Thread: Footnotes
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Old 03-17-2017, 02:49 AM   #5
davidfor
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Quote:
Originally Posted by icallaci View Post
Is the ability to select a specific, tiny area of the screen a function of the reading software then? I always assumed that touches would be handled by either the hardware or possibly the firmware. The difference between epubs and kepubs in this respect is like night and day. Footnotes in epubs are frustratingly impossible for me to use, while kepub footnote links are hassle-free. Just wondering what is behind the two methods.
Detecting the tap is hardware. What to do with the tap is software. Tapping the right spot is wetware.

When you tap, the hardware detects where and reports to the interested software there was a tap and the coordinates of the tap. The software is listening for the reports and maps the coordinates reported to the controls on the screen. In a book, this is the tap zones for turning the page, opening the menus, setting a bookmark and links (can't think of anything else - I'm ignoring long presses). Each tap zone will have coordinates describing its shape. The software finds which tap zone the coordinates for the tap fall into and take the appropriate action.

Basically all that means is the smaller the size of the tap zone, the harder it is to hit and trigger the action. For epubs, the tap zone for a link seems to be the size of the link as displayed. So, it is the size of the letters it contains and for a superscript 1, it is tiny. For an kepub, they must make it bigger and hence easier to tap. I don't know how much bigger. It could be a minimum size is used, or they could be adding a fixed number of pixels around all links.

Another factor is the resolution of the touch sensor. The lower the resolution, the larger the tap zone needs to be. If the touch resolution is the same as the screen resolution, then each pixel can be a separate tap zone but it would be virtually impossible to actually tap. But, if the touch resolution is to low, then the software can't determine accurately where you tap. For IR touch you are basically breaking IR beams across the screen. These will be a grid. The smaller the grid, the more accurate the touch detection.

And of course the last factor in this is the wetware - how accurately we tap. I know how inaccurate I am. I can get that tiny little 1 if I concentrate and use my little finger, but usually I miss. If I increase the font size, I can get them every time.
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