Aura HD patches of paler display, apparently text-based

MacEachaidh · 11-19-2014, 12:38 PM

Strange thing - not a major drama, but very curious - the last couple of ePubs I've read on my Aura HD have had pages where patches of text have been noticeably paler and spindlier than the text around them.

It might only be three words or so on a line, then the same on the next line, and on the next, so that it's an area of the screen that's pale, not a lateral string of concurrent text.

At first I thought it might be my screen that was faulty - some damage to the substrate - but when I turned the page, it wasn't occurring on the next page, nor on the one before the occurrence. But it wasn't just a refresh thing either, because if I went back to the page where it occurred, there the blotch of paleness was again.

I opened up the ePub in Sigil, and checked the code, and found nothing. There was no coding I could find that might account for it; no change of font or font attribute, no text colour, no floating graphic (no graphics in the body of the book at all, other than the cover art).

Anyone else seen this happen, and can point me to an explanation?

(P.S. I haven't seen it occur in the book I'm currently reading, so I'm assuming it's really not the screen and that it's specific to certain books. But I still can't see what could be causing it.)

anacreon · 11-19-2014, 03:50 PM

I haven't had the HD since mid-September, but I remember seeing something like your patches of grey, usually late at night after reading for hours in dim ambient lighting, and wondering whether it was my eyes, the book or the reader. I usually decided it was time to let everybody and everything rest, and go to sleep. This was leading to my HD dying on me, but I felt this last was caused by lots of manipulating a problem epub.

Who knows?

meeera · 11-19-2014, 10:40 PM

Does it persist when you set the reader to do a full refresh every page?

MacEachaidh · 01-25-2015, 11:43 AM

Hi Meera,
Apologies for such a long hiatus, but thanks for your question.

But yes it does persist. I can even close the book and re-open it, or shut down my Kobo and restart it, and the same paleness will be on the same pages around the same words. It's kinda weird.

It may be that the screen is failing, as suggested, but I would not have thought that would mean the same strings of text would show up the same way every time.

It's very odd.

PeterT · 01-25-2015, 12:27 PM

Are you're sure it's not in the markup of the book?

MacEachaidh · 01-25-2015, 12:40 PM

Well, as I said, I looked hrough the code in Sigil, and could find nothing that seemed to affect the formatting in this way.

Other than some kind of colour code that is translating to percentages of grey on the Kobo display, I can't think what kind of markup would produce this effect.

PeterT · 01-25-2015, 12:57 PM

And that colour code going to percentages of grey is exactly what I was referring to.

MacEachaidh · 01-25-2015, 01:01 PM

There's none of it though, Peter, as I said.

Jellby · 01-25-2015, 01:26 PM

What happens if you change the font family/size?

JSWolf · 01-25-2015, 01:29 PM

Can you post the CSS and we can see what it might possibly be?

bearymore · 01-27-2015, 02:40 PM

I have something similar, but it does not seem to be associated with specific pages. It seems to be somehow refresh related as flipping to the next page and flipping back will cause it to go away. It seems to occur randomly, except that it infallibly occurs when I access a footnote preview box and then close it. The area below where the box was will appear pale and spindly and will go away with a page flip and return to the original page. It did not occur, as far as I can remember, before firmware 3.12.

dordale · 01-27-2015, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearymore

I have something similar, but it does not seem to be associated with specific pages. It seems to be somehow refresh related as flipping to the next page and flipping back will cause it to go away. It seems to occur randomly, except that it infallibly occurs when I access a footnote preview box and then close it. The area below where the box was will appear pale and spindly and will go away with a page flip and return to the original page. It did not occur, as far as I can remember, before firmware 3.12.

I'm still on firmware 3.11 with my HD and I notice the above behavior occasionally. Once in a while it seems like the text is lighter on certain sections of the screen. Like bearymore's experience--when I flip the page and go back text appears normal. This is infrequent enough that it doesn't bother me, but if it was something I noticed on a regular basis, it would be irritating.

frostschutz · 02-01-2015, 06:04 PM

This happens when I use the dictionary or such. It puts an info box over the text and when it goes away the text is not always redrawn properly. Flip the page and back and it's normal. It's not really a bug, it's normal for most readers to not do a full refresh after playing around in menus and such. It's a shortcoming of the display technology.

If it doesn't go back to normal and always affects the same page/paragraph, it's usually something strange in the HTML... see if it has a different CSS class from the others or something.

11-19-2014, 12:38 PM	#1
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	patches of paler display, apparently text-based Strange thing - not a major drama, but very curious - the last couple of ePubs I've read on my Aura HD have had pages where patches of text have been noticeably paler and spindlier than the text around them. It might only be three words or so on a line, then the same on the next line, and on the next, so that it's an area of the screen that's pale, not a lateral string of concurrent text. At first I thought it might be my screen that was faulty - some damage to the substrate - but when I turned the page, it wasn't occurring on the next page, nor on the one before the occurrence. But it wasn't just a refresh thing either, because if I went back to the page where it occurred, there the blotch of paleness was again. I opened up the ePub in Sigil, and checked the code, and found nothing. There was no coding I could find that might account for it; no change of font or font attribute, no text colour, no floating graphic (no graphics in the body of the book at all, other than the cover art). Anyone else seen this happen, and can point me to an explanation? (P.S. I haven't seen it occur in the book I'm currently reading, so I'm assuming it's really not the screen and that it's specific to certain books. But I still can't see what could be causing it.)

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11-19-2014, 03:50 PM	#2
anacreon Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 3475832 Join Date: May 2012 Location: France Device: Elipsa, Sage, Libra 2	I haven't had the HD since mid-September, but I remember seeing something like your patches of grey, usually late at night after reading for hours in dim ambient lighting, and wondering whether it was my eyes, the book or the reader. I usually decided it was time to let everybody and everything rest, and go to sleep. This was leading to my HD dying on me, but I felt this last was caused by lots of manipulating a problem epub. Who knows?

11-19-2014, 10:40 PM	#3
meeera Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,814 Karma: 68407974 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Libra 2, iPadMini4, iPad4, MBP; support other Kobo/Kindles	Does it persist when you set the reader to do a full refresh every page?

01-25-2015, 11:43 AM	#4
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Hi Meera, Apologies for such a long hiatus, but thanks for your question. But yes it does persist. I can even close the book and re-open it, or shut down my Kobo and restart it, and the same paleness will be on the same pages around the same words. It's kinda weird. It may be that the screen is failing, as suggested, but I would not have thought that would mean the same strings of text would show up the same way every time. It's very odd.

01-25-2015, 12:27 PM	#5
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,505 Karma: 78910112 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Are you're sure it's not in the markup of the book?

01-25-2015, 12:40 PM	#6
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Well, as I said, I looked hrough the code in Sigil, and could find nothing that seemed to affect the formatting in this way. Other than some kind of colour code that is translating to percentages of grey on the Kobo display, I can't think what kind of markup would produce this effect.

01-25-2015, 12:57 PM	#7
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,505 Karma: 78910112 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	And that colour code going to percentages of grey is exactly what I was referring to.

01-25-2015, 01:01 PM	#8
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	There's none of it though, Peter, as I said.

01-25-2015, 01:26 PM	#9
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,548 Karma: 19500001 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	What happens if you change the font family/size?

01-25-2015, 01:29 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,740 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Can you post the CSS and we can see what it might possibly be?

01-27-2015, 02:40 PM	#11
bearymore Zealot Posts: 103 Karma: 39270 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo Aura One	I have something similar, but it does not seem to be associated with specific pages. It seems to be somehow refresh related as flipping to the next page and flipping back will cause it to go away. It seems to occur randomly, except that it infallibly occurs when I access a footnote preview box and then close it. The area below where the box was will appear pale and spindly and will go away with a page flip and return to the original page. It did not occur, as far as I can remember, before firmware 3.12.

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02-01-2015, 06:04 PM	#13
frostschutz Linux User Posts: 2,282 Karma: 6123806 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Device: none	This happens when I use the dictionary or such. It puts an info box over the text and when it goes away the text is not always redrawn properly. Flip the page and back and it's normal. It's not really a bug, it's normal for most readers to not do a full refresh after playing around in menus and such. It's a shortcoming of the display technology. If it doesn't go back to normal and always affects the same page/paragraph, it's usually something strange in the HTML... see if it has a different CSS class from the others or something.