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Pixel Qi vs. the Kindle: Which is the better display for YOUR e-booking?
November 22, 2009 | 7:01 pm
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By David Rothman
Which is better for an e-book display—the Kindle or the Pixel Qi technology that Mary Lou Jepsen is developing?
Not seeing the two side by side, I can’t say; and besides, individual needs will vary, with a number of variables plugged in: everything from battery life to glare resistance.
But if you click here for more detail, you’ll see that the Pixel Qi may well offer more-readable characters. Hard to say. I wish the Kindle were closer to the camera. Mary Lou is honest, just not a professional product photographer.
Also, I don’t know the mode in which the Pixel Qi is running. Is it the full e-book mode? Or maybe one with a noticeable amount of power applied? The shading on the right suggest that this is not with full backlighting. None at all?
You can see this comparison (Part II)—as well as one with other laptop displays, beyond those provided earlier (Part I)—via Mary Lou’s blog.
At any rate, Amazon or another e-reader company would be remiss in not giving Pixel Qi tech a good look-over, just as the New York Times is studying it along with other technologies.
An aside: A video, reachable through the just-given link, also shows Adobe technology to improve navigation and adapt an e-publication to devices of different sizes. This plus plenty else!)
Perhaps a $75 laptop—or e-reader: “…Pixel Qi has said that it believes a $75 laptop will be ready in 2010. However Pixel Qi isn’t making a $75 laptop. We are making the screens for it."
Technorati Tags: Pixel Qi,Mary Lou Jepsen
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Comments:
david, what i like about the photo of the Pixel Q, which by the way, also has big office in Taipei, I know John, her husband, is the 3-column format. What i really wish the Internet would do is give us readable pages that were in 3 column or 4 column formats like newspapers and magazines do. Bill Hill, former Microsoft guru now surfing in Hawaii forever, has said that 16 years ago the internet took a wrong turn by giving us scolling pagaination, long huge screens with WIDE WIDE margins, so there are about 40 words to a line, much too long for the human eye, and a 3 column format, with 10 words to a line, is what the human eye likes. i hope PIXEL Q does this. Bill Hill says the Internet masters took a wrong turn 16 years ago, but it can still be fixed. He is working on it, too. Long live the 3 column, and 4 column format….that is what READING should be.
Amen about the column issue, Dan! E Ink machines, too, not just Pixel Qi, can display multiple columns (and good on the Times for caring about this!). But Pixel Qi right now can do a lot more if you go by the specs. I’ve asked to be put on the list to see the tech in person, although I may already have come close as the past owner of an OLPC laptop. Thanks. David
David, I saw the Pixel Qi screen in person in October, and it looked pretty darn good.
Thanks, Bill. Since you’re a veteran e-book researcher, it would be great if you shared a few more details in areas such as character sharpness and text-background contrast—especially in the power-saving e-book mode. How is the contrast of the e-book mode compared to the OLPC XO machines?
I’m hardly surprised that “it looked pretty darn good.”
Thanks,
David