Aura H2O Aura H2O Sharpness Slider

[Randall Huff]

Hello,

I am interested in the Aura H20 but have a question. If I purchase one will it have a separate sharpness slider as well as the weight slider or will the two be combined into one slider?

Currently on the Kobo website it states that with TypeGenius "Choose from 11 adjustable font styles, 24 font sizes, plus exclusive text weight and sharpness settings," and shows a photo of the two separate sliders. However, I understand that with a previous firmware update the two sliders were combined, at least for the Glo. Having the two settings separately adjustable seems like a valuable feature to me.

If the H20 does come with the two sliders combined, can earlier firmware be installed to bring the old feature back, and is that earlier firmware available?

Many thanks!

[mr_nihilism]

H2O does not have a sharpness slider. It does indeed have a a slider for weight.

Don't know if Kobo will bring it back in a future FW...but I doubt it.

[robko]

The Kobo firmware runs across all devices so what one has all will have (at least the newer devices). I can say from hands on the H2O has it combined. You might be able to go back firmware, but the last firmware with them split might be before the H2O was released so I can't guarantee it will work.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Randall Huff

I am interested in the Aura H20 but have a question. If I purchase one will it have a separate sharpness slider as well as the weight slider or will the two be combined into one slider?

With the current firmware versions the weight and sharpness sliders are compined in one slider, increase weight and sharpness increases too (but it isn't a simple linear relationship for all weight/sharpness values.)

Currently on the Kobo website it states that with TypeGenius "Choose from 11 adjustable font styles, 24 font sizes, plus exclusive text weight and sharpness settings," and shows a photo of the two separate sliders. However, I understand that with a previous firmware update the two sliders were combined, at least for the Glo. Having the two settings separately adjustable seems like a valuable feature to me.

There seems to be a lot of out-of-date info on the website currently. With the current firmware the H2O actually has 48 font sizes. I was disappointed to see the picture for the Glo HD was wrong too, it must have been a marketing mock-up. (I am surprised Kobo can get away with using that misleading image in its advertising.)

If the H20 does come with the two sliders combined, can earlier firmware be installed to bring the old feature back, and is that earlier firmware available?

No. The last firmware that had the combined separate sliders was 3.1.1, while the first firmware version for the H2O was 3.7.0.

It is possible to set the weight and sharpness of particular fonts seperately by editing the values stored in the configuration file. There is also a patch which allows a fixed sharpness value to be used for all fonts, so the sharpness set by the slider is ignored.

[Randall Huff]

Thanks to all for your replies--in spite of the combined slider I have a feeling I'll be buying an H20 due to its larger screen size and multitude of available font sizes.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by Randall Huff

Thanks to all for your replies--in spite of the combined slider I have a feeling I'll be buying an H20 due to its larger screen size and multitude of available font sizes.

Good choice. And its fully water proof and workable in complete bath water. Or pool side.

regards

JAck

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by Randall Huff

Thanks to all for your replies--in spite of the combined slider I have a feeling I'll be buying an H20 due to its larger screen size and multitude of available font sizes.

I believe all Kobo readers have the combined slider now. And if your other consideration was a Kindle Voyage, Kindles have very few fonts and do not have any adjustments for font weight or contrast or sharpness at all.

[JSWolf]

I have an H2O and to be honest, you don't need a separate slider for sharpness. It's plenty sharp enough with the current settings.

[GeoffR]

Here is a screenshot from my Glo (fw 3.13.1) showing the range of weight/sharpness adjustments. The selected font is the built-in Georgia Regular, using the KEPUB reader.

The weight/sharpness slider allows very fine adjustments, but I've only shown the combinations of the minimum, default, and maximum values on the slider.

With the combined weight/sharpness slider it is only possible to set min/min, default/default, max/max, etc. With separate sliders it was possible to set min/default, default/max, etc. too.)

(I've attached the example kepub I used to make the screenshot. The weight/sharpness adjustment slider works for epubs too, but setting the weight/sharpness values from within a book only seems to work with kepubs.)

[GeoffR]

Here is a better illustration of the sharpness/weight adjustments. Again the selected font is Georgia Regular in the KEPUB reader.

The table shows increasing sharpness from left to right, and increasing weight from bottom to top.

This is still only a small sample of the possible weight/sharpness values, the adjustment slider allows much finer adjustment than I can show here. (There are actually about 10 selectable values between each item in the table.)

Having a combined weight/sharpness slider means it is effectively only possible to select combinations along the bottom-left to top-right diagonal of this table.

[Randall Huff]

Wow, thanks GeoffR for the screenshots and explanations--very helpful. I do wish the two sliders were still separate but even with them combined the Kobo still offers substantially more text customization than the Kindle PW and, I believe, the Voyage.

[aceflor]

It does, but, and I have both, although the H2O screen is very good, the Voyage is sharper. I use both, depending on what I need, but when I am tired, I always switch to the Voyage because I can keep on reading.

I have tried to improve the sharpness on my H2O but whatever configuration I try, the Voyage is still sharper.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by aceflor

I have tried to improve the sharpness on my H2O but whatever configuration I try, the Voyage is still sharper.

The Voyage is 300dpi, the H2O 265dpi; of course it is impossible to match the sharpness of a 300dpi screen on a 265dpi screen.

But the purpose of adjustable sharpness is to allow the reader to make a compromise: by sacrificing some sharpness (selecting a lower sharpness value) they can achieve an increase in the smoothness of curves, diagonal lines, etc.

Edit: It is a bit like a soft-focus filter on a camera: sometimes things look better when they are not perfectly in focus. Maximum sharpness allows you to see all the blemishes (pimples/pixels).

Edit2: Adjustable sharpness is achieved using anti-aliasing: maximum sharpness is when there is no anti-aliasing; more anti-aliasing results in less sharpness and more smoothness. Smoothness vs sharpness is a compromise, the only way to have both more sharpness and more smoothness is to increase the pixel density of the screen.

So a better way to think of the sharpness adjustment slider is:

Smoother <----------x----------> Sharper

Smooth and sharp are both good things, but you can't choose both. What looks best is subjective: the perfect balance will depend on the font used, font size, your eyesight, how far you hold the screen from your eye, etc.

Eventually when screen pixel density gets high enough (600dpi? 1200dpi?) then it won't matter, everything will look perfectly smooth and sharp as far as the human eye can distinguish. Until then it is a useful feature for the reader to be able to choose a balance between smoothness and sharpness that makes the best use of the screen they have.