Kindle 2 users complain of eye strain, mull over possible solutions
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 13th 2009 5:23PM
posted April 13th 2009 5:23PM
You know how it is: Amazon refreshes the Kindle, makes some upgrades, and everybody's happy. Almost. It seems that a small but vocal minority is really, really not into the way that fonts are rendered on the new device. For real. Y'see, the newest iteration of the e-reader sports font smoothing algorithms and sixteen levels of gray (as opposed to four levels on the original). For sure, these enhancements make for prettier pictures, but on the downside it causes text to blur significantly when displaying fonts in the smallest three sizes. If you're one of the disgruntled Kindle 2 owners looking for some relief for your tired eyes, there are a couple options available to you. You might want to try the Unicode Fonts Hack, which will allow you to replace the system font for something more to your liking. Or you could hop on over to Amazon's Kindle forum, where you can commiserate with your fellow angry customers (OK, not really a solution -- but possibly therapeutic). You could wait for the rumored Kindle with a larger screen to arrive (no telling when or if that's gonna happen), or even downgrade to a first gen device, as some folks already have. Or you can read a book. One thing you can't do? You can't stop progress.
[Via Wired]
Read - Amazon: Please make the text darker on Kindle 2
Read - Unicode Fonts Hack
[Via Wired]
Read - Amazon: Please make the text darker on Kindle 2
Read - Unicode Fonts Hack
I for one am shocked.
That's an easy problem to fix. Throw it out and get an iPhone with some Kindle eReader software instead. Or better yet, wait until the new Apple tablet is released and buy that. Hey, what does Amazon know about building hardware?
The same thing Apple does. Just call China and tell em what you want.
@iphonerulez:
These people are complaining about eye strain when reading the smallest font size on a large format passive display screen. So you expect them to get a device with a screen 1/6th the size, with an active display screen?
Talk about daft.
I wonder if that iPhone will look as good to you after you go blind from trying to read all the mac fanboy commentary on your own blog.
Please, grow a couple of neurons and realize that good things can exist in the world that weren't handed down from the keynote of a Macworld.
Your shocked? i read this entire article thinking it said 'killzone 2'
what a waste of my time reading about a damn ebook reader.
I have a Kindle 2. I have no problem with the font, or eye strain. It looks great, and it's a lot easier to read a novel on my Kindle than it is to read on my iPod touch.
As an optical technician, I'd say these peoples' problem isn't the Kindle 2... It's that they need new glasses. I'd advise anyone complaining of eye strain on the Kindle to set up an appointment with their optometrist or ophthalmologist, because they're most likely working with an old RX, or have just crossed a threshold into needing glasses for the first time.
..or you could use bigger font sizes that will be easier to read regardless. Crazy, I know.
shh, logic scares idiots.
"Or you can read a book." hahaha
I prefer the book anyway!
What do Books Have to do with technology?
Does said minority possibly need glasses?
"these enhancements make for prettier pictures, but on the downside it causes text to blur significantly when displaying fonts in the smallest three sizes"
So, what about that was confusing?
My solutions:
1) Turn up the font so you can read it.
2) Buy a pair of drug store glasses if you eyes are so bad.
3) If you think you don't need glasses then be a lazy ass and buy the audio book (or use that neat new talking Kindle feature thats kinda creepy)
4) If all else fails wait for the movie version of your book.
"If all else fails wait for the movie version of your book."
+1 internets for you!
Or, just, ya know, get drugged up before you read it. Dilated eyes never get strained.
Then -1 for not reading the above summary, which clearly states that the smoothing algorithm is blurring the text.
Using glasses does not magically unblur things that are, in fact, presented with blur.
Or just use the built in text-to-speech...oh yeah, nevermind.
This is bull, maybe they need glasses.
that's the point.
they WILL need glasses after staring at the Kindle.
Holding something in front of your face, like a book, or iPhone screen, Laptop, cell phone, whatever will ruin your eyes because you're training them to focus on things UP CLOSE by default.
The more you do this, the more you'll struggle to see far away (obviously) and your prescription will get worse. Thats why nerds wear glasses, because they read all the time and stare at the TV/Computer screen all day.
The ONLY solution, is to do excercises for your eyes and take breaks from 'up close work' from time to time. Unlike some people who thought the Advantage the Kindle had over the iPhone was that it wouldn't hurt your eyes. It does. Kindle's advantage is battery life and the vast library of Kindle books (er, now available on iPhone).
I can't believe no one mentioned Audiobooks.
The optometrist I work with laughs at your statement, as do I (as an Op Tech). Certainly it doesn't *help* to focus on close things all the time, but you can't "train your eyes" to see one way or another. If that were the case, we wouldn't prescribe glasses to people; We'd put them in physical therapy and have them do eye exercises until they got better.
You can train your eyes to focus better *within your prescription's limits*, but you can't train your eyes out of that prescription. If you have a -3.25 sphere, then you have a -3.25 sphere; It has to do with the shape, wear & tear, and age of your eyes, as well as internal components of the eyes. People with myopia aren't going to miraculously get better because they stop looking at things up close, nor do they have that condition because they read a lot.
Almost EVERYONE will need bifocals at some point in their life, usually from their mid-40 onward. This has more to do with age than anything else; Even a person who never reads books or looks at things up-close will develop the need for an add power on their prescription when they get older.
The Kindle is HELPFUL to people like this, because it enables those with low vision to increase the font size, which you can't do with a standard dead-tree book. With the Kindle, every book you buy can be the large print edition, as needed.
Let me clarify: You might get a .25 boost in your RX if you do eye exercises, but you're not going to go from a -3.25 to a -1.00 or better.
I know MY eyes are sore from reading so many stories on engadget about an EBOOK READER.
Zombie eye test.
An option to optionally turn off font smoothing would do the trick too.
Way, way too obvious.
I realize it sounds kinda funny, but poorly rendered text is a real problem. I'd love to see detailed images of the fonts in question and the original version.
Remember that tee-shirt (or was it a bumper sticker) that said: "SEX is bad for your vision". Yeah - yeah the stream of puns starts now. In the tee-shirt, the word SEX was rendered in a font that made it look blurry. Your visual system really does try to clear up the image.
I'm sure the same thing happens on the new Kindle. The "smoothed" fonts are no longer blocky, but they are now somewhat fuzzy. If your visual system thinks that it is out of focus (even if it is due to blurry itarget) it will try to focus on it - never succeeding - leading to eye strain.
They should have an option to remove (or minimize) font smoothing.
As requested.
Doesn't look that bad to me, but I don't think that this is the smallest font. And the softness could be a focus problem as much as the kindle its self.
http://www.connect.md/main/webroot/upload/image/Kindle_2_-_Front.jpg
I jut tried the smallest font on my Cybook, which was pretty darn tiny, but still sharp. It is a 4 greyscale display though. Doesn't the Kindle have any options to alter the font?
@John Bailey - That is the third smallest font. I have a Kindle 2 and that is the font I prefer.
The complaints about the smaller two fonts are valid and they have nothing to do with poor eyes.
The way the kindle renders the smaller fonts is very odd. It seems like they apply the same proportion of blurring to the smaller fonts, as they do for the larger ones.
@John Bailey - Thanks for that. I can't really tell from the picture. I guess that I'll have to look at some real ones side by side.
@cwashley - I'm really curious now. It does sound like they messed it up.
Basically a long straight line like an 'l' or 'L' should have no blurring/smoothing. The pixel column immediately to the left of the line should be pure white; the first column of pixels in the 'L' should be all black.
You only want to fill in with grey the blocky bits on diagonal lines and curves. Even there, I would recommend doing it in an understated way.
In my experience, it's missing font-smoothing that causes eye-strain.
Or if you are over 30 just not buy the damned thing.
Because it checks your age and then invokes the font smoothing if you're over 30?
You don't even have to RTFA. The above summary clearly states that THE TEXT IS BLURRED BY THE SMOOTHING ALGORITHM.
Why cant they make color display? It is better to buy UMPC like Samsung Q ultra. If Apple release its touch book - iTouch/iPad, it will definitely blow up these Kindles and Sony Readers. Because they do everything in some what perfect manner where their competitors struggle. You see, how people are making apps for iPhone though existence of lot of good and superior smart phones.
the benefit to ebook readers is that they use an e-ink display, which mimics the look of text on real paper and leads to less eye-strain. Color displays like on cell phones or UMPCs are not e-ink and are not as comfortable to read novels on. i dont there are any color e-ink displays available to consumers yet.
Because it's an eInk display that gets two weeks battery life, whereas any Apple tablet is going to get two hours (and be advertised to get five).
Another advantage of eInk is that, because it is purely reflective, the screen retains a high contrast in bright light. Not washed out like most LCD based devices.
Does amazon pay you for doing Kindle news? No one really cares about it
Well the Kindle is a gadget, and Engadget is a gadget blog. Even if you aren't interested in the device, the technology behind it is pretty cool. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper
In short, I think that this article is relevant and belongs on this blog.
Tsx_2004, I hardly think you speak for the entire engadget community.
No ebook reader deserves the attention this thing has gotten here.
I'm having no problem with mine, the text seems a tiny bit light but not to the point where I notice it. I really don't think Amazon would come out with another kindle within the same year, not even apple does that crap.
Get an iPhone. It's an eBook reader, an iPod, and an internet communicator. It also has a revolutionary mobile phone.
I have a 16GB 3G white iPhone and I love it, the screen is easy on the eyes and intelligently adjusts according to how much ambient light is in the room.
I'm guessing you've never actually tried one of these dedicated ebook readers out? It's a totally different beast. Bigger screen. Better contrast in bright light. And an insanely long battery life.
i hate to be like this, but Saad, Shut the fuck up. I love my iMac. I jokingly tell my daughter that my iMac is her sister. I'm sure plenty of people would consider me an Apple Fanboy, but the iPhone isn't the answer to every gadget. It's not meant to compete with a dedicated eReader and it doesn't. Not at all.
That being said, maybe my poor eyes don't notice the blurriness because I keep my Kindle 2 on the 3rd smallest font and it looks perfect. I just checked out the other 2 smaller fonts and don't see a problem either except that they're small. I read the whole way (1 1/2 hours) to and from work and haven't had eye strain or a headache yet.
i can't believe people would consider reading a book on that screen (meaning iphone/any other phone).
@iKurt Mark III,
lol.
myb u haven't tried an ebook reader yet. the eink display is more pleasant to the eye.
that was a reply for saad rabies. damn engadget commenting system.
I've seen the Kindle screen, and it's fine. However, it's not alot bigger than the iPhone or iPod touch, so I can see why people recommend it. I mean, the Kindle is only 600 pixels wide, with only 520 of those pixels reserved for text. The iPhone, held horizontally, is 480 pixels wide. That's not a big difference in page width, which is the most important stat on screen size.
Yeah, I know they'll have to page more often, but it's not as slow as the page refreshing on the Kindle. Plus, there's one reader, that scrolls! It's smart since it's scrolling speed is controlled by your angle of tilt. Neat, no paging whatsoever.
Anyway, there's lots of ways to read.
I've not been a fan of font-smoothing in general. Tried it out on WinMo for a while and finally realized why I don't like it.
Seeing pixel edges isn't attractive. But it gives the eyes something to focus on. The smoothed fonts trick my eyes, if just for a second, into focusing incorrectly. Lame.