Kobo Forma front light malfunction within a week...

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by m_j

I received my Forma 32G from Japan on this Monday
It had no issue except the light stripe
However, a blue area appears on the screen today when I turn on the front light
The machine has official cover to protect it and I only use it in my room.
I have tried manual factory reset twice but nothing changed.
It seems like I have to contact Kobo for international service now.
This is my first Kobo eReader and the purchase is quite frustrating...

I keep looking at your images and it's hard to see how that blue blotch could happen without some damage to your Forma's display. Part of this is from looking at where the LEDS are located in the Forma and the other part comes from that, to the best of my knowledge, the Forma does not include any blue LEDs.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

The flickering light triggered a migraine for me twice. I realize that monitors and tvs also flicker but it must have something do with the frequency.

Are you sure it was the light on the Forma? As someone who lives with a person who suffers severely from migraines, I do understand that flashing lights cause a problem. But, the issue seems to be much lower frequencies than what is being reported for the light in the Forma. The flashing is usually visible to me, and there have been plenty of cases where I could detect some flashing, but she couldn't and didn't end up with a migraine.

[m_j]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I keep looking at your images and it's hard to see how that blue blotch could happen without some damage to your Forma's display. Part of this is from looking at where the LEDS are located in the Forma and the other part comes from that, to the best of my knowledge, the Forma does not include any blue LEDs.

The first picture was taken before the blue area happened.
The second to fifth ones are taken after the issue happened.
As you can see, there is no crack or damage on the screen.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by m_j

The first picture was taken before the blue area happened.
The second to fifth ones are taken after the issue happened.
As you can see, there is no crack or damage on the screen.

And internal to the layers that make up the screen sandwich? Take a look back though the posts on substrate damage with images in any eInk reader forum and you can see how few of them involved visible external damage. As I've said, given the LED location and types, I can't see a mechanism not involving damage that would cause the blue blotch you are seeing. And yes, I consider the layers in the sandwich delaminating as damage.

[m_j]

Originally Posted by DNSB

And internal to the layers that make up the screen sandwich? Take a look back though the posts on substrate damage with images in any eInk reader forum and you can see how few of them involved visible external damage. As I've said, given the LED location and types, I can't see a mechanism not involving damage that would cause the blue blotch you are seeing. And yes, I consider the layers in the sandwich delaminating as damage.

So you imply that I damage the internal layer of the machine?
As I said in the first post, the machine is well-protected in the official cover and haven't dropped or crushed. If putting covered Forma in a drawer without any stuff on its screen can cause this kind of damage, then I can only say good luck to those Forma owner. They may need a bullet-proved cover to protect their Forma.

[m_j]

I just get the replied from Kobo customer service about the light stripe issue I asked before the blue area happened.
Please see the picture.
So I should be satisfied with the light stripe...

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by m_j

I just get the replied from Kobo customer service about the light stripe issue I asked before the blue area happened.
Please see the picture.
So I should be satisfied with the light stripe...

That’s not what the reply says at all. It says they want you to be satisfied and if they need to refund or replace your Forma for you to be satisfied they will you just have to ask them for which one you want to do

[m_j]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

That’s not what the reply says at all. It says they want you to be satisfied and if they need to refund or replace your Forma for you to be satisfied they will you just have to ask them for which one you want to do

On Wednesday, I sent an email to Kobo service about the light stripe. They asked for my firmware version number and I replied.
On Friday, my Forma had the front light problem out of blue, which is showed in my first post. I immediately contacted the online service for replacement. After waiting online for one hour, they said they cannot provide a replacement.
Then I received this email regarding to the light stripe today.
I am confused by their stance now.
Anyway, I have sent another email to check whether I can have a replacement or not.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by pickyaxe

It's also almost the exact same device as the Paperwhite 3, and is the 4th iteration in the Paperwhite series. It's much easier to ship a bug-free device when you're re-releasing the same product.

It's not almost the exact same, it has a big change in that it now has a flush screen that makes it look more like the Kindle Voyage. The other changes, increased PPI, waterproof, an extra LED are more minimal.

It's crazy when you think how good the screens/lighting on the Kobo Glo HD, Aura HD & H2O were that Kobo have really went backwards since.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

It's not almost the exact same, it has a big change in that it now has a flush screen that makes it look more like the Kindle Voyage. The other changes, increased PPI, waterproof, an extra LED are more minimal.

It's crazy when you think how good the screens/lighting on the Kobo Glo HD, Aura HD & H2O were that Kobo have really went backwards since.

The paperwhite from 2015 was 300 PPI as well. The flush screen is hardly a new technology it’s been around for years so it’s not really a major change here. Same goes for waterproofing.

The big new feature is audiobooks which is really just an extension of the text to voice that was available on the 2015 paperwhite.

Seriously the new one is the old one slightly polished but not really anything innovative.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Are you sure it was the light on the Forma? As someone who lives with a person who suffers severely from migraines, I do understand that flashing lights cause a problem. But, the issue seems to be much lower frequencies than what is being reported for the light in the Forma. The flashing is usually visible to me, and there have been plenty of cases where I could detect some flashing, but she couldn't and didn't end up with a migraine.

Yes I'm fairly sure. That is the only thing in common between the two incidents is reading on the Forma with the light on. I would be more confident if I could go through it a third time. But you can understand why I wouldn't want to do that.

One thing you have to understand about migraines is that different people have different triggers. They experience different symptoms, different degrees of severity, and different duration. Just because it caused me to feel ill doesn't mean that it will for all others that suffer from migraines.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by pickyaxe

It's also almost the exact same device as the Paperwhite 3, and is the 4th iteration in the Paperwhite series. It's much easier to ship a bug-free device when you're re-releasing the same product.

I don't buy this argument. The Forma is almost the same device as the Aura One. In fact they have more in common with each other than the PW4 has in common with the PW3. And both companies have been producing front-lit readers for many years now. This is not new technology.

And it doesn't matter if it is easy or hard to accomplish. It is the company's responsibility to make it work. The customer has no ethical obligation to be lenient if the company fails to deliver.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

I don't buy this argument. The Forma is almost the same device as the Aura One. In fact they have more in common with each other than the PW4 has in common with the PW3. And both companies have been producing front-lit readers for many years now. This is not new technology.

And it doesn't matter if it is easy or hard to accomplish. It is the company's responsibility to make it work. The customer has no ethical obligation to be lenient if the company fails to deliver.

not quite

The paperwhites are both 6" screens, both carta, both using relatively the same physical footprint, etc. The added features to the new paperwhite are waterproofing (doesn't change much with the way it's done), audiobook support (old paperwhite already had text to speech so the speakers were there), and the screen is capacitive instead of infrared (which is hardly a new technology even for Amazon).

The Kobo Forma is a larger screen, rather different physical layout as well as internally.

So the things that could actually cause issues aren't there in the Paperwhite, because Amazon hasn't changed them. While Kobo has changed things with the Forma.

And there's nothing for you to 'buy' here, the specs are there for anyone to see in black and white.

[NiLuJe]

Small nitpick: No PW ever had an IR screen (IIRC, only the original Touch did, which means maybe some/all of the "Basic" variants do, too).

[John F]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

not quite

The paperwhites are both 6" screens, both carta, both using relatively the same physical footprint, etc. The added features to the new paperwhite are waterproofing (doesn't change much with the way it's done), audiobook support (old paperwhite already had text to speech so the speakers were there), and the screen is capacitive instead of infrared (which is hardly a new technology even for Amazon).

The Kobo Forma is a larger screen, rather different physical layout as well as internally.

So the things that could actually cause issues aren't there in the Paperwhite, because Amazon hasn't changed them. While Kobo has changed things with the Forma.

And there's nothing for you to 'buy' here, the specs are there for anyone to see in black and white.

I thought the new Paperwhite added another LED?