The eBook Reader Blog

This 2012 advice has aged poorly, and as with all absolutes, fails to consider context, capabilities, and functional goals.

In the specific case of e-ink, where colour is usually nonexistent (there are some colour devices, these are the exception and have limited rendering), where greyscales are limited (16 shades on high-end devices, and often less), and total foreground/background contrast is limited (restricted more by the dark "white" than the light "black"), the advice to avoid saturated blacks is quite poor.

This is most applicable to text, where the most frustrating experience is reading a greyed-out or coloured text, often on a shaded background. Firefox's Reader Mode is a lifesaver, as is the EInkBro browser. High-contrast text and black-on-white themes are strongly preferred. Ironically, I use the Dark Reader extension to force light themes on numerous websites. The fact that the extension itself features a dark theme for its controls is ... unfortunate.

Generally for e-ink, I'd suggest:

- Use solid blacks and high-contrast whites where possible. This should always be the case for text if at all possible. Reversed white-on-black should be reserved for controls and emphasis.

- Line art and etchings render wonderfully. There's a reason Onyx features these in its marketing and screensavers, they look truly delicious on the devices. See for example: https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Onyx-Boox-Note-Pro.jpg and…

But there is plenty of evidence, you simply ignore it and then make claims based on your evidence-less "insider" knowledge.

Wired discusses patent restriction here: https://www.wired.com/2016/05/get-ready-world-covered-electronic-paper/

Just look at the relevant patents still being filed by the company here (mostly trash): https://patents.justia.com/assignee/e-ink-holdings-inc

See patent suits across the globe - Germany: https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2015/03/02/german-court-finds-e-ink-patent-invalid-files-in-favor-of-trekstor/

Here is the position for their patent lawyer, who actively discusses their "offensive and defensive" actions around their patents: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-bean-0988645

Here are articles discussing the 115k yearly buy-in for their tech (https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/european-inventor/finalists/2013/jacobson/feature.html). And note - if you're not large enough to discuss that with them, they usually won't even bother responding.

Wonder why 2016 saw a rapid increase in EPD devices? It's because they lost that 2015 case in the EU.

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So your whole argument boils down to - "they don't do the volume". Which is true but meaningless: Clearly there is demand for these devices, why is the volume not ramping up to match? And I'm saying "Patents and IP restrictions". What are you claiming?

Try the "E Ink Mobius Carta", I think it's the best now.

You can find e-readers with 10.3" displays, 227 PPI, double front-lit (warm and cold, you can mix them for the best experience, work independently), full android on the device.

To be precise, I'm talking about the Onyx Boox Note series (note 2, note 3, note air) that I picked after my previous kindles and pocketbook. It's awesome.

Android is adapted for the best experience with its unique features, you can use any application in google play, and the screen is so good in "speed mode" that you can browse the web and even watch youtube. Stylus for notes, and you can buy a "paperlike" protector for the screen.

For now, it's the best one from around five different e-readers that I have before.

If you want to take notes, there is Remarkable 2. You can check PocketBookt InkPad Color, Onyx Nova Color, Onyx Poke2 Color, and Kobo if you wish for color display.

Check this blog for, there are excellent comparisons and reviews for almost every model you can find on the market
https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/

> does not exist.

Oh really? Lets have a look at the market shall we?

What is this then? [0]

Or this? [1]

Maybe this? [2]

Finally, an actual colour e-ink e-reader product. [3]

64 Bit e-reader bonus review: [4]

I have high hopes for reMarkable to do better than what is on the market right now which is why I would rather wait for a color e-ink version with a 64 bit CPU, which the technologies DO exist today. But unfortunately, what they are offering for a competitive e-reader tablet tells me that they are not even trying, even when they are selling a product with outdated technology. That isn't really a good deal is it?

[0] https://www.eink.com/color-technology.html

[1] https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2020/07/this-could-finally-be-the-year-of-e-ink-seriously/

[2] https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2019/12/18/e-ink-releasing-new-color-screens-print-color-e-ink/

[3] https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/pocketbook-color-e-reader-hands-on-review

[4] https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/remarkable-1-vs-fujitsu-quaderno-a5

To everyone confused by this announcement: previous to this feature, on the most recent Kobos you had to do some pretty advanced stuff (for average users) to avoid having to log-in with an account. This eliminates that. As well, it may have been obvious to you, long-term user of these kinds of devices, that you could add your own books without going through their store. But, to those familiar with Kindle, where the store experience is front and center, that might not have been obvious. Kobo coming right out and saying you can do this is a win for consumers.

Side note: The writing on Goodereader.com is terrible. I wish the link were to the-ebook-reader.com, which has a better summary:

https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2022/01/21/kobo-software-update-4-31-released-adds-sideloaded-mode/

Or even Mobileread forums:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4191419#post4191419

I am trying to find a solution to ditch calibre(at least for library management) completely, and with the advent of cheap android eink devices, this seems more possible now. A simple app that communicates with a web backend to manage my library on such a device would be enough.

one recently released such device is Boyue T62 (http://www.banggood.com/Boyue-T62-8G-Dual-Core-6-Inch-WIFI-Android-Ebook-Reader-p-942029.html) Here is an overview (the review is for the same device, just rebranded and with previos generation specs) http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2014/08/11/icarus-illumina-hd-with-android-4-2-now-selling-on-amazon

You also get much better pdf reading capabilities with these devices.

Until the next generation displays for reading come into play, these look much better overall than kindle, nook, etc.