Slow scrolling in converted epub (PRS-T2)

[cbaabc]

Hello,

I just got my Sony PRS-T2 and converted some walkthroughs in txt format into epubs. Problem is, with each page it scrolls slower the further I am into the epub. So on page 1 it is normal and on page 29 it takes so long, that the small loading screen pops up.

I use calibre 0.8.67 and the following options to get an epub resembling the txt as close as possible:
Look & feel
- Extra CSS: p {font-family:monospace}

txt-Input
- Paragraph style: single
- Formatting style: plain
- Preserve Spaces

rest is default.

So now my question: Are there other options to convert txt to epub without destroying the formating?
I can't use the txt as it is, as my reader won't display monospace for txt files. I could convert it into a pdf file, but I want to try epubs first.

I'm not sure if this is a problem with the reader or the conversion, so I start here.

Regards cbaabc
PS: I attached the txt file.

[cbaabc]

I seem to have found a solution. I changed
Epub output:
- split files larger than

to 50KB and scrolling and also searching now works a lot better. I'm not sure if this is the best thing to do, as now on every split there is a gap between the text. (half of the last page before the split can be empty)

Is there a way to tell calibre when to split the text? (splitting every 50KB is vague)

[Agama]

How does your ePub differ from the plain text file?

[Agama]

Originally Posted by cbaabc

So now my question: Are there other options to convert txt to epub without destroying the formating?

What formatting is getting lost when you convert to ePub?

[frostschutz]

You should attach the epub that is causing the problem.

[Agama]

I've had a play with your txt file and come up with an epub that looks pretty close. What do you think?

(v2 has top/bottom margins and 64K page splitting)

[cbaabc]

Originally Posted by Agama

I've had a play with your txt file and come up with an epub that looks pretty close. What do you think?

(v2 has top/bottom margins and 64K page splitting)

With the options I postet above, I get a similar looking epub. The slow scrolling happens with your v1, but not your v2. The Sony reader really seems to hate large epubs without splitting (while scrolling and searching).
Did you use some other conversion options as I used above and if so, could you post them?

Originally Posted by frostschutz

You should attach the epub that is causing the problem.

v1 from Agama's post has the same scrolling problem. I wonder, if it happens only on Sony readers or is a general problem for e-readers.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by cbaabc

I seem to have found a solution. I changed
Epub output:
- split files larger than

to 50KB and scrolling and also searching now works a lot better. I'm not sure if this is the best thing to do, as now on every split there is a gap between the text. (half of the last page before the split can be empty)

It's hard to believe the default of 260k was too large for your device, since a split this small was put in as an option specifically to accommodate the early Sony models PRS505, 300 etc...

Originally Posted by cbaabc

Is there a way to tell calibre when to split the text? (splitting every 50KB is vague)

I'm not an expert on Sigil (forum here), but I believe Sigil lets you split on chapters.

Good Luck.

[Agama]

Originally Posted by cbaabc

With the options I postet above, I get a similar looking epub. The slow scrolling happens with your v1, but not your v2. The Sony reader really seems to hate large epubs without splitting (while scrolling and searching).
Did you use some other conversion options as I used above and if so, could you post them?

I don't think that Sony readers generally have a problem with large xhtml files within an ePub but I think that this is specific to the conversion used with this plain text file. I don't know if this is related to the fact that every line has become a paragraph or that there are no chapter breaks, (and therefore the reader is somehow having to process the whole book as one huge chunk.) The slow down can also be seen in ADE on a PC, though it's less obvious because the PC is a lot more powerful that the reader.

Conversion options were

TXT Input > Paragraph style > single
TXT Input > Formatting style > none
Look & Feel > Extra CSS > body { font-family:monospace }
Page Setup > Margins > Left:5pt, Top:12pt, Right:5pt, Bottom:12pt
ePub Output > Split files larger than > 64KB

The book was then given a minor tweak using calibre's Tweak Book option:

1) .calibre style was given font-size:0.8em (a better starting point on my reader which only has 3 zoom sizes).
2) .calibre1 style was removed and . . .
3) P style was added (have a play with top-margin and line-height in em).
4) All class="calibre1" styles were removed from the .html split files since they were made redundant by steps 2 and 3. (Did this just to reduce the filesizes).

(If you get more styles like .calibre2, .calibre3 etc. then these can also be removed and the styling incorporated in the P styling).

And finally

If you are prepared to spend a bit of time using Markdown with your plain text file then a better conversion could be achieved, complete with 'chapters' and a table of contents - but you may feel that it is not worth the effort. I reckon this would not show the slowdown effect. I have done many conversions of much larger plain text sources, using Markdown and a file split of 127K, and my PRS-300 shows no slowdown.

Hope this is helpful.

[Agama]

Originally Posted by cbaabc

Is there a way to tell calibre when to split the text? (splitting every 50KB is vague)

Yes, use Markdown formatting.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

It's hard to believe the default of 260k was too large for your device, since a split this small was put in as an option specifically to accommodate the early Sony models PRS505, 300 etc...



I'm not an expert on Sigil (forum here), but I believe Sigil lets you split on chapters.

Good Luck.

AFAIK Sigil has no Automatic splitting.
You can do a Manual Split (Immediate)
or

you can insert a Marker by pressing Cntrl-Shift-Enter (or use the Insert Chapter Marker menu item),
Programmatically (REGEX) insert the marker(

<hr class="sigilChapterBreak" />

) I use this a lot

Then (the Biggie, The marker does almost nothing other than show as an Horizontal Rule in BV).
Press F6 (Split on Chapter Marker), once in each section that contains the marker. The split happen AND the marker is removed.

Rebuild the TOC if needed AND Flightcrew check the code (splits/deletes can make orphan links)