5" or 6" screen?

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by ahi

Many people on this forum--albeit definitely not all--seem to prioritize functionality that has little to do with the fundamental act of reading a book, and, in fact, cannot but have a detrimental impact thereupon.

A 6" screen is difficult to make work for content more complex than just plain old paragraph after paragraph novels, and a 5" screen is probably approaching impossible to do so. There is, of course, nothing wrong with prizing compactness and convenient portability in a device, but a 5" device will pretty much be useless for reading anything other than plainly structured novels.

The manga comics that (or, at least, some of their text bubbles) are just barely readable at 6" will be actually unreadable at 5". Books with even the simplest typographic complication will not be displayable in any reasonably correct way. Anything with a picture will be close to impossible to float text around--unless the picture is just decoration and is not really meant to be seen in any meaningful detail.

A book reader (e or p) to me ought to be usable and useful for more than Charles Dickens and John Grisham. And, truly, the 6" screen just barely meets that criteria.

The ideal screen size for actually reading books a reasonably unrestricted variety of genres (many of which, I am aware, at this time are conspicuously absent from the market) is probably between 8" to 10". Perhaps down the road there will be a device that will be foldable to half that size when not in use and will thus satisfy both you and I.

I concur with many of your thoughs.

However, you can load up hundreds of pics on your reader, as well as hundreds more books. SO picture this. You are on the plane, a 14 hour trip. You'll have 8000-10,000 page turns on a full charge. You can read and read your regular books, and when you get bored reading, you can then switch over and annoy your neighbor with 8-level grayscale pics of your grandkids for the rest of the trip!!

The screen will be larger than most camera LCD screens, and a 5-inch 8-level greyscale will show better images than your 6-inch 4-level grey will.

I still await the 16- to 32-level greyscale reader with full-size screen, though.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

At a lower price point, smaller package, and giving up less than an inch of screen real estate.

SO, between a 5- or 6- inch, I'll take the 5. But I'm still gonna hold out for the 8- to 9-inch later.

Off the top of my head, it seems to me that the difference in screen real-estate between the 5 inch and the 6 inch displays is over 4 square inches... I'm guessing about 1/2 inch width-wise and 3/4 inch height-wise.

Making the 5" screen less roughly 70% the size of the 6" screen... making the 30% reduction in price apt, but hardly a better deal by a square-inch-display-per-dollar consideration.

Please, someone do correct me if I am prattling nonsense.

- Ahi

[Kris777]

[QUOTE=griffonwing;477747] Exactly how many lines of text to you lose between a 5- and 6-inch device? Probably not enough to warrant the hundred dollar difference in price.

QUOTE]

Almost no difference. You can compare 5" and 6" screens here

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by ahi

Off the top of my head, it seems to me that the difference in screen real-estate between the 5 inch and the 6 inch displays is over 4 square inches... I'm guessing about 1/2 inch width-wise and 3/4 inch height-wise.

Making the 5" screen less roughly 70% the size of the 6" screen... making the 30% reduction in price apt, but hardly a better deal by a square-inch-display-per-dollar consideration.

Please, someone do correct me if I am prattling nonsense.

- Ahi

You are definatley close than I am. Forgive me. It's late here, and the boss is whipping me with a split whip to get my job done.

I guess all I was really trying to say is losing 1/2 inch of the margins and less than an inch on the top and bottom is worth the price difference to me.

Must leave now... the master calls.

[griffonwing]

[QUOTE=Kris777;477783]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Exactly how many lines of text to you lose between a 5- and 6-inch device? Probably not enough to warrant the hundred dollar difference in price.

QUOTE]

Almost no difference. You can compare 5" and 6" screens here
***snipped image***

WOW! The 5-inch actually has 2 lines more than the Kindle!! And the lines are the same length, almost, at least for the first 3 lines of the paragraph.

Veddy Nice.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by Kris777

yes, the optimal size of the television depends on the distance of the viewer from the screen. The optimal size of eBook reader depends on many other factors and mostly depends on personal preferences.

It is my personal conviction that if 10 years from now, the perceived optimal size for eBook readers still depends on "personal preferences", it will be because the technology has failed to gain wide adoption.

A physical book's optimal size *doesn't* depend on personal preferences. It depends on the content--and it is around 6"x9" paper size that reasonably most anything can be competently typeset. This (i.e.: paper book) technology will never be replaced by any technology whose chief virtues are is fit-in-your-pocket-portability and variable font sizes.



The above is my personal opinion. If you disagreed both before and after reading it, you probably have a fairly good idea how likely I am to be convinced by counterarguments. Don't let that stop you from presenting them though.

- Ahi

[ahi]

Originally Posted by Kris777

Almost no difference. You can compare 5" and 6" screens here

The 5" device uses almost no margins, making the comparison less than ideal.

Also, the fact that the 5 inch device uses a sans-serif font makes me wonder if it has even poorer resolution than the 6 inch one. i.e.: It cannot display serif fonts at the same times as well as the 6 inch device.

Is this the case?

- Ahi

P.s.: On further inspection both devices' text looks almost (if not downright) double-spaced... is this how they normally display stuff??

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by ahi

A physical book's optimal size *doesn't* depend on personal preferences. It depends on the content--and it is around 6"x9" paper size that reasonably most anything can be competently typeset.
- Ahi

Yes, but why the optimal size of notebook screen depends on personal preferences? Many companies produduce 10", 12",13",14",15" and 17" screen notebooks and customers choose the right one based on personal preferences...

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by ahi

The 5" device uses almost no margins, making the comparison less than ideal.

Also, the fact that the 5 inch device uses a sans-serif font makes me wonder if it has even poorer resolution than the 6 inch one. i.e.: It cannot display serif fonts at the same times as well as the 6 inch device.

Is this the case?

- Ahi

P.s.: On further inspection both devices' text looks almost (if not downright) double-spaced... is this how they normally display stuff??

I'm not certain. But for a device as small as the 5-inch, I do not want any margins, and I want my fonts to be as simple as possible. I also would much prefer to have the lines single-spaced. This may be a setting preference ( I am hoping).

This way, I can use as much screen as possible with words. I have over a thousand books in TXT, LIT and PDF (text only) that I am dying to read.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by ahi

The 5" device uses almost no margins, making the comparison less than ideal.

Also, the fact that the 5 inch device uses a sans-serif font makes me wonder if it has even poorer resolution than the 6 inch one. i.e.: It cannot display serif fonts at the same times as well as the 6 inch device.

Is this the case?

- Ahi

P.s.: On further inspection both devices' text looks almost (if not downright) double-spaced... is this how they normally display stuff??

I think on this picture both screens have the same font size.
more pictures available here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=98

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by Kris777

I think on this picture both screens have the same font size.
more pictures available here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=98

The font sizes are the same, but I believe *he or* she was referring to the font type. The fonts are different, like Garamond vs Arial.

** added "he or" in case I mistakenly offended. Hard to tell with some usernames

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

The font sizes are the same, but I believe she was referring to the font type. The fonts are different, like Garamond vs Arial.

yes, font types are different but i'm not sure what types used on this picture

[ahi]

Originally Posted by Kris777

Yes, but why the optimal size of notebook screen depends on personal preferences? Many companies produduce 10", 12",13",14",15" and 17" screen notebooks and customers choose the right one based on personal preferences...

The larger screen sizes are reasonable for the "usual" computing tasks people perform, and the smaller screen-sizes are not quite going to be used the same way.

i.e.: Few would torture themselves by doing any meaningful amount of word processing on a 10" screen, if they have any halfway reasonable alternative. It's good enough for watching a movie or a TV show on the subway or surfing the net (or even doing last-minute/emergency word processing) in similar scenarios.

Although, it is worth noting, that computers seek to replace neither books nor televisions... making the comparison questionable in my eyes.

---

Indeed Ahi (he) meant the differences in the fonts.

On "devices" (offset printed paper pages included in the broad term) with sufficient resolution, the human eye deals better with serif fonts (e.g.: Times New Roman, Palatino, Garamond), and on poorer resolution devices it deals better with sans-serif fonts (e.g.: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana).

The apparent choice of a sans-serif font on the smaller device suggests to me that perhaps the manufacturer had no faith in (or plan of) being able to match the resolution of 6" display devices... and opted for a default font that would less blatantly show this shortcoming.

Sorry... I just realized the pictures are of your jetbook, and not a new 5" device. I think my font question/comment is mostly off-topic as a result.

- Ahi

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by ahi

The larger screen sizes are reasonable for the "usual" computing tasks people perform, and the smaller screen-sizes are not quite going to be used the same way.

i.e.: Few would torture themselves by doing any meaningful amount of word processing on a 10" screen, if they have any halfway reasonable alternative. It's good enough for watching a movie or a TV show on the subway or surfing the net (or even doing last-minute/emergency word processing) in similar scenarios.

Although, it is worth noting, that computers seek to replace neither books nor televisions... making the comparison questionable in my eyes.

In an age of Facebook and Twitter, Emails and Texting, YouTube and Wikipedia, a 10-inch netbook will find much use for those who thrive on non-stop communication.

Indeed Ahi (he) meant the differences in the fonts.

Apologies. I was born and raised here in the Ozark Mountains of N Arkansas and have little experience with a multi-cultural society. Although 7 years in the St Louis area helped to broaded my scope a bit, I am still a bit behind. But I 'm learning.

On "devices" (offset printed paper pages included in the broad term) with sufficient resolution, the human eye deals better with serif fonts (e.g.: Times New Roman, Palatino, Garamond), and on poorer resolution devices it deals better with sans-serif fonts (e.g.: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana).

The apparent choice of a sans-serif font on the smaller device suggests to me that perhaps the manufacturer had no faith in (or plan of) being able to match the resolution of 6" display devices... and opted for a default font that would less blatantly show this shortcoming.

Very possible. I have a new digital camera, and once my 5-inch (no snickering, you in the back) comes in, I'll try and remember to take some clear pics of different fonts and maybe a hands-on video.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Apologies. I was born and raised here in the Ozark Mountains of N Arkansas and have little experience with a multi-cultural society. Although 7 years in the St Louis area helped to broaded my scope a bit, I am still a bit behind. But I 'm learning.

You are gracious to apologize--but I think there may be no need for it on my account. My moniker is neither a given name nor a family name. I myself would not have been certain whether to interpret it male or female in a faceless context.

Agreed on the other stuff and looking forward to any pictures you may be able to post down the road.

Good night!

- Ahi