06-10-2007, 04:44 PM | #16 | |
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06-10-2007, 05:02 PM | #17 |
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The Sony Reader is my first e-reader. Earlier display technologies were simply unacceptable to me for serious reading. Although the Reader isn't perfect, I find it very useful and convenient. While the contrast is not as high as paper and ink, the ability to increase the font size is a huge advantage in low light situations, especially for those of us with presbyopia. It is more convenient than a book because I don't have to hold it open or change my hand position when I flip pages. And, of course, it is much better for traveling since it can hold many many books.
All in all, I think the Reader is a fine piece of technology. |
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06-10-2007, 05:04 PM | #18 |
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I'll tell you that I mostly used to read old paperback books. They're grey on yellow and the printing is much fuzzyer than what you say about eink screens. And ghosting? That paper was so thin that you could clearly see the printing on the opposing page. Compared to that and the fact that most portable devices force me to secrete lacrimonious fluids profusely for the 15mins I can use them, I'd say eink is great... Strike that. Awesome!!!
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06-10-2007, 08:31 PM | #19 | |
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Of course, that advantage is common to any electronic storage device vs. the old-school physical media. Now if we could leverage it further for fancy things like searching |
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06-10-2007, 09:58 PM | #20 |
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Oh, I agree there, allovertheglobe. I think that part of their reluctance to do a search function in the Reader may have to do with being afraid that the relatively slow processor and display refresh might be long enough to scare some folks away. Personally, it wouldn't bother me much to have to wait a few seconds for my search results, but I don't think that attitude is necessarily the majority one among Sony's target market.
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06-11-2007, 08:37 AM | #21 | |
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Granted, 1on1 reading of manga-images is not good because the digital images gets resampled. But if the size is converted correctly, it becomes very readable. In fact, the size of the reader is exactly as big as a manga-book. (i've converted a lot of mangatitles for the reader now. It's 2GB worth of lrf-files, which were about 40GB of cbr/cbz-files. I do agree that there are a lot of improvements needed for the reader, but I'm very satisfied with it as it is now. some improvements I'd want: -folder hierarchy -left/right hand usage. -the TOC follows the current page -builtin lighting Last edited by athlonkmf; 06-11-2007 at 08:39 AM. |
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06-11-2007, 03:36 PM | #22 | |
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In other words, I can live with it, but some Manga are still pretty much unreadable. I have tried the various samples in this forum, as well as a couple of my own. The artwork may look OK, but the text-size some scanslation teams picked is so small that it is literally ~5-6 pixel high, and no amount of futzing with sharpening or levels is going to make this legible. Obviously, you can't just change the text-size as with a regular book. As far as comparing it to print, I have to disagree. First, professional print is not done at 166DPI, it might be 166LPI (Lines Per Inch), a completely different resolution scale used by professional printers. Second, and most importantly, I'm putting a recent legally purchased Tokyo Pop manga next to the reader, and both are indeed the approx. the same physical size. But the difference is remarkable! Not to mention contrast, but there is tiny text a millimetre high still sharp and legible, which would be a 4 pixel blotch at best on the reader. There are highly detailed screentones pushing the limit of the lineprinters they use, which turn inevitably into mushy shades of grey on the reader. And so forth... Contrast aside, the artwork, including some of the simpler screentones, doesn't look half bad on the reader with proper filtering and re-sizing, and text is sufficiently large in most scanslations, but it doesn't compare to the real deal... yet. But that is the compromise for "free" mangas. A higher resolution would help, like the Iliad, but price and size offset that benefit. The Hanlin V9 looks promising, with a 825 * 1200 resolution pretty much double that of the Sony reader. (http://www.jinke.com.cn/compagesql/E...tail.asp?id=34) Meanwhile, the Sony Reader will have to do for me. Last edited by allovertheglobe; 06-11-2007 at 03:40 PM. Reason: Clarification |
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06-11-2007, 05:21 PM | #23 | |
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I've got my own way of processing my collection, which could be the reason why I don't have a problem with it. As for the resolution, I've done a short research before buying the reader and I've read that on "recycled/cheap"-mangapaper the resolution is about 160DPI, therefor I concluded that the reader's resolution just fit it. (i'm comparing to the "jump"-magazines, not the hiqh-quality paperback volumes) I've just bought a manga from the connect store with the credit and indeed, the quality is really washed out... quite terrible. I've uploaded one sample of the manga I converted for the reader, try that one out: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...24&postcount=2 Not trying to speak good of mangascans, but if scanlations are better quality when converted to lrf compared to a "legal" manga-ebook.. I think i'll stick to scanlations for now. Now that i've previewed the manga I've bought in the connect reader, I understand why it's so washed out on the reader itself. The resolution is much higher than the reader's. When downsampling, the reader makes it all fuzzy... Last edited by athlonkmf; 06-11-2007 at 05:52 PM. |
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06-11-2007, 11:34 PM | #24 |
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I too can read the text in the attached photo. I don't see a problem with it.
One problem (I'm guessing based on other books) that the connect store has poorly formatted the Manga. Left wide margins so the photos have to be shrunk more then they would have they used no margins. |
08-18-2007, 02:17 PM | #25 |
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Reader Contrast Comparision
My second reader arrived Thursday though I purchased it on 7/30. Following instructions posted elsewhere I contacted Sony and had no problem receiving the 149 Summer Promotion Extension as they promptly sent me my $50 coupon code. Thanks Sony!!
Right off I noticed a large difference in contrast between my two readers. In the past on the this forum I've seen people rave about how ink and paper like the lettering was in their books. I always thought, "well its nice" but its not _that_ nice. Well... With my original reader long reading sessions tired out my ol' eyes. And I needed perfect lighting to read without strain for long sessions. The new reader is night and day better. The blacks are inky black and the background appears to be a bit lighter as well, but the big difference is the true blackness of the "ink" in contrast to the dark grey on my orginal reader displays. On the new reader the lettering seems to almost float of the screen. If you look are the attached shot of the Reader menu you can see this across the very top. Thats not glare. The new reader, the left one, the top bar is darker then the reader housing itself. On my old reader the Reader housing (plastic) is darker then the black (more dark grey) ink. It is really noticable by looking at the right side where the numbered tabs are. Notice how dark the curser/pointer is on tab 2 as well as the contrast forming the 3-Dness of the tabs. The Icons on the left are clearly darker as well. The second attachment shows the noticable difference in greys and black in a cover shot of a book. (Dreaming In Code) The first shot was taken with "natural light" from the bottom of the shot. The second shot was taken with a flash, which I tried to center between the two readers. Now that I have two readers(!!) I'll give Sony a call on Monday and see if I can get the first one repaired. So far they've been very good to me. Last edited by CoryDog; 08-18-2007 at 02:55 PM. |
08-18-2007, 04:41 PM | #26 |
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Hmmm.... looking back at that pic I first made, the contrast of my reader sure has diminished 2 months. While in this pic I made when I first got my reader
menu is really black. Now, the menu is grey and washed out. The same as your reader... |
08-19-2007, 01:31 AM | #27 | |
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Unless, of course, different generations of e-paper were used. |
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08-19-2007, 01:41 AM | #28 | |
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LPI tells you how closely lines can be positioned and still be distinguished from each other = resolved. If you think about it, x LPI = 2x DPI, as there has to be white between the lines if they should be resolved. 166 DPI is thus approx 83 LPI, and that's on the level of newspaper image print quality. |
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08-22-2007, 08:33 PM | #29 |
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Hi - new poster, but have had my Reader since 12/06. I noticed the same thing with my Reader as well - the ink being lighter than newer versions (I compared with a friend who got hers about a month back).
Unfortunately, after calling Sony Support, they said there's nothing that can be done about it - after going through the requisite hard reset and firmware upgrades questions. I asked if Sony was aware of the problem and/or able to develop something to improve the ink, but again, nothing out there right now. So it looks like I will either have to make do with my current one or badger the family for a new one come b-day! If anyone else has better luck, please do share! Thanks |
08-28-2007, 08:09 PM | #30 |
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Hi all,
First post... this is my first use of the eReader. I like it, except I do feel the contrast is not as good as I expected. But the biggest issue I have is with bleed through. Is this normal? Every previous page shows through when viewing the next page, making it hard to read. Is there a fix or do I just need to learn to live with it? Thanks for any tips... and I did see mention somewhere of a way to use the joystick to turn the pages. How do I implement that... it would be fantastic. Thanks again. |
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