PRS-T1 Screen contrast/greyscale issue

soseono · 02-09-2012, 08:21 PM

I've been noticing that something's wrong with the greyscale/contrast of my T1's screen, especially font anti-alias/rendering. The fonts aren't drawn smooth, but rather jagged, and look fuzzy. Since I prefer small serif fonts for reading, this bugged me a lot.

So I made some greyscale test images, in 32 greyscale. I know that T1's spec is 16 greyscale, so understandably there's some emulated greyscale display in between. But you can see in my attachments (the first two) that there are a few points where the grey block isn't clean and straight, but more like checkered.

Anyway, I wonder if it's just my unit or if this is a rather widespread issue. I'm also attaching the test images, so please tell me what you see on your T1.

(The small gif is the original that I used to create the test images.)

Holtor · 02-10-2012, 01:22 AM

Nice test. But is the result not exactly what one would expect? Maybe I am misinterpreting the pictures, but when the display can display only 16 shades of gray and you try to make it show shades in-between, then they shall be dithered. Possibly the text-smoothing algorithm is not optimized for 16 shades of gray.

Analogus · 02-10-2012, 01:55 AM

Hi!

Nothing wrong so far.

1) Your grey scale images show the typical dithering. In-between-grey-shades will be mixed with (depending on the used algorithm) regular or irregular patterns. Same on my PRS350.

2) What interest me is what you mean with 'jagged fonts'. I presume you are a very accurate person. What you see is probably the (in my opinion) bad screen-resolution of the 6-inch-readers. 600px * 800px isn't that good for six inches.

A.

elcreative · 02-10-2012, 08:28 AM

So showing a 32 shade greyscale image on a device that offers 16 shade greyscale display, gives some irregular dithering... not exactly unexpected... if it did proper dithering for 32 shade greyscale then it would be a 32 shade greyscale display but it isn't, it's 16 shade...

soseono · 02-10-2012, 05:11 PM

So according to you, the dithering is natural and shouldn't be the cause of my problem. I had a chance to compare my T1 to someone else's side by side, and there really is a problem with the fonts. My display also looked comparatively more washed out, so maybe that's why? I'm just trying to figure out why, but hopefully Sony will send me a warranty replacement soon.

carpetmojo · 02-10-2012, 05:45 PM

Duff box, bung it back....

02-09-2012, 08:21 PM	#1
soseono Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 36180 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: US East Coast Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle 4, Sony PRS-T1 (formerly PRS-500 & 505), iPad Air	Screen contrast/greyscale issue I've been noticing that something's wrong with the greyscale/contrast of my T1's screen, especially font anti-alias/rendering. The fonts aren't drawn smooth, but rather jagged, and look fuzzy. Since I prefer small serif fonts for reading, this bugged me a lot. So I made some greyscale test images, in 32 greyscale. I know that T1's spec is 16 greyscale, so understandably there's some emulated greyscale display in between. But you can see in my attachments (the first two) that there are a few points where the grey block isn't clean and straight, but more like checkered. Anyway, I wonder if it's just my unit or if this is a rather widespread issue. I'm also attaching the test images, so please tell me what you see on your T1. (The small gif is the original that I used to create the test images.) Attached Thumbnails Last edited by soseono; 02-10-2012 at 05:07 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
PRS-650 Screen contrast	gmw	Sony Reader	9	11-21-2010 05:06 AM
Screen Contrast - Nook vs K3?	ManosHandsOfFate	Which one should I buy?	2	09-01-2010 07:57 AM
Screen contrast	cristianm	Onyx Boox	6	07-11-2010 05:05 AM
Screen Contrast	DrDk	Astak EZReader	12	03-06-2010 09:27 AM
Screen contrast	DrDk	Ectaco jetBook	3	03-04-2010 11:11 PM

02-10-2012, 01:22 AM	#2
Holtor Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: PRS-T1	Nice test. But is the result not exactly what one would expect? Maybe I am misinterpreting the pictures, but when the display can display only 16 shades of gray and you try to make it show shades in-between, then they shall be dithered. Possibly the text-smoothing algorithm is not optimized for 16 shades of gray.

02-10-2012, 01:55 AM	#3
Analogus Fanatic Posts: 568 Karma: 2170348 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: 2x Sony PRS-350; PRS-300 (†), Paperwhite (†), Voyage	Hi! Nothing wrong so far. 1) Your grey scale images show the typical dithering. In-between-grey-shades will be mixed with (depending on the used algorithm) regular or irregular patterns. Same on my PRS350. 2) What interest me is what you mean with 'jagged fonts'. I presume you are a very accurate person. What you see is probably the (in my opinion) bad screen-resolution of the 6-inch-readers. 600px * 800px isn't that good for six inches. A.

02-10-2012, 08:28 AM	#4
elcreative Wizard Posts: 2,888 Karma: 5875940 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: PRS505, 600, 350, 650, Nexus 7, Note III, iPad 4 etc	So showing a 32 shade greyscale image on a device that offers 16 shade greyscale display, gives some irregular dithering... not exactly unexpected... if it did proper dithering for 32 shade greyscale then it would be a 32 shade greyscale display but it isn't, it's 16 shade...

02-10-2012, 05:11 PM	#5
soseono Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 36180 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: US East Coast Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle 4, Sony PRS-T1 (formerly PRS-500 & 505), iPad Air	So according to you, the dithering is natural and shouldn't be the cause of my problem. I had a chance to compare my T1 to someone else's side by side, and there really is a problem with the fonts. My display also looked comparatively more washed out, so maybe that's why? I'm just trying to figure out why, but hopefully Sony will send me a warranty replacement soon.

02-10-2012, 05:45 PM	#6
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	Duff box, bung it back....

Advert

Advert