Eink Screen Showdown! (B&W vs Color: Carta vs. Kaleido 3 vs. Gallery 3)

[@ItayFlikier]

Thank you so much! ❤ This is one of the best tech reviews I've ever seen. So clear, so thorough, with so many real live comparisons that get into each and every detail, and all so professional. After watching, I have so much understating regarding the different technologies that I was missing so much even after reading for hours on the internet. It is so helpful for me choosing my next eReader 🙏🏻

[@philologus6577]

I own a Kindle Paperwhite Signature and I had a Boox Tab Mini-C and I can tell you that your videos do not represent at all what the human eye sees. In real life, the background on a Kindle is NOT as white as your video shows without lighting. The Tab Mini is way way more gray in real life. The color on the mini looks fine on your video but in real life, the colors are very pale and muted. More of a pastel. Images have a cartoony quality to them. I found the experience very disappointing considering what a Tab Mini C costs. I honestly don't know how anyone can think a Kaleido screen looks OK. No matter your settings cannot get the images to look great. It's a huge compromise and what's worse is that even the black 300ppi text is not very clear because it's underneath those layers. My personal recommendation to anyone would be to stick with B&W screens. Your experience will be way better. Color screens on eink is just a fad and a gimmick to entice eink fans to purchase another device, but I say RUN!!

[@Entertainment-is6ex]

Maybe it’s because he said there is a ring light behind the camera 14:23

[@davidr1431]

very enjoyable review. i bought a tab ultra c and returned it mainly due to the dark screen. now i’m feeling regret. i think it’s the opposite of buyer’s remorse.

[@jeffersonmp4]

Excellent video!

[@smithmal01]

Thanks for providing this content. Very clear and well thought out. Happy to subscribe to someone of your caliber. Would love to see you review the Kobo Libra Colour when it comes out later this year. I believe it is using Kaleido 3 technology for its color screen.

[@jeffreymoss]

I think the official announcement will be on the 10th. I don't normally review ereaders without note taking ability, but I believe one comes with a stylus option so I might check that out anyway. It helps that things have been slow lately in terms of device releases.

[@smithmal01]

​@@jeffreymoss​It's marketed as having note-taking abilities. Would love to get your thoughts on how well Kaleido 3 technology is implemented in it as well as the quality of back lighting that's built in. I would think that this would be the go to Manga/Comic book reader.

[@smithmal01]

Read a review of the Libra Colour and the reviewer noted there was no ghosting present in the Libra Colour. I thought this odd since you mentioned that ghosting is a con of the Kaleido 3 technology and I could readily see it when you provided color screen examples of your Boox Tab Mini C. Also, the 150ppi limitation of Kaleido 3 technology doesn't seem to be as huge of an issue with the Libra Colour due to its smaller 7" screen size. Maybe a 7" screen is the "goldilocks" of screen size for e-ink tablets using Kaleido 3 technology? Finally $219 is very reasonable considering other tablets using Kaleido 3 tech is way more expensive. Anywayz... all that to say that I hope you do a review as your breath of knowledge in e-ink technologies is most impressive.

[@jeffreymoss]

@@smithmal01 All right, you've convinced me! I pre-ordered the Kobo Libra Color. I should have videos on that in May.

[@smithmal01]

@@jeffreymoss Nice! Just preordered one myself. I'm familiar with Kobo as I have the Clara HD and its a fantastic 6" ebook reader that can easily fit in your pocket. Even though to Libra Coluor is also a e-book reader it has way more utility as it can also be used as a note taker and audio book transmitter since it has built in BT. For this reason I can see a world where one might own both a compact e-reader (Clara HD) and a larger note-taking, manga/comic book e-reader. I decided to hold off on getting the Libra Colour stylus with my preorder so I'm very interested to see how well it does for you. I would think you would splurge on getting one since you are more interested in the Libra Colour's note taking abilities. Suppossedly the Libra Colour's case magnets do a fantastic job with holding the stylus securely when not in use.

[@denismalinovskiy3914]

Thank you for the comparison! I think if Boox designed a device with Gallery 3 the way it did with Kaleido 3, it would have less problems with ghosting. Of course, it won't happen due to Gallery 3 slowness. But overall, I liked warm Gallery 3 colors more than Kaleido 3, even given problems with green hue display in the former. Maybe Gallery 4 will the the king. :)

[@denismalinovskiy3914]

Also, if I could make a suggestion: can you use a stylus or a pencil for pointing on the device screen next time? Because the hand obscures much of the screen, so it's more difficult to see.

[@jeffreymoss]

@@denismalinovskiy3914 I like that! Good tip. I was doing that in some of my earlier videos but moved away from it for reasons I can't explain. But using a stylus and pointing would be way more effective than my finger.

[@taras8068]

Thanks for the thorough and detailed review! I see the following disadvantages in gallery 3: - bluish screen; - the picture is kind of cloudy; - slow response; - weak battery; - a lot of halos. I hope that the next generation of the gallery will correct these shortcomings, then it will be possible to buy devices with this type of screen. Today this product is still raw. At this time, I liked the color rendering, resolution and warm background of gallery 3. I find it much more comfortable to read from a warm background

[@jeffreymoss]

Raw is a great way of putting it.

[@DrTavaresChannel]

Excellent review. Very detailed. Thanks!

[@philibrokim]

I just bought a Boox Page (7', Carta 1200, ram 3G) 2 days ago after using Boox Nova 2 for the last 3 years. I am so happy with it for Refresh rate, contrast and compact size. The Boox Go (side upgrade of Page) just came out today with a Kaleido 3 screen, 4G ram at $240 as the price of Page. I was almost going to refund my Page and buy this, but I decided to stick with the Page after watching your video. The contrast and whiter background is more important to me. Thank you!

[@WayneMan88]

Your ghosting issues is nothing to do with carta to k3 technology comparison, it's 100% a design/configuration issue. The Kindle is doing a full refresh between pages. You can simulate the same behaviour on the k3 display with configuration changes.

[@jeffreymoss]

I think I commented on the fact that the ghosting can be mitigated by the Eink settings in the video, but it was a brief reference. I also find the flashes on the Carta more subtle than with K3 or G3. Still, a good call out.

[@wernerarts]

@@jeffreymoss Since Kaleido 3 is only a filter film over Carta 1200, all refresh differences in the devices are solely due to device and not screen technology

[@jeffreymoss]

@@wernerarts Thanks for calling that out. I tried to make that point in the video but could have done a better job about being clear on that point.

[@Claude-tj6ud]

Great video! Too bad though, the resolution is not higher than 720p.

[@jeffreymoss]

Yeah, I moved up to 1080p around the end of January, so going forward . . .

[@thexshattered]

When you compared Gallery vs Kaleido on the Kindle home screen, Gallery looked very yellowish and Kaleido looked quite white. Not sure if it's because I was seeing it through the camera, but it made it seem like Kaleido still looked better...?

[@jeffreymoss]

Gallery brings better color definition overall, but it also has a strange tinted background. It's almost a touch of peach, but really it's hard to define. It certainly isn't white. I think K3 does black lines better, isn't quite as saturated in some cases, and provides the better overall experience. And with cold lighting the background can look more white. Gallery 3 just isn't there, but perhaps future iterations?

[@ferdinandbardamu3945]

Is the Gallery 3 good enough at displaying photos to be used as a photo frame?

[@jeffreymoss]

I would imagine that might work, but keep in mind that the energy drain on the only Gallery device that has been released thus far would pretty much require you to keep it connected to a power source at all times, otherwise you would be charging it every couple days. But if that isn’t an issue, then I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. You could download an android app to do a slideshow, or just show off a single still with the native photos app.

[@MrNagano00]

I almost always use my e-reader with some base front lighting on. I was worried kaleido 3 would be a considerable step back in terms of contrast, but it seems like it's nothing one couldn't get used to; and with the frontlight on it seems almost as rich. And, of course, the colours. So I might actually get the kobo clara colour as it's only going to be 160 bucks. Though... kobo also released a carta 1300 reader... But sometimes, you just gotta make a decision! Every year or every couple of years there's going to be an improvement made to these things.

[@Fabios__]

It seems more dark than e ink white and black

[@philibrokim]

I just saw a review of Carta 1300 vs 1200 from a Chinese website. Surprisingly it 1300 was not superior to 1200 in terms of letter clarity. I recommend you refer to the related reviews before you buy it.

[@JustPassingBy334]

Really good video. Thank you

[@dennisrogers6786]

Being in colour its not just colour, being the big factor, your getting more detail in the image also. I would say your eye is seeing 2X more detail in the image

[@lilrowbear]

Is there any difference in the writing feel between the Boox products with Carta vs Kaleido 3?

[@jeffreymoss]

The screen types themselves usually don't matter because there is a glass layer over the screen. What does matter is if there is a film on a device or not. Some films reproduce a scratchy sound, somewhat reminiscent of writing on paper. One notable exception here is with Mobius screens which sometimes don't have a glass cover and bend a bit when pressed upon. Although, again, it's really the presence of a film that generally impacts writing feel. I should also point out that you can buy films from third parties as well.

[@baltgames1]

well yes, I think e-papers have big future for being a productivity tools

[@selforganisation]

I have some questions about gallery vs kaleido comparison. Firstly, I have the impression, that kaleido has overall better color accuracy. The gallery seems to have a yellowish on light areas and blueish on dark. Is my impression correct, or does it only look like that on camera? Also, at 39:48 there's an example of very poor performance od kaleido, as the left panel of the comic book looks completely off, and I don't even understand why some areas appear white, when adjecent ones with lighter color are colorful. I wonder, is there a setting, that can rectify this case?

[@jeffreymoss]

Kaleido is quite limited with just 4k colors to choose from. I think it's actually pretty amazing given that limitation. There are a lot of software features at work which make things all come together, but at the end of the day Kaleido will suffer with color accuracy quite often. Gallery is supposed to be more accurate, but all the things it was designed to improve upon always get dragged down by things that Kaleido 3 can do better. I'll be releasing a video on that very topic in November.

[@codemonkey6173]

43:00 with the front lighting on, I think the G3 looks even worse.

[@jeffreymoss]

Yeah, Gallery 3 just didn't deliver what I think a lot of folks hoped it would. I have a detailed video on that coming out soon. But the tech just died in the water.

[@PixogenPixels]

You listed contrast as a + for gallery but in all the examples the gallery looks like black is a dark blue? It looks like it has much worse contrast.

[@luciusverus8767]

Thank you !

[@SkepticalCaveman]

Carta is the obvious choice until Gallery 4 or 5 arrives. Kaleido is only for those who actually needs color right now, and it will be obsolete soon.

[@mauriciolguin]

It will be obsolete in the next years, but not soon.

[@SkepticalCaveman]

@@mauriciolguin that is soon

[@mauriciolguin]

@SkepticalCaveman not for electronic devices.

[@SkepticalCaveman]

You and I don't share the same perspective.

[@svennikolajsen6624]

Actually you can not turn the brightness completely off on the Kindle

[@yensteel]

It is somewhar unfair to compare ghosting when Kindle has a simple showing of next page wheras its impossible to disable the animation on the other device. Kindle has optimized and integrated their software a lot more than others.

[@Cons2911]

I don’t mind the grey, I read with minimal light on my old paperwhite

[@jeffreymoss]

It doesn't bother me either, but it can be a big deal to some.

[@Cons2911]

@@jeffreymoss yea of course, that’s subjective

[@PaulFriemel]

Regeneration One! Holy shit!!

[@nuno63]

So basically, for now, Colored eink devices are only worth it if you a Carta eink device and will keep it.

[@jeffreymoss]

I happen to really like Kaleido 3, but it isn't for everyone.

[@nuno63]

@@jeffreymoss yea but for most people that can only afford one eink device, kaleido 3 isn't there for now, carta is still the best choice

[@jeffreymoss]

@@nuno63 That's a fair comment. I still think K3 would work for some people, as with the Ultra Tab C, but devices like the Note Air series are solid all-around devices that few people would regret purchasing as their all-in-one.

[@SkepticalCaveman]

​@@nuno63A dual screen eink tablet with both Carta and Gallery on each side would make Kaleido obsolete, but it would be very expensive, but still cheaper than two seperate tablets.

[@jonathanmoore7096]

I really want a Kobo Libra 3 with a Kaleido 3 screen. Sigh.

[@jeffreymoss]

I wonder if K3 might finally be featured in Kindles and Kobos within the next year. It feels like it might finally happen, but I'll guess we'll see.

[@tttyyy949]

well you got it now.

[@DavidRiess]

I would like to get an Eink tablet to prevent my eyes from burning, as it does after using my iPad for a few hours … but wouldn’t the Eink frontlight also cause burning as the user would still be staring at a “light source”?

[@jeffreymoss]

I have heard some people say that, but that's not been the norm, nor has it been my experience. The key difference, aside from the actual light involved, is that the lighting is front lighting, not back lighting. So the LEDs are arranged around the screen and on top. Thus, the light shines down and then back to your eyes, as opposed to directly. It's kind of like reading the device with a lamp right over it, as opposed to say over your shoulder. The worst I find is that when I turn on front lighting, my eyes have to adjust to the brightness. But once it does I don't have any issues.

[@taras8068]

My eyes get much less tired if I use computer glasses with a blue filter when reading a backlit book. I can read for hours with glasses on. Without glasses for at most one hour, then I feel discomfort.

[@mansour8907]

​@@jeffreymossI have severe eye strain when turn on light in my likebook mars e reader (carta display), i don't know if other backlights are different?! When light turned off I have no difficulty, sometimes even better than real papers!

[@jeffreymoss]

@@mansour8907 That's interesting. I think the front light array is made by Eink along with the screen itself. If that's true, the effect might be similar across manufacturers.

[@oraz.]

It's too big a downside to have the background so grey.

[@mauriciolguin]

Gallery 3 is not usable. Kaleido 3 looks much better despite all of the limitations.

[@canniballissimo]

But Gallery 3 has a bad black color. It's not interesting

[@dennisrogers6786]

Gallery 3 is horrible, it has to much of a blue tint. Contrast on the Gallery 3 is horrible in comics, the strong blue tint washes out the colour as far as I am concerned. Sure reds and blues, etc make look slightly better, but are washed out due to a blue tint. The boox has 2X better contrast

[@jeffreymoss]

Yeah, I agree. There will be a second try of Gallery 3 on an 8-inch device either by the end of the year or in 2025, so it will be interesting to see how much progress will have been made on the tech. The first try did not instill much confidence.