Summary
- Black-and-white E ink uses capsules with negative and positive charges for screen controls.
- Triton and Kaleido screens introduce color filters for reflected light in E ink display.
- Vintage comics may fare better on color eReaders, but modern LCDs have superior color and resolution.
Color E ink readers are becoming mainstream, with reasonable prices. So you might be wondering if its finally time to move your color comic reading from a tablet to an eReader. The answer depends on your tolerance for certain sacrifices, so lets see what’s on the table.
What Makes a Color eReader Different?
A basic black-and-white E ink screen works using tiny black and white capsules suspended in a liquid. The two capsule types have negative and positive charge respectively. By applying electricity to the cells of the E ink screen you can make the white or black capsules go up or down. This is how the screen controls what you see.
Early color E Ink display added a single colored pigment to the mix, but with “Triton” displays the introduction of clever color filters in the screen allows control of the color wavelength reflected back at you. Remember, E ink is not an emissive display technology, it uses reflected light just like normal paper. The Triton concept allowd for 4096 colors, but in 2021 Kaleido 2 screens advanced this technology with plastic color filters.
The color E ink displays in eReaders are generally based on the Triton/Kaleido principle, but ACeP (Advanced Color ePaper) actually uses four pigments: Yellow, Cyan, Magenta, and White. This allows for 32,000 colors. If you want the best possible color image on an eReader, you’ll want to wait for your favorite eReader brand to release an eReader using this technology and be prepared to pay for it. Rumor has it that Amazon will release an ACeP Kindle in 2025, for example.
However, what follows below is based on my impression of the current color E ink devices I’ve seen with my own eyes and not potentially improved version that have yet to launch as of this writing.
The Colors Are OK, but Don’t Compare to a Regular Screen
While color E readers are a massive improvement for comic book reading compared to their monochrome cousins, just about any modern LCD will blow the E ink display out of the water when it comes to vibrancy, accuracy, and resolution.
Just have a look at this great video by SlatePad comparing the Kindle Colorsoft to an iPad Mini.
The Kindle looks like someone has printed a bootleg of the comic and the ink was running out. It looks like a comic book left in the sun, with all the color bleached out. Now, if you already happen to own a color eReader, then there’s nothing wrong with reading comics this way. And, of course, this doesn’t take into account the other benefits of eReaders such as their long battery lives.
So you may be happy to compromise on the color and resolution of the image in exchange for those eReader advantages. However, given the choice, I’d much prefer to experience my comics on a modern LCD or OLED panel. In fact, I feel that way about monochrome E ink too.
Vintage Comics Might Fare Better
The one exception might be vintage comic books. Comics from the Gold and Silver ages don’t have many colors, weren’t very vibrant, and were printed on cheap pulp paper. So I think you don’t lose much authenticity by reading them on a color E ink device.
You can see what I mean in the page taken from Iron Man above. The eReader will still look a little more faded than that, but the overall presentation won’t be far off the original intended experience.
It’s Worth Seeing Before Buying
In the end, what really matters is how pleasant your own eyes find color E ink. The reason I didn’t buy one of these devices for myself yet is that I went and saw them in person at my local large electronics retailer. To my eye, the technology just isn’t ready yet. Though with constant improvements, and advanced color E ink technologies on the horizon, that might be changing soon.
