Users of the new Amazon Kindle Fire HDX tablets have been noticing a strange issue. The screen seems to have a blue-ish tint all the way around the screen, which can be distracting. To their credit, Amazon is aware of the issue and supportive of unhappy customers, but it’s a problem that could have a big impact.
The problem is pretty simple, and shown nicely in the video below. While a little bleeding of light is normal, this is a bit different. In the Amazon forums, many users are reporting the issue, with one noting a MayDay representative told them it was an “optical issue”, not a hardware fix. That was a bit different from others who noted Amazon was willing to swap devices until the problem was fixed, and was telling them it was a hardware issue.
One Amazon user noted this issue was prevalent on the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite until the newest version was released. Strange that on one hand, Amazon has fixed the issue with one series, but the other is seeing issues. If the same manufacturer makes both tablets, it’s stands to reason that it really is a hardware issue.
This shouldn’t dissuade you from trying one of the new Kindle tablets out, but it is definitely something to keep an eye out for. Nobody has reported issues with swapping or returning devices yet, so it seems Amazon — and their partners — are committed to finding a fix and making customers happy.
This is posted at the top of the Kindle HDX page to explain this phenomenon:
We want you to know…
The
Kindle Fire HDX 7″ has perfect color accuracy (100% sRGB), and we
wanted to share more details around our display design decisions that
helped us achieve this.
You may notice a very narrow, faint blue
tint around the edge of the device when looking at items with a white
background, such as books or web pages. All displays have some level of
light emission around the edges, and the light on the Kindle Fire HDX 7″
is blue due to the technology used to render perfect color accuracy.
Most LCD displays use white LEDs, and then apply filters to extract the
desired color. The result is oftentimes a compromise to tone and color
accuracy, or—if attempting to address these compromises—an increase in
battery consumption and, thus, device weight.
We’ve taken a
different approach. To achieve the perfect color accuracy on Kindle Fire
HDX 7″ at the lowest possible battery consumption and device weight, we
used blue, not white, LEDs. Blue LEDs allow for a much more accurate
and rich representation of color and result in an up to 20% improvement
in power efficiency.
I actually spoke with Amazon’s research and design facility, Lab 126.
They contacted me literally an hour after posting a video about the
issue. The person I spoke with said that this issue was not normal, and
he wanted me to ship it back within 48 hours offering a high dollar
(Amazon gift card) incentive to do so and shipping out a replacement. I
think Amazon put this up to have a “we told you so” fallback, just in
case more people start complaining.
Judging by what the Lab126
representative told me, this is not normal and should not be present.
I’ll take their word for it over some marketing verbiage from Amazon.
Lab126 is responsible for the design of the Kindle Fire HDX and all
other Kindle models. Whether or not they will fix it, well, that’s
another story.
Wondering if you ever got a replacement and if the blue haze was any better. I just got the new hd, but returned it due to a bluish line down the right side when reading books. Considering replacing with the hdx, but thinking that the haze would drive me crazy.
I was about to trade in my Kindle HD for the HDX, reading all of this however, has made me decide I will stick with my beloved HD until haze issue is resolved. Thank you!!