# K1 4-shades of gray (or grey) vs K2's 16 shades



## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

I just posted the below in response to a question on the Amazon forums re how much difference there is between 4 shades of gray for the Kindle Klassic and 16 shades of gray for the Kindle 2. Felt it might be of interest here also.

The choice of 16 shades of gray (or grey) over 4 shades is an easy one for me as the difference is HUGE (for someone whose hobby is photography and who likes to enjoy images in books too).

The illustrations are from the tutorial at http://www.thewonderoflight.com/articles/?page_id=109
It includes (ABOVE each photo) a description of gray shades used for that photo.

A grayscale image is made up of differences between white (0 bits) and black (1 bit) which is a sort of night & day thing, with nothing in between.

To add something in between, they can make it "2-bit," and this produces 4 shades of gray. You'll recognize the image below from what we encounter with our Kindle 1's (unless the publisher dithers* the image.)

Kindle Klassic style (4 shades)









* (Some publishers can choose to 'dither' a limited 4-shade image by 
using diffusion to lessen the harsh transition from one shade to another
to make the image more photo-like. 
But that reduces sharpness and can cause a grainy pattern that's visible. 
We see nicely-dithered images on the Kindle Klassic by publishers who are 
aware it can be done.)

Sony PRS-700 style (8 shades)









Kindle 2 style (16 shades)









For me, this is a REALLY desirable change, and it's the one reason I do want the Kindle 2, but not enough to pay $400 for it with case when I have a much-valued Kindle Original. So I wait for the day that Amazon decides to offer a tempting promotion (having decided it's not worthwhile to offer one now to K1 users for a device WITH which we are moved to order more from Amazon -- such as books with illustrations).

I already have 2 Photoshop tutorials on my K1, bought from Amazon and a couple of travel guides with pictures. I 'd buy many more if they gave K1 users a promotional offer for a limited time.

By the way that page at http://www.thewonderoflight.com/articles/?page_id=109 is excellent. As you browse it, remember that each photo is explained by the description ABOVE it.

- Andrys


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

Neat comparison, thanks for that. 

I actually haven't run into any books that I've needed to see the illustrations to enjoy them though, so...

I suppose this will come in handy for people who read the newspaper and want to see the graphics though.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

OMG, that is a HUGE difference!  thanks for the visual.  I may just keep my K2 for reference materials.


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

the differences are REALLY noticable!


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## kwajkat (Nov 6, 2008)

Any photographer knows a picture is worth a thousand words but this is just awesome. I was especially interested in seeing how the Sony stacked up with the Kindle. While I love my Kindle, the K2 just blows my peabrain away!!!!! Now to find some funding!!!!!!!


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## Shizu (Oct 27, 2008)

WOW. Thank you for posting. I wonder if we'll be able to change the screensaver as K1.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Oh MY Heavens! THANK YOU! That's amazing. Because of this, I've decided to use pictures of my kids and family as screensavers on Bella when I get her..(That is, if the K2 allows custom screensavers)

Is it Feb 25th yet?


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## Kind (Jan 28, 2009)

kwajkat said:


> Any photographer knows a picture is worth a thousand words but this is just awesome. I was especially interested in seeing how the Sony stacked up with the Kindle. While I love my Kindle, the K2 just blows my peabrain away!!!!! Now to find some funding!!!!!!!


There's a big difference in the shades of gray between K1 and K2. The Sony is pretty nice too though.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Great post, thanks!

Betsy


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Jesslyn said:


> OMG, that is a HUGE difference! thanks for the visual. I may just keep my K2 for reference materials.


Jesslyn,

Did you mean, you may just keep your K1 for refence materials ?


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## Marci (Nov 13, 2008)

This thread is demonstrates the one & only reason I'm thinking of purchasing the newer Kindle.  Sometime.  By the time I'm ready, the next version will be out  

The improved grayscale helps out the "plain Jane" text, too, all! 

If you love the Klassic Kindle screen this one is a leap-year ahead of it.

Marci


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

Marci said:


> The improved grayscale helps out the "plain Jane" text, too, all!


Is this true? My understanding is that the normal book lettering was the same between K1 and K2 and had nothing to do with the greyscale improvement.

Steve


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## Dangerosa (Dec 5, 2008)

This is the only close-up pic I've been able to find of the K1 and K2 side by side:


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Dangerosa,
  Yes, I think I saw that in these forums.

  I was struck that the pictures were taken with different zoom levels so that the one on the left is enlarged quite a bit more (note both picture sizes) and is therefore less clear.  Since we all have Kindle 1's we know that "PREV PAGE" on the K1 is perfectly clear on our Kindles.  So the enlargement for that image is not comparing quite the same thing.

  But I was struck by the 'dithering'  I mentioned -- which is done to the 4-grey-shades picture.  To get away from the sets of visible dots, they make the black vs white boundaries less noticeable through diffusion but that still leaves very little in the way of enough simulated gray shades.  4 shades to work with instead of 16.  So the shadows on the arms are unnatural and as if painted by numbers.  The one on the right looks as we expect from seeing the tutorial on grayscale.

  Now that the Kindle allows us to zoom pictures to full screen and rotated to the side, the dots or unnatural shades are more noticeable too.

  I wish I could send in the Kindle to have them insert the other (same-sized) screen, but it must have, of course, electronic differences that couldn't be handled by the K1, I guess.  But I would prefer my K1 with that screen to buying the K2.


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## libro (Dec 3, 2008)

Andrys -- Wow, thanks for the visual comparison.  It really does make a difference!  I never owned K1, so I am very pleasantly surprised.


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## Anniehow (Oct 28, 2008)

What gray scale doesn the sony have?


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Am glad that others enjoyed seeing the differences too!

  Anniehow, the Sony PRS-700 has 8 shades, and the effect of that number of shades is shown in the second picture, above.


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## Linda Cannon-Mott (Oct 28, 2008)

Great post. Thanks!


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## libro (Dec 3, 2008)

Dangerosa -- Both images are great, but the K2 looks fantastic!  Can you say February 25th?!  Yikes.


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

thanks for the post... the difference is remarkable and yes, it does kinda make me want a K2, but since my main interest in the Kindle is to read books, not look at pictures, I will resist the urge to upgrade.


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## BambiB (Dec 22, 2008)

Thanks for the comparison.  Very Interesting!


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## KindleMom (Dec 11, 2008)

artsandhistoryfan said:


> Dangerosa,
> Yes, I think I saw that in these forums.
> 
> I was struck that the pictures were taken with different zoom levels so that the one on the left is enlarged quite a bit more (note both picture sizes) and is therefore less clear. Since we all have Kindle 1's we know that "PREV PAGE" on the K1 is perfectly clear on our Kindles. So the enlargement for that image is not comparing quite the same thing.
> ...


I noticed this too. Those pictures skew the results to the K2. I'm sure when someone gets their K2 we'll get a better representation between the two devices. Maybe a close of up the screen but with both of them next to each other.


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## Dangerosa (Dec 5, 2008)

I don't know if the photos are skewed, but I'm looking at that same Twilight page on my Kindle right now and it looks just as bad as the photo on the left. When I hold it next to the picture of the K2, the difference is obvious (to me, anyway). 

I'll be happy just to have cover art that is clearer than those blurry little blotches I have now.


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Dangerosa said:


> I don't know if the photos are skewed, but I'm looking at that same Twilight page on my Kindle right now and it looks just as bad as the photo on the left. When I hold it next to the picture of the K2, the difference is obvious (to me, anyway).
> 
> I'll be happy just to have cover art that is clearer than those blurry little blotches I have now.


 "Blotches" - what a perfect description. I just love my K1, even more so today when
I think I may need (emotionally, for the photo images) go for the K2, but it's such a waste,
since I love what the K1 CAN do. But I'll wait to see what K1 owners' experiences with the
K2 are.

Yes, the photo on the left is bad because of the K1's limitations AND the bad
dithering done by whoever did it. However, the photo of the K1 unit itself is unclear all over,
including the Kindle unit's lettering. The photo that both show are QUITE different sizes,
and the more you enlarge something, the more unclear it will be.

There is also a blur from camera shake for the one on the left.

As we know, our screen's text does not look fuzzy like that


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## Dangerosa (Dec 5, 2008)

I didn't take the pics and I also didn't put them side by side. I found them that way.

If you have a K1, you already know what it looks like.

For those who don't, sorry I haven't been able to find better pics.


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## Marci (Nov 13, 2008)

Hey, All -

Thanks for pointing out the differences between the two pictures.  

I had not noticed that the K2 pic was more zoomed in than the other one.

Yep, whoever gets the first K2 is gonna have a lot of answering to do   

Marci


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Dangerosa said:


> I didn't take the pics and I also didn't put them side by side. I found them that way.
> 
> If you have a K1, you already know what it looks like.
> 
> For those who don't, sorry I haven't been able to find better pics.


Oops, Dangerosa, I had seen them on the forum and had been looking for them,
unsuccessfully, so I was glad to see them as a real Kindle vs Kindle comparison.

I knew you hadn't shot it but as someone who does photo editing I just 
wanted to make sure people noticed that while the photo differences, in that
article shown by both, were huge, whoever took the pictures likely didn't
realize the K1 was enlarged more, which reduces clarity for that one.

Just explaining. Thank you for having found that. I've referred people
specifically to the 4th picture, which you added, when writing in other forums.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

We're featuring this post in our blog this morning. Thanks, AAHF!


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## cattusbabe (Jan 2, 2009)

4 bit vs 16 bit is all well and good but I am primarily reading text so I will stick to the device I have.  I expect the Kindle to keep changing, evolving and improving.  That is what technology does.  One does not have to upgrade each and every time there is a change. You would go broke if you did. The K1 does what it advertised and I what need it to. I will treat this as I do my car, computer and the like.  I will keep it until it dies. Then I will replace it.


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## BrockToon (Feb 14, 2009)

It is the 16 shades of grey that sold us on formatting and prepping the archives of our magazine specifically for the Kindle.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

BrockToon said:


> It is the 16 shades of grey that sold us on formatting and prepping the archives of our magazine specifically for the Kindle.


Hi Brock welcome, glad to have you join us! I am looking forward to hearing more about your magazine.

L


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Harvey said:


> We're featuring this post in our blog this morning. Thanks, AAHF!


Thanks, Harvey! This situation is a big deal for me, as I was not super interested in 'upgrading' until I fully realized the differences. I may even keep the K1 to have as a holding reference library
for SD cards that can be searched via the Kindle 1.

But I won't likely order the K2 until there is some kind of promotional offer, only because it's not worth it to me to pay $400 (with a case of some kind) for a Kindle for just the photos but it is enticing, definitely.

(and I'm waiting to see if there are any bugs -- but they were pretty good with the K1).


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

BrockToon said:


> It is the 16 shades of grey that sold us on formatting and prepping the archives of our magazine specifically for the Kindle.


Good to see! I also noticed there are a lot more travel guides being released now, almost surely as a result of the improved photo capability and faster processing.


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