PocketBook InkPad Color 3 · Guides
Get the best from the colour screen on the PocketBook InkPad Color 3
What E Ink Kaleido 3 can and cannot do, when to switch to black-and-white, and the view, crop and refresh settings that make comics and magazines look their best.
The trick with the InkPad Color 3 is to treat colour as a mode you switch on for comics, magazines and illustrated books, and switch off for everything else, where black-and-white is sharper. For comics: fit the panel to the screen, crop the border, add a touch of saturation and contrast, and set a full refresh every page or two. Expectations set correctly, it is a pleasant colour reader; expect a tablet and it will disappoint.
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Understand what Kaleido 3 is
The screen is a normal 300-ppi black-and-white E Ink panel with a thin colour filter layer on top. Colour images show at about a third of that resolution — roughly 150 ppi — and in a muted range, a bit like a newspaper colour supplement. It is real colour and easy on the eyes, but it is not a tablet.
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Use black-and-white mode for plain text
The colour filter very slightly dims and softens everything, including text. For novels and documents with no colour, switch the screen to black-and-white (a toggle in the control panel or Settings). Text is crisper and the front light looks cleaner.
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Turn colour on for the things that need it
Comics, manga with colour pages, magazines, cookbooks, travel guides, children's books, and study material where colour carries meaning. Greyscale manga looks just as good in black-and-white mode, so only use colour when there is colour to see.
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Set the comic view mode
Open a CBZ or CBR and tap the top centre. Set the fit mode to "fit width" or "fit page" so a panel fills the screen, and turn on any "crop white border" option. For manga, set the reading direction to right-to-left if the file does not already.
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Nudge the colour and contrast
In the image or PDF menu there is usually a saturation or "colour enhancement" control and a contrast control. A small saturation bump makes flat scans look better; too much makes skin tones odd. Raise contrast a little for faint print.
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Pick a refresh mode that suits pace
Colour pages carry more detail, so they ghost more. Set the page refresh to do a full flash every page for comics (cleanest, slightly slower) or every two to three pages as a compromise. A manual "refresh" long-press on a button clears a bad page instantly.
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Know the limits
Fast full-colour page turns will never be phone-smooth, deep reds and blues look muted, and very fine coloured text (some infographics) can look fuzzy. Within those limits it is a comfortable, glare-free colour reader.