Is it my imagination or are the fonts in a greyscale instead of a black?

Sunspark · 12-03-2009, 01:52 AM

Looking at the chapter headings it is black.. and the upgrade progress bar was also black as well.. but everything else including fonts (whether bolded or otherwise) tend to be a lower contrast dark grey compared to black.

Is this a software thing? I'd like for it to not use greyscale shading for text if that's what is happening..

To give an example, go to the "about" screen of your device.

Where it says "All rights reserved", that's black. So is the top of the coffee cup. But everything else is a lighter grey.. which reminds me a lot of what it looks like when you try to print coloured text on a black and white laser printer..

jusmee · 12-03-2009, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunspark

Looking at the chapter headings it is black.. and the upgrade progress bar was also black as well.. but everything else including fonts (whether bolded or otherwise) tend to be a lower contrast dark grey compared to black.

Is this a software thing? I'd like for it to not use greyscale shading for text if that's what is happening..

To give an example, go to the "about" screen of your device.

Where it says "All rights reserved", that's black. So is the top of the coffee cup. But everything else is a lighter grey.. which reminds me a lot of what it looks like when you try to print coloured text on a black and white laser printer..

This is one of the reasons why we simply MUST have control over what fonts are used, especially when reading. When reading ePub books, the default is a light grey font (Times Roman I think) and you can't change it. It's a shockingly hard font to read for any length of time.

In mobi books you can change it to IBOOKN which is a black font.

Sunspark · 12-03-2009, 08:36 AM

Why are epubs so popular then? DRM? So useless. epubs will kill ebooks then.

Is it for sure a font thing? The device has 8 levels of grey.

DroidSansBold free Android font from Google seems decent http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=pla...0005252;sf=tgz

wallcraft · 12-03-2009, 11:32 AM

Sometimes the text might be deliberately grey, but the usual reason for this is anti-aliasing (using greyscales to smooth the edges of glyphs). This is often worse for serif fonts than san serif, and heavier fonts are usually better too.

If you are running (or creating) ePubs through Calibre try switching the font to san-serif (via --extra-css):

Code:

body {
  font-family: sans-serif;
}

You can also add your own fonts for ePub, providing is it DRM-free and so modifiable via Calibre, see Fonts and Epub - What works on Sony, Works for Pocket Pro too!

EDIT: see New Firmware Upgrade coming Friday-Monday for a short discussion of anti-aliasing.

omro · 12-03-2009, 12:08 PM

So. As I've not yet used my PP as I'm stil waiting for it's delivery.

When you view an ePub document, you cannot specify which font you view it with from the PP itself on the fly? Only the zoom level?

AJ Starr · 12-03-2009, 12:08 PM

Walcraft, you probably know this.

I would like to have my basic ebook file with a larger font than most people, thus I would be able to enlarge it better with the PP selections. But I seem to remember somewhere that no matter what your base font is in epubs, the PP will show it the same.

I did try to reconfigure with Calibre once with base font of 14 and then 20, but it always showed the same on the PP.

Is this a function of the epub generator for the PP, or am I doing something wrong, or ??????

Thanks,
AJ

wallcraft · 12-03-2009, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

I would like to have my basic ebook file with a larger font than most people, thus I would be able to enlarge it better with the PP selections.

I remember seeing a post from someone who was able to do this using Calibre, but I can't find it.

jusmee · 12-03-2009, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Sometimes the text might be deliberately grey, but the usual reason for this is anti-aliasing (using greyscales to smooth the edges of glyphs). This is often worse for serif fonts than san serif, and heavier fonts are usually better too.
.

This text is grey right through, not just the futzing round the edged due to anti-aliasing.

12-03-2009, 01:52 AM	#1
Sunspark Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 2600 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: EZ Reader Pocket PRO	Is it my imagination or are the fonts in a greyscale instead of a black? Looking at the chapter headings it is black.. and the upgrade progress bar was also black as well.. but everything else including fonts (whether bolded or otherwise) tend to be a lower contrast dark grey compared to black. Is this a software thing? I'd like for it to not use greyscale shading for text if that's what is happening.. To give an example, go to the "about" screen of your device. Where it says "All rights reserved", that's black. So is the top of the coffee cup. But everything else is a lighter grey.. which reminds me a lot of what it looks like when you try to print coloured text on a black and white laser printer..

12-03-2009, 11:32 AM	#4
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	Sometimes the text might be deliberately grey, but the usual reason for this is anti-aliasing (using greyscales to smooth the edges of glyphs). This is often worse for serif fonts than san serif, and heavier fonts are usually better too. If you are running (or creating) ePubs through Calibre try switching the font to san-serif (via --extra-css): Code: body { font-family: sans-serif; } You can also add your own fonts for ePub, providing is it DRM-free and so modifiable via Calibre, see Fonts and Epub - What works on Sony, Works for Pocket Pro too! EDIT: see New Firmware Upgrade coming Friday-Monday for a short discussion of anti-aliasing. Last edited by wallcraft; 12-03-2009 at 12:20 PM.

12-03-2009, 12:08 PM	#6
AJ Starr Guru Posts: 815 Karma: 1029784 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Nebraska, USA Device: PEZ, Color Libre, 2@Sony T1, Onyx i62HD	Question on Epub fonts for PP Walcraft, you probably know this. I would like to have my basic ebook file with a larger font than most people, thus I would be able to enlarge it better with the PP selections. But I seem to remember somewhere that no matter what your base font is in epubs, the PP will show it the same. I did try to reconfigure with Calibre once with base font of 14 and then 20, but it always showed the same on the PP. Is this a function of the epub generator for the PP, or am I doing something wrong, or ?????? Thanks, AJ

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Photographs (album?) on 4/16 greyscale ?	Clemenseken	Which one should I buy?	2	12-05-2010 11:05 PM
Is it my imagination?	tnronin	Sony Reader	11	03-03-2010 03:47 PM
will the 2.0 be backlit? greyscale lvl increse?	pippin65	Amazon Kindle	6	02-08-2009 06:16 PM
where is that greyscale icon patch for emelFM2?	genome2k	iRex	0	09-22-2008 04:29 PM
No hi-res greyscale LCDs?	radius	Which one should I buy?	10	01-25-2008 02:44 PM

12-03-2009, 08:36 AM	#3
Sunspark Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 2600 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: EZ Reader Pocket PRO	Why are epubs so popular then? DRM? So useless. epubs will kill ebooks then. Is it for sure a font thing? The device has 8 levels of grey. DroidSansBold free Android font from Google seems decent http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=pla...0005252;sf=tgz

12-03-2009, 12:08 PM	#5
omro Addict Posts: 373 Karma: 452000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Hamilton, On Device: Kobo Aura HD	So. As I've not yet used my PP as I'm stil waiting for it's delivery. When you view an ePub document, you cannot specify which font you view it with from the PP itself on the fly? Only the zoom level?

Advert

Advert