In ambient light the contrast is worse on the Daylight than the RM2 - the screen background is quite significantly darker.
However, the Daylight has a backlight which increases the contrast enormously. And it’s usable in the dark which the RM2 is not. The much faster refresh rate also gives it a more fluid feel.
What I didn’t anticipate is the difference the screen makes in how I use and perceive them:
As the RM2 is so simple and static it feels more like a notebook or book reader that happens to be battery powered, whereas the Daylight is definitely a gadget.
I’m more likely to use the RM2 to take notes or do some thinking and the Daylight as something to tinker with.
The remarkable is a lot more like paper and has that simple feel.
Daylight was created for the express purpose of being a portable computer you can use in direct sunlight. It can also just be your notebook but it does so much more than take notes.
I may be a little bit biased but I'd personally prefer a non-laggy device with a little bit worse contrast.
The Daylight screen is _amazing_ for reading technical books. The pen isn't anything special, and I don't like it's thickness, but good enough to get the job done.
Afaik we put the same kind of high polling rate Wacom digitizer that remarkable uses.
Any quirks you notice between it and the daylight would be fascinating to note! Wacom is the most fluid digital pen system on the market from what we could find, especially compared to Ntrig, USI and other approaches.
Also you can use other pens other than the one we included in the box
> Any quirks you notice between it and the daylight would be fascinating to note!
Okay, my Remarkable 2 is currently broken (screen breaks more than I wish. They don't have Apple's level of reliability yet .3rd replacement), so I can't test directly at the moment.
> Also you can use other pens other than the one we included in the box
Oh cool! The pen in box is good enough for me, but now I'm going to look into getting a thin one. Thanks!
The reMarkable has better contrast, viewing angle, and resolution, the Daylight has a far better refresh rate. There are other tradeoffs between them of course, but display-wise, those are the main ones
Depends what your reference is. E-ink displays without a lot of layers (especially Carta 1250) have pretty good contrast, on par with matte paper. Some devices with a thick frontlight layer and a Wacom layer and a touch layer are less impressive.
My Onyx BOOX has at best a background comparable to very dirty newsprint.
I find myself reading with the frontlight on under most indoors circumstances, unless I'm in direct sunlight. With the frontlight, it's fine. Text may be somewhat more washed out, but that bothers me less than a darkish background.
Under sunlight the contrast is actually about perfect, as white paper tends to be too blindingly bright.
My tablet has several layers: capacitive touch, Wacom, and frontlight, all of which probably contribute to the lower contrast.
Mind: I'm addressing your "bad contrast" question. I find the trade-offs reasonable, and for reading ebooks (as opposed to Web browsing or other app use), the frontlight battery consumption is quite reasonable.
If I'm just using the device casually (e.g., listening to podcasts or checking something quickly) it's fine to use w/o the frontlight, but for immersive reading I'll either have a strong reading light, frontlight, or head for a convenient sunbeam.
It's not really a scam but rather a technology that's still in its infancy. I think of it more like the Palm Treo and Blackberry: they're not great but hopefully we're progressing towards the iPhone. I wouldn't buy one at the moment, though.
We are talking about e-ink without added edge lighting. I found that if I have to crank up the internal lighting of an e-reader to get adequate contrast, then I may as well use a tablet, because it isn’t reflective illumination anymore to the eye.
