Sol Reader e-ink Headset

[Dazrin]

Can't say this is a product I was ever expecting to see. I also can't say I have no interest. I can see myself being completely absorbed in a book with one of these. I can't see me actually paying for one though. It doesn't really fit my needs right now but I can dream.

https://liliputing.com/sol-readers-e...rable-ereader/

[kandwo]

"Low resolution" - no, thank you!

It's taken what, over a decade to get most smaller sized e-ink screen up to 300 PPI. Then it's taken another couple of years to finally achieve the contrast that was there from the beginning using Carta 1200/1250.

The e-ink journey is incredibly frustrating. It's always two steps forward, one step back. And as soon as I hear of something with less than 300 PPI I just get tired of it all.

[Dr. Drib]

WHAT???!!!!

No paragraph indents?!!???!!

Simply inexcusable!!!!!!

NO! NO! NO!

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by kandwo

"Low resolution" - no, thank you!

It's taken what, over a decade to get most smaller sized e-ink screen up to 300 PPI. Then it's taken another couple of years to finally achieve the contrast that was there from the beginning using Carta 1200/1250.

The e-ink journey is incredibly frustrating. It's always two steps forward, one step back. And as soon as I hear of something with less than 300 PPI I just get tired of it all.

I'm sure this will have 300 PPI, maybe more. But with HMDs you really really need high PPI for the screen door effect not to be visible. An Oculus Quest 2 has over 750 PPI and it still suffers from the screen door effect. It's just too close to your eyeballs.

That said I do not understand this product at all. The beauty of eInk is that it works in sunlight/ambient light and looks like paper. This demands the front light all the time, viewing through a lens that close will make it look terrible too. Just make a lighter eReader if holding it is such a burden. I don't need to be "immersed" in the page.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

That said I do not understand this product at all. The beauty of eInk is that it works in sunlight/ambient light and looks like paper.

Yes, OLED or even real LEDs makes more sense. This is pointless.

[crudites enjoyer]

the thing about e ink is that it can be very lightweight. important because HMDs can compress your cervical spine. however the main attraction of e ink is that it matches the brightness of the ambient lighting. I don't see how this could do that. I do want to try it but probably don't want to buy it.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by crudites enjoyer

I do want to try it but probably don't want to buy it.

That's basically where I'm at.

The idea of being able to read while laying flat on my bed and not having to move anything but my thumb to change pages is very appealing sometimes.

[crudites enjoyer]

you can already do that with any Android e reader though, with a gooseneck tablet holder and a cheap Bluetooth controller. so it's probably nothing special.

[Colonel Cathcart]

I wonder: how you can use a dictionary on such a device? or search?
This looks utterly ridiculous to me.

[crudites enjoyer]

you might be able to lump along with voice commands but that's not great.

[ab78727]

350 is a bit too expensive but I can totally see myself putting these on during a flight along with headphones and totally tuning out.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ab78727

350 is a bit too expensive but I can totally see myself putting these on during a flight along with headphones and totally tuning out.

But OLED is superior for headset, and cheaper technology, and video as well as reading. The eink is only an advantage with ambient light and that's not possible with a headset.

[ab78727]

I admit I'm irrationally crazy about anything eink, which is why it sounded good on this headset but I agree that oled etc. in this application makes so much more sense. I'm trying to think of why they want eink here - maybe power usage?

[Quoth]

Power consumption is a square law on diagonal size and square law on distance away for same apparent brightness (inverse square law). So the OLED panels for a headset would take very little power. AR and VR headset power consumption is dominated by CPU & GPU responding to tracking head and eye movement.

[CallOfCth'reader]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

I'm sure this will have 300 PPI, maybe more. But with HMDs you really really need high PPI for the screen door effect not to be visible. An Oculus Quest 2 has over 750 PPI and it still suffers from the screen door effect. It's just too close to your eyeballs.

Screen-door effect is caused by the gaps between pixels, so the effect would not be noticeable at 300PPI if the gaps between the e-ink capsules are small enough.

Looking at this video there would probably be zero screen-door with e-ink, although the magnified e-ink characters might look a little jagged:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fBsPSlQ51s

My own question is whether all of the screen is in focus. VR headsets have a clear "sweet spot" in the centre of the lenses, and the screen looks progressively blurrier as the distance from the centre of the lens increases. An e-ink headset would have to have perfect clarity over all of the viewable screen to be of any use.