# is there a way to improve readability of figures & diagrams on a Kindle 2?



## RichardMW (Aug 31, 2009)

I was thinking of buying this Kindle book: "Windows 7 Secrets". 
So, I downloaded a sample to my Kindle 2 from here: http://www.amazon.com/Windows-7-Secrets-ebook/dp/B002NXOR3S/ref=ed_oe_k

This book depends on many PC screen shots as figures.
The bad news is that the figures show up in low contrast and are barely readable.

Is there anyway to improve the readability of figures like this on a Kindle 2?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Have you tried selecting them?  Sometimes you can enlarge an image.

That being said, no the Kindle still isn't optimal for graphics.  I've sampled a couple of computer books and ended up with a paper copy.  You can find some awfully good bargains in paper books.  I paid $1.99 plus shipping for a $30 book.

Betsy


----------



## RichardMW (Aug 31, 2009)

I had zoomed the PC screen image to full screen.
Big grey picture with grey text instead of small grey background with grey text.
Slightly better. But still unreadable.
If there was some way to increase the contrast then it would be ok.


----------



## shutrbug (Oct 2, 2009)

I'm reading the book "The Flaw of Averages" with a lot of graphs that illustrate technical points.  Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of the graphs are in gray scale with poor contrast and small fonts.  Even when zooming on the graphs they're illegible.


----------



## RichardMW (Aug 31, 2009)

shutrbug,
Thanks for the info. I had actually downloaded the sample of "The Flaw of Averages" to my Kindle 2 and was planning on buying it.

Here is a small help that I found with some figures. They are more readable in very bright sunlight than in typical indoors light.


----------



## shutrbug (Oct 2, 2009)

It just so happens that I discovered that independently myself yesterday while riding in the car.  even though the contrast was bad, the extra light did help legibility.

I really wish I had bought "Flaw of Averages" in hardcopy as the graphs are really important to the content of the book.  I find it really cumbersome to pagee forward to the appropriate figure, move the cursor to the figure and click on the 5-way to view the figure, only to be frustrated by the poor legibility.  This is the only book that I wish I had bought as the DTB version.


----------



## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

I think this issue is one of the reasons that the Kindle for PC will be a great boon. You can still get the book to read on your Kindle, but when you need to get a better view of those images, you can use the PC.


----------



## RichardMW (Aug 31, 2009)

Does the Kindle DX work better in displaying text book images?
Can someone with a Kindle DX download the sample from "Windows 7 Secrets" and tell me if they can read the screen shot figures?


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I d/l'd the sample. . . . there are some screen shots in the sample section.  They are fairly readable. . . .not completely crisp, but clear enough that you can tell what they are.  There's also at least one chart which displayed just fine.


----------



## RichardMW (Aug 31, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I d/l'd the sample. . . . there are some screen shots in the sample section. They are fairly readable. . . .not completely crisp, but clear enough that you can tell what they are. There's also at least one chart which displayed just fine.


Can you read the text and menus in the screen shots?


----------



## RichardMW (Aug 31, 2009)

I think the screen shot diagrams would be readable for me if they displayed in black & white instead of grey scale.
When I go to next page, I think that the images briefly show up in black & white (reversed) and I think that they may be ok that way.

Ideally, I would like an option to disable grey scale on a book by book basis.


----------



## geneven (Jul 30, 2009)

As was mentioned above, Kindle for PC is the best answer for getting the best possible view of figures and diagrams. Unfortunately, it appears that publishers didn't put much effort into having good diagrams, so the Kindle for PC can only make a small difference. I hope that publishers in the future try harder to have good diagrams and maps that will show up nicely on the Kindles of the future and on Kindle for PC now.

The best anti-reader argument is that pictures and diagrams and maps are horrible on them. It is quite true.


----------

