Clara HD Light "bleed" at side issue

[jlynton]

Has anyone got a Clara HD that does not bleed light from the sides?

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by jlynton

Has anyone got a Clara HD that does not bleed light from the sides?

Do you mean towards the screen or outwards through the bezel "into your hand"? No and yes respectively in my case (So errr yes bleed onto screen and no bleed onto hand.) Though the amount of bleed onto screen differs per device. I have a Clara that bleeds a little from a few LEDs along bottom of the right bezel, and I returned another Clara that had slightly less bright bleed, but from two additional LEDs (one on the left, and another higher up the right bezel as well as the ones along the bottom of the right bezel).

[jlynton]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

Do you mean towards the screen or outwards through the bezel "into your hand"? No and yes respectively in my case (So errr yes bleed onto screen and no bleed onto hand.) Though the amount of bleed onto screen differs per device. I have a Clara that bleeds a little from a few LEDs along bottom of the right bezel, and I returned another Clara that had slightly less bright bleed, but from two additional LEDs (one on the left, and another higher up the right bezel as well as the ones along the bottom of the right bezel).

Thank you, I meant bleeding towards the screen.

[anacreon]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

...The light is both better and worse than I initially thought. It took me awhile to end up in conditions where I needed to use it. And then I saw it has a bit of bleed on the edges and doesn't seem as uniform as literally every other Kobo model that I've owned. If you use the light frequently and especially at a high setting I would just avoid this device. This has to be said it is a critical design flaw that should put some people off of buying the Clara HD.

The way in which the light is better than I thought is that I cranked up the natural light setting last night and discovered that instead of looking orange, it looks really good under the warm light of my lamp. It perfectly blended with it so that the screen looked like a warm white.

Every single ereader that I've owned has at least one critical failing. In the Clara HD it is the uniformity of the light. If that is important to you, don't buy it. Else I highly recommend it.

I would not say it is a critical failing. I'm more bothered by the slipperiness of the back, and thinking of using a skin (I might have some black one somewhere). I'll wait until I've used it more. In any case, it is my secondary reader while on the go (I use the One at home), so never read long on it.

It complements the Aura H2O Ed. 2 because it has one critical failing of having poor native contrast. So if you use the light extensively the H2O provides the better reading experience, but if you don't the Clara HD provides the better reading experience.

I've had the Clara since Monday. I read mostly with light at 100% during the day, and the bleeding doesn't bother me, I completely forget it while reading. But then I like a margin around the page and read only kepubs with a header and a footer. I understand it might bother someone reading full-page epubs, with no margins at all.

On the other hand looking at the Clara while writing this post, the light bleed on the right hand-side is no wider than the shadow of the edge on the left hand-side, which is probably less obvious thanks to the bleed.

[Atilla]

This amazingly brave lady has a fix for the uneven light on Clara HD

https://youtu.be/sxqVLnosNTI

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by Atilla

This amazingly brave lady has a fix for the uneven light on Clara HD

https://youtu.be/sxqVLnosNTI

Thanks very much, I will be doing this tweak. It is funny because earlier this month I had watched another of her videos and felt bad for her because she bought the Aura Ed. 2 not knowing that the Clara HD was about to be released.

That was a very questionable decision on part of Kobo to not include the tape on all four sides. It is funny that it was such a simple design flaw.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by Atilla

This amazingly brave lady has a fix for the uneven light on Clara HD

https://youtu.be/sxqVLnosNTI

oh dear this looks like it could be another (lack of) quality control/problem for Kobo.

best wishes koboy

[CH23]

Originally Posted by Atilla

This amazingly brave lady has a fix for the uneven light on Clara HD

https://youtu.be/sxqVLnosNTI

i tried to get to the screen from the back, but the PCB seemed to be glued onto the metal plate, and this glued to the front bezel.

I'll try again. If this fixes it, i'll be very happy. thanks!

[jkrzok]

Originally Posted by CH23

i tried to get to the screen from the back, but the PCB seemed to be glued onto the metal plate, and this glued to the front bezel.

I'll try again. If this fixes it, i'll be very happy. thanks!

I too thought that the front was glued on. It was merely taped. I'm very happy with the fix. Now if we could only find the firmware download so we can patch the Clara...

[koboy]

Originally Posted by CH23

i tried to get to the screen from the back, but the PCB seemed to be glued onto the metal plate, and this glued to the front bezel.

I'll try again. If this fixes it, i'll be very happy. thanks!

will Kobo be rectifying the light bleed defect by adding the tape to the sides on all future made Clara HD's?

the reason i ask this is because although the fix looks and should be relatively easy to do it still obviously voids the warranty. which i'm pretty sure will be enough for some people not to buy it.

best wishes koboy

[booklover6]

I can hardly believe my eyes, that she did all that fiddling with the device turned ON.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I can hardly believe my eyes, that she did all that fiddling with the device turned ON.

With a device like this that has a built in battery and a soft power switch, I doubt it matters if the device is on or off. If you short out the circuit board or ESD zap it, it's gonna kill it even if it's off. If it's on, at least you know you might have zapped it.

She was at least vaguely careful in handling, and has a warning near the end of the video to be careful about touching the back.

[Waylander]

So, given that there are undoubtedly issues with the lighting of the Clara, would it be better if I left it for a bit and give them a chance to maybe sort it out? Or should I just try my luck and get one and see what happens? I'm not in any rush as my Oasis works fine, but some advice would be great.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Waylander

So, given that there are undoubtedly issues with the lighting of the Clara, would it be better if I left it for a bit and give them a chance to maybe sort it out? Or should I just try my luck and get one and see what happens? I'm not in any rush as my Oasis works fine, but some advice would be great.

I don't (personally) think I would want to buy a new eReader that would have to be opened up and modified right away. I seriously wonder if Kobo is planning to fix the issue for future Claras. I'm guessing they don't see any real problem.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I can hardly believe my eyes, that she did all that fiddling with the device turned ON.

Actually it is the only good way to do it. You have to know that you eliminated the bleed before putting it back together. It didn't bother me because whenever I build a pc, my first test boot is sans case to make sure all of the hardware works.

The weird part is seeing how really thin and delicate the screen is. That really reinforces that most of the volume of an ereader is the battery and board.