Any Thoughts on the First 13.3" Color E-Ink Tablet Set for Release May 2024?

[Greg001]

Hi all,

The first Kaleido 3, 13.3" color e-ink tablet, the MooInk Pro 2C, is set to be released in May of this year; any thoughts?

specs:

screen size: 13.3-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 color e-paper screen
resolution: 1650 × 2200 (206 ppi black & white display) / 825 × 1100 (103 ppi color display)
colors: 4096
light: No backlight, no screen front light (?)
storage capacity: 128 GB (at least 116 GB available to users)
port: USBType-C
CPU: 1.8GHz x 4core
RAM: 2GBDDR4
Operating System: Android 9
Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (wave-2), 2.4G, 5 GH
Bluetooth: BT 5.0, can be connected to Bluetooth keyboard, Bluetooth headset, Bluetooth page turner, etc.
NFC: Supports MIFARE (Taiwan EasyCard), Felica (Hong Kong Octopus, Japan Suica Card) to unlock the screen
Gyro: 3D Gyroscope Sensor
Battery: 2000mAh
Price: over 1 000 ($ or euros)

The device should be presented for the first time this week at the 2024 Taipei International Book Exhibition (Feb 20-25).

[gamba66]

yes color eink simply isn't good enough even if you put it into a 13.3" large screen.

the trade-offs in contrast, white-level and perfomance (atleast from the bigme reviews Ive seen) is not worth it

the PPI is really not that impressive either especially for black and white = 206 ppi black & white display 103 ppi color display

[pdurrant]

No frontlight? Since it's going to have a touchscreen layer, it might as well also have a frontlight. Especially as it's a colour screen using filters, which makes it inherently rather dark.

Only 206ppi? I would want at least 300dpi B&W, and preferably 400-600dpi. 103dpi colour just isn't good enough these days.

Over $1000!

Way too expensive and under specced, it seems to me.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Greg001

The first Kaleido 3, 13.3" color e-ink tablet, the MooInk Pro 2C, is set to be released in May of this year; any thoughts?

Oh, yes I have thoughts.

I'll wait for a TCL NxtPaper 15 or similar at maybe 1/2 the price.

Not my only thoughts.

It's for comics outdoors in a sunny climate.

[Greg001]

I agree we all want 300 DPI; pure white-levels; vibrant colours; super low refresh rates...

However, this is liquid paper; it's still nothing short of magic; for magic, I'm willing to compromise.

A big A4 color e-ink tablet is still impressive in my book; and yes my uses would be a lot for French-language graphic novels (bandes dessinées).

It does seem the black & white and color DPI levels are low. Any eink screens bigger than 10 inches all seem to decrease in resolution proportionally with size - the Boox 25" Mira screen is 145 DPI in mono.

Not sure how to take this, since I haven't seen an e-ink screen bigger than 10" with my own eyes. The thing is the capsules making e-ink are dots of varying sizes; this still makes a very authentic, natural image feel, which is a far-cry from rectangular pixels.

I was actually waiting for a Boox Tab X Pro to come out, or a Color, and now Sony's MooInk will be the first one.

There's an article with an overview of the device (in Taiwanese) at the following URL..

https://www.kocpc.com.tw/archives/530879

There is also a new 9 min promotional overview video released today (in Taiwanese) showing some of the capacities of the device at the following URL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC2T6rQFZZA&t=307s

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

No frontlight? Since it's going to have a touchscreen layer, it might as well also have a frontlight. Especially as it's a colour screen using filters, which makes it inherently rather dark.

I doubt that a light layer would work well on a flexible device. The light would leak out in strange ways along and past the bends, making the illumination very uneven. Making the device rigid to avoid bends would make it much heavier. I guess the trade-off is hand-comfort against eye-comfort.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I doubt that a light layer would work well on a flexible device. The light would leak out in strange ways along and past the bends, making the illumination very uneven. Making the device rigid to avoid bends would make it much heavier. I guess the trade-off is hand-comfort against eye-comfort.

You're right - I hadn't realised that the flexible substrate was incompatible with a front light layer, but that makes sense.

[John F]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I doubt that a light layer would work well on a flexible device. The light would leak out in strange ways along and past the bends, making the illumination very uneven. Making the device rigid to avoid bends would make it much heavier. I guess the trade-off is hand-comfort against eye-comfort.

I thought the light layer pointed the light down, so even if you bent the screen, the light would be pointing down (towards the back of the display)?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by John F

I thought the light layer pointed the light down, so even if you bent the screen, the light would be pointing down (towards the back of the display)?

A frontlight layer must be rigid. It depends on the precise geometry of the layer to make the light disperse evenly over the entire screen. I had forgotten this, but rkomar is entirely correct.

[JSWolf]

my answer is...

MEH!

[Greg001]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

my answer is...

MEH!

Is this MEH a definite review of the device? does it have any redeeming qualities?

Will any other 13.3" color device be released this year worth the wait? We can't wait all the time, since the next device will always be better; at the end we will never buy one.

[JSWolf]

Color eInk is MEH! So any eInk device that uses color is MEH!.

[John F]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

A frontlight layer must be rigid. It depends on the precise geometry of the layer to make the light disperse evenly over the entire screen. I had forgotten this, but rkomar is entirely correct.

Are we sure about this (the rigigidity)?

https://www.planetechn.com/Lightguid...%20Guides.html

...Flexible (within limits of selectied materials.) ...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by John F

Are we sure about this (the rigigidity)?

https://www.planetechn.com/Lightguid...%20Guides.html

Note the specification that there's a cover glass. Not useful on a 13.3" screen.

[Greg001]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Color eInk is MEH! So any eInk device that uses color is MEH!.

Thanks for your input!