Page turning latency benchmarks?

[Hyphen-ated]

I don't like the delay when turning pages on e-readers. I saw a moderate improvement by converting my books to kepub before I put them on my kobo device, but it wasn't enough. I am interested in upgrading to a reader with as fast as possible page turning, while still being an e-ink screen. (A regular tablet is not an option.)

I have looked around for latency benchmarks to try to figure out which devices can help me achieve this goal, and I haven't been able to find any actual numbers.

Do measurements like this exist anywhere? Or failing that, are there any devices that are well-known for being very fast?

[BookCat]

I don't know if this is the case for the Kobo readers, but with Kindles you can set the 'refresh' rate. This means than you can turn the pages a number of times before you get the flash which indicates a refresh.
Refresh also slows the page turn a little. This may be what is causing your problem.
You need a Kobo user to come along and tell you how to set the refresh rate on your reader. Maybe post your question in the Kobo department of MobileRead - they're very helpful.
Try this before purchasing another reader.

[hobnail]

My elipsa is much faster than my Forma. Much. I don't like the ghosting I sometimes see when it doesn't refresh so I've set it to refresh on every page turn, same as I did on the Forma. But with its cover the elipsa is significantly heavier. The cover comes in two pieces and I don't use either one. The larger size of the elipsa is also a bonus for me. I don't use its stylus, it's just a book reader for me.

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by hobnail

My elipsa is much faster than my Forma. Much. I don't like the ghosting I sometimes see when it doesn't refresh so I've set it to refresh on every page turn, same as I did on the Forma. But with its cover the elipsa is significantly heavier. The cover comes in two pieces and I don't use either one. The larger size of the elipsa is also a bonus for me. I don't use its stylus, it's just a book reader for me.

I don't even see ghosting on my kindles, which refresh every 6 turns. But some are more sensitive to it. I just hate the flash.

[Hyphen-ated]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Refresh also slows the page turn a little. This may be what is causing your problem.

Thanks for the suggestion, but that's not it. I have entirely disabled the automated refresh. This causes the background to slowly build up crud from not-quite-cleared text in previous pages, but I find this less annoying than the automatic intermittent flashing. When it gets bad enough I refresh it manually by pulling up and then dismissing the navigation UI.

[Hyphen-ated]

Originally Posted by hobnail

My elipsa is much faster than my Forma. Much. ... The larger size of the elipsa is also a bonus for me.

Oof I don't know if I could comfortably read in bed with a screen that size. Thanks for the tip though, I'll keep this option in mind

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by BookCat

I don't know if this is the case for the Kobo readers, but with Kindles you can set the 'refresh' rate. This means than you can turn the pages a number of times before you get the flash which indicates a refresh.

Not quite sure if the ability to set refresh every page or accept the Kindles default setting could be called setting the refresh rate. For a Kobo, out of the box you can set the screen refresh from 1 to 10 pages or refresh on a chapter boundary.

[Hyphen-ated]

In the spirit of being the change I want to see in the world, I have measured the latency of my Kobo Aura HD, running software version 4.25.15875

Procedure:
* Get an epub of "Dracula", and go to the first page of chapter 1.
* Record with a 60 fps camera.
* Smack the screen with a finger nice and quickly to get an easily measurable moment of contact.
* Wait for the page to turn.
* Repeat a total of 10 times.
* Play back the video frame by frame and measure from when the finger touches to when the page has turned and is comfortably readable.
* Convert the book to kepub and repeat the whole thing

Results:
epub:
avg latency: 1.658s
min latency: 1.574s
max latency: 1.975s

kepub:
avg latency: 1.914s
min latency: 1.832s
max latency: 1.964s

I'm surprised to see that kepub did worse. I have a very distinct memory of a noticeable improvement after converting to kepub. Maybe some of my books were pathologically slow for some technical reason, and those books were handled better by kepub.

I consider these numbers to be atrocious. Under 0.5s would be more bearable, but still objectively bad.

It's easy to prove that a majority of this slowness is because of poorly written software, not because of inherent limitations of the display. If I immediately tap to turn the page right after a previous page turn finishes, it's way way faster.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Hyphen-ated

I don't like the delay when turning pages on e-readers. I saw a moderate improvement by converting my books to kepub before I put them on my kobo device, but it wasn't enough.

This comes from choosing devices from manufacturers who have been offering hardware that has been out of date for years and is still poorly equipped.

I am interested in upgrading to a reader with as fast as possible page turning, while still being an e-ink screen. (A regular tablet is not an option.)

I don't have such problems with my EInk Android tablets - Boyue-Likebook, Onyx-Boox.

[Hyphen-ated]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

choosing devices from manufacturers who have been offering hardware that has been out of date for years and is still poorly equipped.

It wasn't out of date when I bought it.

Knowing which devices are "poorly equipped" is exactly why I am interested in benchmarks.

I don't have such problems with my EInk Android tablets - Boyue-Likebook, Onyx-Boox.

How long does it take to turn a page?

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Hyphen-ated

It wasn't out of date when I bought it.

Hardly anything has happened in the past 10 years

Knowing which devices are "poorly equipped" is exactly why I am interested in benchmarks.

Almost all of them (Kindle, Kobo, aso) - only Pocketbook devices could be more modern (dual core CPU); but I do not know for sure.

How long does it take to turn a page?

Fast enough for me - so I have no need to measure it.
My EInk Android tablets are equipped with quad / octa cores, from 1.5 GHz and usually from 2 GB Ram upwards and that is noticeable.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Hardly anything has happened in the past 10 yearsAlmost all of them (Kindle, Kobo, aso) - only Pocketbook devices could be more modern (dual core CPU); but I do not know for sure.Fast enough for me - so I have no need to measure it.
My EInk Android tablets are equipped with quad / octa cores, from 1.5 GHz and usually from 2 GB Ram upwards and that is noticeable.

We get it. Your e-ink android tablets are better than any dedicated reader...in your opinion. Thank you for enlightening us.

Shari

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Hyphen-ated

In the spirit of being the change I want to see in the world, I have measured the latency of my Kobo Aura HD [...]
Results:
epub:
avg latency: 1.658s[...]

kepub:
avg latency: 1.914s [...]
I consider these numbers to be atrocious. Under 0.5s would be more bearable, but still objectively bad.

Now I'm kinda wondering if there's something hinky going on with your reader or with that book. Admittedly I've got a Kobo H2O2 which is somewhat newer, but I'd eyeball the page-turn at maybe half a second. Certainly not long enough to cause me any toe-tapping or annoyance. It's significantly faster than I could turn a paper page.

Faster CPU means a battery life trade off, but whatever works for you. Check out reviews on Youtube (ideally from someone who knows an epub from a kepub, or which apps/formats are which on an Android device) to have a look at the page turn speed.

[John F]

Fwiw, on my Glo HD, if I tap quickly to change pages, it seems instantaneous. If I actually read a page, it approaches 2 seconds. I'm conditioned to Tap before I've finished reading a page.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by John F

Fwiw, on my Glo HD, if I tap quickly to change pages, it seems instantaneous. If I actually read a page, it approaches 2 seconds. I'm conditioned to Tap before I've finished reading a page.

I fully admit that I'm not using Science! to measure the speed, but I did wait before flipping, to allow for the page-reading. A full refresh is a touch slower, but on a non-refresh turn, if I'm counting "one-and" for seconds, I don't quite get to the "and". And my device is pretty old now.