K1 and K2 text side-by-side via scanner

[JSWolf]

Why is it that the K2 has more spacing between the words then does the K1?

Comparing the scans to my 505's screen, neither looks like the same background shade. Is this due to the scanner or is this just the way the Kindle's are?

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it that the K2 has more spacing between the words then does the K1?

Comparing the scans to my 505's screen, neither looks like the same background shade. Is this due to the scanner or is this just the way the Kindle's are?

You can change the spacing on the Kindle 2 at will. I believe there's 6 different one's per font size!

[sirbruce]

For some books, or perhaps for some font sizes, I can hit alt-shift-1 to try to get the smallest spacing between lines, and the screen will update briefly to accomodate that. But then something else overrides it, and it resizes itself back to an alt-shift-2 equivalent. Not really sure why it's doing that, but it's not a big deal; just an observation.

[nelamvr6]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it that the K2 has more spacing between the words then does the K1?

Comparing the scans to my 505's screen, neither looks like the same background shade. Is this due to the scanner or is this just the way the Kindle's are?

It's entirely possible that any differences noted were caused by differences in the scan.

No offense intended to the original poster, but getting a really high quality scan can frequently be a big challenge.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it that the K2 has more spacing between the words then does the K1?

Comparing the scans to my 505's screen, neither looks like the same background shade. Is this due to the scanner or is this just the way the Kindle's are?

Both Kindles show the font size at 4, so I don't know why there is more spacing or why K2 is able to get an extra line of text in (Elsi has a theory).

As to how the scanner affects the images, I don't have the technical knowledge to respond. If I had a 505 to scan then I could make some kind of educated comparison but I don't.

[nelamvr6]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Both Kindles show the font size at 4, so I don't know why there is more spacing or why K2 is able to get an extra line of text in (Elsi has a theory).

As to how the scanner affects the images, I don't have the technical knowledge to respond. If I had a 505 to scan then I could make some kind of educated comparison but I don't.

I know a few guys who are into digital art and photography, scanners can be "calibrated" just like monitors and printers. Getting colors to match standards is something they spend a lot of time fussing over.

I think you've done a great thing here, but in my mind any differences color wise between the two Kindles probably fall withing the inherent uncertainty of the scanner used.

I mean, only a slight difference in the way the K1 or K2 was laying on your scanner could have a fairly significant impact on the perceived color of the background or the text.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by nelamvr6

I know a few guys who are into digital art and photography, scanners can be "calibrated" just like monitors and printers. Getting colors to match standards is something they spend a lot of time fussing over.

I think you've done a great thing here, but in my mind any differences color wise between the two Kindles probably fall withing the inherent uncertainty of the scanner used.

I mean, only a slight difference in the way the K1 or K2 was laying on your scanner could have a fairly significant impact on the perceived color of the background or the text.

I believe you. I actually made 2 scans. In each one I switched the positions of the Kindles. Unfortunately in the version where the K1 would have been on the left, my scanner split the Kindles into 2 scan flies instead of 1 (one Kindle in each scan). I didn't even know it could do that.

So my scanner could have more influence than I thought but I also think it is still representative, based the on complaints and/or comments I've been reading.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Lilly

You can change the spacing on the Kindle 2 at will. I believe there's 6 different one's per font size!

Thanks for teaching me something new! I didn't know I could change the spacing. I'm attaching some samples.

alt+shift+(1-9) changes the lines spacing but not the space between words (you'd have to change the font size to see and effect).

Here are some (not all) samples are for font size 4.

alt+shift+1
alt+shift+3
alt+shift+5
alt+shift+7
alt+shift+9

[nelamvr6]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I believe you. I actually made 2 scans. In each one I switched the positions of the Kindles. Unfortunately in the version where the K1 would have been on the left, my scanner split the Kindles into 2 scan flies instead of 1 (one Kindle in each scan). I didn't even know it could do that.

So my scanner could have more influence than I thought but I also think it is still representative, based the on complaints and/or comments I've been reading.

I agree it's definitely representative in all aspects except for possibly color.

So if someone is commenting on for example the grayness of the background they may want to carry with them a grain of salt.

I think with regards to line spacing and character spacing these scans will prove to be invaluable. With regards to contrast and color composition they make a really good starting point... but more work may be needed.

As I mentioned before, I think you've done everyone a great service by doing this and I for one thank you!

[shinew]

It's true that the color cannot be trusted on an uncalibrated scanner. And even if it were calibrated, my guess is that most people are not using a hardware calibrated monitor using firebox with color profile enable, plus everyone sees color differently based on so many factors...
However, scanners are general pretty stable in terms of color variations, by default, most likely it has a higher color temperature and gives out a slight blueish color cast, but it shouldn't be too bad, and it should be much more accurate than an uncalibrated monitor or printer. So given a choice of "uncalibrated devices", a scanner is a good pick

sorry I posted the diagram in a hurry before heading out this afternoon without any explanation. brecklundin was correct about the color axis.
Lab is an absolute color space(unlike RGBs). L=luminosity(brightness, values from 0->100, black->white), "a" axis goes from Red to Green, and "b" axis goes from Blue & Yellow. The upper 2 dots represents the background of the kindles, and the lower dots represent the bold texts' color. Humans eyes have extremely wide shifting dynamic range(based on the current light condition), so the absolute brightness is not much of an issue, the contrast is much more important.

Based on the scanned images, K2 has the luminosity value of 42(texts) & 71(background), and K1 has the value of 39 & 69. With the relative contrast difference less than 4%, it is too small to make any conclusion given the test was not done in a controlled environment.
Although if the images were accurate representation of their difference, 4% difference is noticeable, as human eyes can detect 400:1 to millions:1 contrast ratio.

[shinew]

since the scanner's relative differences should be accurate, K2 does appear to be overall "greener", and K1 is "bluer"

[joshewah]

Heres some photos of mine side by side:


Click for full size


Click for full size

And just the screens cropped out in individual files:
Click for full size
Click for full size

[andrys]

Originally Posted by Elsi

Re: one more line per "page" in the K2

Looks like a combination of a smaller leading (space between lines of text) and a significant reduction in the size of the progress indicator.

Yes, in the side-by-side image, to me the K2 appears slightly lighter (or maybe I should say appears to have less contrast between the text and the background).

The 2nd set shows the K2 looking a bit more contrasty though. All of these are lighter than what I see on my unit, for both Kindles.

I have a longish photo comparison of my K1 and K2 units, using various page sources, shot in the same photo.

That'll show their relative lightness of screen and font. There are times differences will appear due to shades corresponding with colors, for the K2.

Let me know what you think re the differences.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by andrys

The 2nd set shows the K2 looking a bit more contrasty though. All of these are lighter than what I see on my unit, for both Kindles.

I have a longish photo comparison of my K1 and K2 units, using various page sources, shot in the same photo.

That'll show their relative lightness of screen and font. There are times differences will appear due to shades corresponding with colors, for the K2.

Let me know what you think re the differences.

Great pictures! Thanks for the link. I still see the blue vs green in your images as well. I do hope the 16 shades opens the door for more images in newspapers and magazines.

[Strether]

Thanks for the pic, Daffy. Off the subject, but appropriate looking at the pictures. I've noted that K2 doesn't have a right-justify-at-all-costs program. It seems to avoid those large blank gaps in the middle of a line and just leave spaces at the end. Most everything on a page is right-justified, but not everything. Do you think there's a control somewhere governing this? I like the result, which produces a better-looking page, IMO.

Jim