other people complaining about it much. Most people seem to be fine with frontlights that are a little spotty. Mostly what you hear is people wanting a warm frontlight or dark mode for reading at night.
No, it doesn’t bother me at all. Although my Voyage is simply great! Even my former Touch with a cover with an LED was great!
I jumped on Kindle boat ~10 years ago.
Most of my life books were never light up evenly. So most Kindle are a bonus Vs reading with a lamp 😉
I would fall into this category also. I read books with shadows from the binding, my shoulder, and whatever else was between me and the light source for 40 years, so having a very slight difference in the intensity of the front light across the screen of my ebook reader does not bother me at all. After the second or third reading session with a different reader I don’t even notice it any more.
About a year and a half ago I went from Kobo H2O (the old “edition one”) with a perfectly uniform frontlight to Kobo Forma, and I was really bothered by the imperfect light. Now I don’t care anymore, but whenever I see the old H2O, I find its display amazing (both the light and the crispness). Overall Forma is definitely better than H2O, but I find it strange that the quality of the display did not improve over the years.
Yes, uneven lighting is a drag for me…about the only thing I dislike about my Kobo Forma. IF Kobo came out with a Forma 2 with Oasis quality screens,I would buy today.
I am sort of used to it but still…
My Oasis has a perfect screen, BUT, I still use my Forma much more, despite a slight band on the handle because of its larger screen.
Yes, this drives me crazy. I was one of those people who exchanged devices until I got a good one. My Voyage only took a couple of exchanges. My current PW 4 didn’t need any exchanges.
It drives me absolutely nuts. Few things in life are worse than an unevenly lit e-reader. It’s one of the main reasons I went back to hardback books.
LOL. There needs to be a sarcasm font available.
My PW2 is getting old so one of the frontlights is slightly dimmer than the others. At first, it bothered me and it still bothers me if I’m irritable. But paperbacks and hardbacks have shadows and degrees of whiteness, so why does a mere minimum of shadow – just a hint of one – make me think I need a new one?
LOL!
The frontlight on my Kobo Clara HD really has to be turned up a lot for the unevenness to be noticeable, and I never need to turn it up that high.
It’s not a problem for me at all. I don’t get distracted by uneven front lights. As long as I can see the words.
I haven’t had any problems of uneven lighting with my Kindle basic 10th gen. If you look hard enough you might see it along the bottom of the screen, but you have to want to see it as it s barely noticible.
Nope. I have a harder time with a paper book and uneven lighting and shadows. And reading from a phone or computer with the backlight makes my eyes hurt. I use the Paperwhite. If I look at the edges, I notice the uneven lighting, but if I’m reading the words, it never bothers me.
I’ve never noticed it being uneven in a new device. I believe you that it is, but it must just be something I’m not sensitive to. I got a secondhand first-generation Paperwhite that is slightly uneven, I assumed because of the age of the device, but it doesn’t really bother me. It’s enough that I noticed it, so probably really bad for people who hate it, but when I’m reading, it’s not enough to break my immersion in the book.
I absolutely HATE uneven frontlights, that’s why I don’t buy any Kobo ereaders anymore. I bought a Pocketbook Inkpad X and its frontlight is very even (although it’s a 10.3 inch screen), I like it a lot. I wonder why some companies manage to bild ereaders with (pretty) even frontlights while other ereaders donr
I currently read on a Kobo Libra and see no uneveness at any level of light. Prior to that I had a Kobo Glo which was also great. Before that I either read on a tablet, which I hate doing, or way back had a Sony 650 with no light. What bothers me more about lights is the color – I can’t stand them very yellow; it’s like reading on old discolored cheap paperback books.
I’m in the group of “not bothered at all, I don’t even notice”. If I look for it, I might notice it, but if I can read I don’t care.
If I hold my kobo libra h20 in my left hand I don’t notice the uneven light that much; I’m not sure if this a weird Jedi mind trick that only works for me or what but I don’t like kobo anymore. Kobo used to be the choice for techies but now they are allied with Walmart etc… so I’m not sure they are still the choice for techies instead of say Onyx or something. I also own an Onyx and they have not gotten the lightning exactly perfect but still better than my Kobo libra.
Kobo is coming out with a Forma 2 so we will see but the big selling point does not seem to be ‘improved lighting’ but hopefully they have gotten the message, anyhow, it comes out with a better light.
I wouldn’t be so sure about a Forma 2. The only place saying that is the same place that makes up stories on a regular basis. According to them the Kindle Voyage 2 was supposed to be released like 5 times now. A reputable company isn’t going to share their pre-release product plans with some random blogger, especially one that’s so desperate for pageviews they’ll say and do anything to get attention.
My new Kindle Paperwhite 11th gen. has a slightly yellowish color on the right side. Thé more I try not to be distracted, the more distracted I am. I hate it.
If you’re still within the return period you could try exchanging it. I have two 11th gen Paperwhites and both have excellent frontlights. Uneven frontlights bug me too; my eyes keeps noticing it and it takes me out of the book.