Aura HD Bad definition on my Aura HD

alex_kb · 07-14-2014, 07:41 AM

Hi,
I'm sorry if the topic has already been brought up but I tried to search for a thread with a similar problem on the forum but I couldn't find it.
Anyway, something very upsetting happens to my aura hd.
If i set the refresh to 6 (pages) the difference between the first one after the refresh and the last one (just before the refresh) shows something from high resolution to low resolution, where characters seem to lack ink and definition.
This happens with firmware 3.3.0 and 3.5.0. reading epub
I don't know if it's my kobo or anything else.
Any suggestion?
Attached a couple of pics to show what I mean.
Thanks

Barcey · 07-14-2014, 08:20 AM

That's consistent with mine. I set the refresh to 3 pages but you can experiment to meet your own preference.

indyglow · 07-14-2014, 08:31 AM

Agree with Barcey. That is consistent with my Aura HD too, mine is kept to refresh at every page turn.

meeera · 07-14-2014, 08:57 AM

I find the every-page-turn refresh less distracting, I presume because my brain is expecting it. Nicer text is a pleasant side effect!

alex_kb · 07-14-2014, 09:01 AM

Thanks guys...
I don't understand why some device has this issue and others don't.
Someone told me that he set the refresh to 50 pages and there was no difference from the 1st and the 50th... Others that don't have this problem.

I don't know if that's my impression, but I also noted that the first page of a chapter if fine, no matter if kobo refreshed 1 or 6 pages before.

Actually reading your replies it makes me think it could be "normal", or something that might happen with some devices, or some glitch caused by its hardware or software.

The only thing i know for sure is that's disappointing

meeera · 07-14-2014, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex_kb

Thanks guys...
I don't understand why some device has this issue and others don't.
Someone told me that he set the refresh to 50 pages and there was no difference from the 1st and the 50th... Others that don't have this problem.

I've never actually seen one of the every-50-99-pages people post high-quality close-ups, though. I've just assumed that it's largely differing tolerances, eyeballs, and brains. I'm sure there are plenty of people who simply wouldn't see the ghosting artifacts that bother you and me. And more power to them!

Quote:

Actually reading your replies it makes me think it could be "normal", or something that might happen with some devices, or some glitch caused by its hardware or software.

The only thing i know for sure is that's disappointing

It's the nature of e-ink. Ghosting is less bad than with older screens, but it's not non-existent. Just refresh more often. I do recommend trying every page, for a couple of hours, if ghosting bothers you; it's likely you'll simply stop noticing the refresh.

Dr. Drib · 07-14-2014, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by indyglow

Agree with Barcey. That is consistent with my Aura HD too, mine is kept to refresh at every page turn.

+1 = happy.

the.Mtn.Man · 07-14-2014, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex_kb

The only thing i know for sure is that's disappointing

It's simply the limit of e-ink technology, and all e-ink based e-readers exhibit this behavior. Just be thankful that Kobo allows you to customize the frequency of page refreshes, since not all e-readers give you this option.

NiLuJe · 07-14-2014, 12:39 PM

The Aura (NOT the Aura HD) has the software means to behave slightly better in that regard (like the Kindle PW2). It's been a while since I've seen one in person, so I can't vouch for how well it's implemented and/or works on a Pearl screen vs the Carta of the PW2 (where it works pretty damn well).

That said, the font & rendering settings can have a rather large impact on how badly the partial refresh 'eat' at the sharpness of the font. I tend to prefer well hinted fonts (usually CFF ones) for that reason: you usually end up with very sharp fonts, without a lot of fuzz around the edges to begin with.

Ripplinger · 07-14-2014, 01:54 PM

I don't notice that happening at all on my Kobo Glo. Thinking it's something I just don't notice, I scanned a page at 200% to see if I was missing it. These are the 2 scans, one on the page freshly refreshed, and one after 40 page turns. I resized them back down to normal so they wouldn't be huge images. If I didn't know which was which, I wouldn't be able to tell which was the refreshed page and which was after 40 page turns.

alex_kb · 07-14-2014, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I don't notice that happening at all on my Kobo Glo. Thinking it's something I just don't notice, I scanned a page at 200% to see if I was missing it. These are the 2 scans, one on the page freshly refreshed, and one after 40 page turns. I resized them back down to normal so they wouldn't be huge images. If I didn't know which was which, I wouldn't be able to tell which was the refreshed page and which was after 40 page turns.

What font and firmware are you using?

Ripplinger · 07-14-2014, 02:37 PM

I stick to firmware 2.4.0 for several reasons, and the font is Caecilia which is one of the stock Glo fonts.

alex_kb · 07-14-2014, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I stick to firmware 2.4.0 for several reasons, and the font is Caecilia which is one of the stock Glo fonts.

Thanks....

NiLuJe · 07-14-2014, 06:33 PM

Note that @Ripplinger is using (pardon my French) big-ass bold fonts, which certainly plays a part in the difference in behavior

.

GeoffR · 07-14-2014, 07:08 PM

I find the ghosting is much more noticable if the lines of text don't fall in exactly the same position on every page, such as when there is a space between paragraphs that is not the same height as a line of text. (This occurs with books published by Baen for example, where there is often a 2 pixel space between paragraphs).

I think temperature also has a big effect: in cool conditions ghosting on my Glo is much less severe than in hot conditions. On a cold winter's day like today 40 pages between refreshes is fine. But on a hot summer's day I wouldn't want to go more than about 10.

07-14-2014, 07:41 AM	#1
alex_kb Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2014 Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle	Bad definition on my Aura HD Hi, I'm sorry if the topic has already been brought up but I tried to search for a thread with a similar problem on the forum but I couldn't find it. Anyway, something very upsetting happens to my aura hd. If i set the refresh to 6 (pages) the difference between the first one after the refresh and the last one (just before the refresh) shows something from high resolution to low resolution, where characters seem to lack ink and definition. This happens with firmware 3.3.0 and 3.5.0. reading epub I don't know if it's my kobo or anything else. Any suggestion? Attached a couple of pics to show what I mean. Thanks Attached Thumbnails

07-14-2014, 01:54 PM	#10
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,587 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	I don't notice that happening at all on my Kobo Glo. Thinking it's something I just don't notice, I scanned a page at 200% to see if I was missing it. These are the 2 scans, one on the page freshly refreshed, and one after 40 page turns. I resized them back down to normal so they wouldn't be huge images. If I didn't know which was which, I wouldn't be able to tell which was the refreshed page and which was after 40 page turns. Attached Thumbnails

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07-14-2014, 08:20 AM	#2
Barcey Wizard Posts: 1,531 Karma: 8059866 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Canada Device: Kobo H2O / Aura HD / Glo / iPad3	That's consistent with mine. I set the refresh to 3 pages but you can experiment to meet your own preference.

07-14-2014, 08:31 AM	#3
indyglow Connoisseur Posts: 77 Karma: 101837 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: iPad Air, Kobo Forma, Kobo Aura HD (RIP)	Agree with Barcey. That is consistent with my Aura HD too, mine is kept to refresh at every page turn.

07-14-2014, 08:57 AM	#4
meeera Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,862 Karma: 68407974 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Libra 2, iPadMini4, iPad4, MBP; support other Kobo/Kindles	I find the every-page-turn refresh less distracting, I presume because my brain is expecting it. Nicer text is a pleasant side effect!

07-14-2014, 09:01 AM	#5
alex_kb Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2014 Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle	Thanks guys... I don't understand why some device has this issue and others don't. Someone told me that he set the refresh to 50 pages and there was no difference from the 1st and the 50th... Others that don't have this problem. I don't know if that's my impression, but I also noted that the first page of a chapter if fine, no matter if kobo refreshed 1 or 6 pages before. Actually reading your replies it makes me think it could be "normal", or something that might happen with some devices, or some glitch caused by its hardware or software. The only thing i know for sure is that's disappointing

07-14-2014, 12:39 PM	#9
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,506 Karma: 26047202 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	The Aura (NOT the Aura HD) has the software means to behave slightly better in that regard (like the Kindle PW2). It's been a while since I've seen one in person, so I can't vouch for how well it's implemented and/or works on a Pearl screen vs the Carta of the PW2 (where it works pretty damn well). That said, the font & rendering settings can have a rather large impact on how badly the partial refresh 'eat' at the sharpness of the font. I tend to prefer well hinted fonts (usually CFF ones) for that reason: you usually end up with very sharp fonts, without a lot of fuzz around the edges to begin with.

07-14-2014, 02:37 PM	#12
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,587 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	I stick to firmware 2.4.0 for several reasons, and the font is Caecilia which is one of the stock Glo fonts.

07-14-2014, 06:33 PM	#14
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,506 Karma: 26047202 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	Note that @Ripplinger is using (pardon my French) big-ass bold fonts, which certainly plays a part in the difference in behavior .

07-14-2014, 07:08 PM	#15
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	I find the ghosting is much more noticable if the lines of text don't fall in exactly the same position on every page, such as when there is a space between paragraphs that is not the same height as a line of text. (This occurs with books published by Baen for example, where there is often a 2 pixel space between paragraphs). I think temperature also has a big effect: in cool conditions ghosting on my Glo is much less severe than in hot conditions. On a cold winter's day like today 40 pages between refreshes is fine. But on a hot summer's day I wouldn't want to go more than about 10.

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