Forma New Kobo reader: The Forma/Shape

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by emiliolara

It seems another failure as they did with KA1. A 300€ gadget shoudn't have these flaws.

Well, everyone's entitled to their opinion. For myself, I'm finding it impossible to care whether there's a faint grey 3mm band down the right margin where I have no text. At least it's a uniform band. I see no sign whatsoever of the more traditional triangular "light cones" or irregular blotches seen on some previous devices from various manufacturers.

Also, for those who like really low brightness, the 1% level is noticeably lower on the Forma than it is on the KA1 - but not as low as 1% on the ClaraHD.

As for colour temperature ... when ramped up to 100% my Forma has a far more even colour than my KA1 (which resembles a Tequila Sunrise with most of the grenadine sunk to the bottom left corner ). Colour-wise it's a lot less orange than the KA1 and quite similar to the more yellow ClaraHD.


Regarding page turn buttons ... for some reason I was expecting them to work only when turning the pages of a book. I'm highly delighted to find they also work when paging through the various book lists. At last! No more accidentally opening a book when trying to swipe-scroll through the list.

The buttons also work when turning "pages" in:
- dictionary (pop-up & fullscreen modes)
- Author names list and Collection names list
- a multi-page synopsis on the Book Details page

[jiminrussell]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Nathan G runs The eBook Reader.

I am the Nate that runs The Digital Reader.

Yeah, it is confusing, and it's my fault - when I chose my name I didn't even think about similarities. Sorry about that!

My apologies Nate for mixing up your site with Nathan's

[konstantinus]

Originally Posted by webgandalf

...
The new device has the same problem to a lesser extent.
I would not call this one of the most beautiful e-ink seen so far.

At what brightness settings is this line visible?

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by webgandalf

I have purchased the Kobo Forma on monday.
I returned the first Forma cause I thought the display had big problems of uniformity.
See image for yourself.
Attachment 167169
The new device has the same problem to a lesser extent.

I also noticed this.

I've only had the Forma for a couple of hours (haven't even done any thorough reading on it yet!), so I still need to test some more.

I initially thought they were going for some "physical page gutter" look when I saw the band out of the corner of my eye.

The band looks much worse while reading in the dark with lower brightness + at certain shades of "natural light".

Originally Posted by konstantinus

At what brightness settings is this line visible?

I'm testing mine in a completely dark room:

Brightness: Anywhere from ~20%-90%.

Around 90-100%, it gets less noticeable.

And around 1-20%, it's too dim to tell much different from the left part of the screen.

Natural Light: Mine is on 3 ticks from the left (more whitish light).

The more red the light is, the less noticeable it looks.

Similar to the brightness, the left-most (whitest) and right-most (reddest) settings are not as noticeable. But the middle seems to make the line pop worse.

* * *

Note: It's more noticeable while you're reading on the left/middle part of the screen. And looks like a "page gutter" in my peripheral vision. Pretty distracting.

[webgandalf]

A little comparison :
All the image with the device brigthness at 100%

Kobo Forma
https://ibb.co/k8RxRV
Kindle Voyage
https://ibb.co/ky1xRV
Kobo H2O 2014
https://ibb.co/iSNbLq

[webgandalf]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

I also noticed this.
The band looks much worse while reading in the dark with lower brightness + at certain shades of "natural light".

True. With more room light the defect seems less present.

To add another thing the text is a little less contrasted than the other devices I own.

[konstantinus]

Already many owners have written about the line on the screen. And there are those who do not have it?

P.S. Could this be due to the placement of the backlight LEDs, as hinted here?

[ElspethB]

Originally Posted by webgandalf

To add another thing the text is a little less contrasted than the other devices I own.

Thanks for sharing your pictures. I had been toying with picking up a Forma, but this along with the right-side band issue has made me hold off. My wallet thanks you, too!

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Well, everyone's entitled to their opinion. For myself, I'm finding it impossible to care whether there's a faint grey 3mm band down the right margin where I have no text. At least it's a uniform band. I see no sign whatsoever of the more traditional triangular "light cones" or irregular blotches seen on some previous devices from various manufacturers.

Also, for those who like really low brightness, the 1% level is noticeably lower on the Forma than it is on the KA1 - but not as low as 1% on the ClaraHD.

As for colour temperature ... when ramped up to 100% my Forma has a far more even colour than my KA1 (which resembles a Tequila Sunrise with most of the grenadine sunk to the bottom left corner ). Colour-wise it's a lot less orange than the KA1 and quite similar to the more yellow ClaraHD.


Regarding page turn buttons ... for some reason I was expecting them to work only when turning the pages of a book. I'm highly delighted to find they also work when paging through the various book lists. At last! No more accidentally opening a book when trying to swipe-scroll through the list.

The buttons also work when turning "pages" in:
- dictionary (pop-up & fullscreen modes)
- Author names list and Collection names list
- a multi-page synopsis on the Book Details page

Thank you! All of that is very helpful. Shame the Forma Comfirtlight is brighter than the Clara's... I only use 1-5% on the Clara and would like something less than 1%.

Haha Tequila Sunrise

[k9reeder]

Originally Posted by konstantinus

Already many owners have written about the line on the screen. And there are those who do not have it?

P.S. Could this be due to the placement of the backlight LEDs, as hinted here?

I would love to hear from others who don't have this streak. The more I study the screen photos posted by various users here, the more consistent looking the problem seems to be.

I enhanced... (Blade Runner: Enhance!)... some of the images posted on this forum, and included photos of my own Forma, by simply adjusting the input Level of these images, ie basically darkening the entire image evenly. And the result is pretty similar, and dramatic.

Now there's no need to do this, the streak is noticeable to see with the unaided eye once the onboard lighting is used, but the photo enhancements help to show what these other posters and I can see un-enhanced.

But I'm still loving the Forma. Right now I'm using a little kludge that helps "unsee" the streak. I haven't decided yet if I should enter the "replacement lottery" if it turns out all the screens being manufactured are basically the same.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

I'm testing mine in a completely dark room:

Brightness: Anywhere from ~20%-90%.

Around 90-100%, it gets less noticeable.

And around 1-20%, it's too dim to tell much different from the left part of the screen.

Natural Light: Mine is on 3 ticks from the left (more whitish light).

The more red the light is, the less noticeable it looks.

Similar to the brightness, the left-most (whitest) and right-most (reddest) settings are not as noticeable. But the middle seems to make the line pop worse.

* * *

Note: It's more noticeable while you're reading on the left/middle part of the screen. And looks like a "page gutter" in my peripheral vision. Pretty distracting.

Thank you!!

Originally Posted by webgandalf

A little comparison :
All the image with the device brigthness at 100%

Kobo Forma
https://ibb.co/k8RxRV
Kindle Voyage
https://ibb.co/ky1xRV
Kobo H2O 2014
https://ibb.co/iSNbLq

Thank you for the effort! What kind of camera are you using for this, with what kind of settings? Three individual pictures of 100% light doesn't give much information comparison-wise... especially if your camera automatically adjusts for amount of light glaring at the lens... all three brightnesses will turn out the same on the pictures even if they are very different...

[CH23]

I'm thinking the LEDs are too close to the usable screen, at an angle which makes the light within bounce right over that first 'dark band'

I've yet to see it in real life, as the store closest to me did not have it on display yet.

[konstantinus]

Originally Posted by k9reeder

I would love to hear from others who don't have this streak.

Yes, I would like to know that everyone has it or not.

[jlinear]

I picked up a Forma from my local Walmart last night. I have always preferred the paper-like screen of the Kobo H20 to my Oasis and the Forma is no exception. I was able to successfully apply the 4.11.11911 patches I was most interested in (especially the line height patches) and they work very well (thanks to those responsible). I can also see a streak (1/8 of an inch or so) down the entire right side of the screen. It is consistent, muted but still slightly brighter than the rest of the screen. Noticeable if I stare at it. My margins are set so that text does not extend into that area and I find it becomes rather imperceptible while reading. Not a big deal for me. All in all, I like the Forma very much (especially the large screen) and my initial impression is that it will quickly become my favorite e-reader.

[MGlitch]

I wish people would stop saying 'right side' or 'left side'. This device literally changes which side is which.

I propose 'wedge side' and 'far side' so everyone looking at reports will know what side people are actually looking at. Even this is limited since it fully supports landscape mode with the wedge at the top or bottom of the screen. But I suspect most people read in portrait mode.