My suggestions on getting the device to look blacker. - Page 2

omro · 12-07-2009, 02:49 PM

OK. I'm now convinced more than ever that this is a software issue or a rendering issue specific to the PP.

I have a PDF that I used to refer to a lot on my DR, that I know had pretty crisp dark text on the DRs eInk screen. On the PP it renders as a dark grey, no matter what zoom level of PDF reflow I use.

A friend of mine, another Brit in Canada, has the same BeBook that I bought in the UK, but didn't like and replaced with the DR. He kept his.

We put the same PDF on his BeBook and it renders darker on his screen than on my PP's.

I'm sure this bug is fixable, however so I'm not worried. I just hope that Astak are conveying this back to the engineers and that they are working on a future solution.

rock · 12-07-2009, 03:15 PM

I noticed that my Pocket Pro goes Darker and lighter on it's own. not sure how it happens, but I notice it often. Like I will be reading on the train, and it is pretty dark.

Then when I try reading at Lunch at work, or maybe a little after getting to work, It looks like a lighter Grey, even the keyboard lock area is really light.

though I just updated my firmware and everything looks a little darker.

omro · 12-07-2009, 03:38 PM

It's the type of light and angle of the screen. I was on the bus this morning and a slight variance in the angle of the screen resulted in a slightly darker/lighter text.

rock · 12-07-2009, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omro

It's the type of light and angle of the screen. I was on the bus this morning and a slight variance in the angle of the screen resulted in a slightly darker/lighter text.

I was thinking that, but now it is a lot darker at work since I updated the firmware.

Might be just me.

Also I noticed I hit bookmark and it automatically did the bookmark for me! Before I had to wait for a screen to pop up and then choose add bookmark.

Though this is my first Adobe Digital Edition book, so maybe it was always like that, I don't know.

omro · 12-07-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock

I was thinking that, but now it is a lot darker at work since I updated the firmware.

Might be just me.

Also I noticed I hit bookmark and it automatically did the bookmark for me! Before I had to wait for a screen to pop up and then choose add bookmark.

Though this is my first Adobe Digital Edition book, so maybe it was always like that, I don't know.

I already have the 5th Nov Firmware.

jusmee · 12-07-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patricia

Try setting the chosen font to bold.

You can't choose fonts in ePub

jusmee · 12-07-2009, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_S

If you use CoolReader you can can just create a /fonts folder and install all the fonts that you want. .

How do we do that? I was not aware you can change which reader it uses.

Dave_S · 12-07-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jusmee

How do we do that? I was not aware you can change which reader it uses.

You can not, but you can change what book format you use. When you use FB2 format the V5 automatically uses CoolReader. I did ask RobertB in another thread here to get Jinke to allow an option to choose CoolReader for DRM free EPUB, but I have no idea if that is going to happen. That is why I convert any book that I am going to read on the V5 into the FB2 format, to avoid the ADE rendering program. On my V3 I use EPUB, since the OpenInkpot firmware does not use ADE. IMHO the Liberation Sans font has a very nice contrast ratio, and it is standard in OI and can be installed in the V5 for CoolReader to use.

Dave_S · 12-07-2009, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jusmee

You can't choose fonts in ePub

Sure you can, just not with the V5's ADE renderer. With a better renderer like FBReader or CoolReader you can choose fonts, among a lot of other choices. You can also embed the font of your choice in the eEPUB itself, but that takes a bit more work.

Ladyrixx · 12-07-2009, 06:50 PM

The only time I've noticed my screen lightening was when I was reading in line on Black Friday (I live in Iowa, so this was near freezing) I had to stop reading the manga I was reading, it was simply too light. A normal book was still legible, and when I booted the book back up in the store in line it was back to normal.

(I've noticed the same thing with leaving it by a window as we get to near-zero temps here. The screen doesn't like cold.)

DaleDe · 12-07-2009, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Sure you can, just not with the V5's ADE renderer. With a better renderer like FBReader or CoolReader you can choose fonts, among a lot of other choices. You can also embed the font of your choice in the eEPUB itself, but that takes a bit more work.

Not particularly helpful for reading ePUB on pocket pro currently.

It is possible to change the font, font attributes, etc. on a per book basis by opening up the file (unzipping it) and changing the CSS. Hopefully Jinke will give us a way to control the fonts in the future, which would be much better than changing the engine.

Dale

jusmee · 12-07-2009, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Sure you can, just not with the V5's ADE renderer. With a better renderer like FBReader or CoolReader you can choose fonts, among a lot of other choices. You can also embed the font of your choice in the eEPUB itself, but that takes a bit more work.

I was talking about the current situation on the PP. You cannot change the font displayed when reading epub files.

Dave_S · 12-08-2009, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ladyrixx

(I've noticed the same thing with leaving it by a window as we get to near-zero temps here. The screen doesn't like cold.)

An E-Ink screen is temperature sensitive, so it does change contrast with temperature. The waveform calibration in the driver chip is supposed to compensate for that by monitoring ambient temperature and adjusting the waveform to keep the contrast stable. Apparently the compensation range is too small for all possible environmental conditions. The flip side of that is that the display will probably get much darker in an extremely warm environment.

Dave_S · 12-08-2009, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Hopefully Jinke will give us a way to control the fonts in the future, which would be much better than changing the engine.

I guess that is a matter of opinion. IMHO, allowing the use of the already existing alternative EPUB "engine" in the device would be a much quicker solution since stripping EPUB DRM is much easier than than trying to work around the weak points of the current EPUB "engine". Barring any proactive response from Jinke, my current solution is to avoid EPUB and convert all books to FB2 to get the better capabilities of CoolReader.

jusmee · 12-08-2009, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_S

I guess that is a matter of opinion. IMHO, allowing the use of the already existing alternative EPUB "engine" in the device would be a much quicker solution since stripping EPUB DRM is much easier than than trying to work around the weak points of the current EPUB "engine.

Well apart from the (in some people's opinion) slightly questionable aspect to removing DRM, aren't some of them encrypted as well.

All that aside, the average consumer just wants to buy their books, have them download and appear in their library, ready to read. THAT's what Astak/Jinke should be aiming for.

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12-07-2009, 02:49 PM	#16
omro Addict Posts: 375 Karma: 452000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Hamilton, On Device: Kobo Aura HD	OK. I'm now convinced more than ever that this is a software issue or a rendering issue specific to the PP. I have a PDF that I used to refer to a lot on my DR, that I know had pretty crisp dark text on the DRs eInk screen. On the PP it renders as a dark grey, no matter what zoom level of PDF reflow I use. A friend of mine, another Brit in Canada, has the same BeBook that I bought in the UK, but didn't like and replaced with the DR. He kept his. We put the same PDF on his BeBook and it renders darker on his screen than on my PP's. I'm sure this bug is fixable, however so I'm not worried. I just hope that Astak are conveying this back to the engineers and that they are working on a future solution.

12-07-2009, 03:15 PM	#17
rock Addict Posts: 240 Karma: 18772 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Nook, Astak EZ Reader Pocket, iPhone 3g, Droid	I noticed that my Pocket Pro goes Darker and lighter on it's own. not sure how it happens, but I notice it often. Like I will be reading on the train, and it is pretty dark. Then when I try reading at Lunch at work, or maybe a little after getting to work, It looks like a lighter Grey, even the keyboard lock area is really light. though I just updated my firmware and everything looks a little darker.

12-07-2009, 03:38 PM	#18
omro Addict Posts: 375 Karma: 452000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Hamilton, On Device: Kobo Aura HD	It's the type of light and angle of the screen. I was on the bus this morning and a slight variance in the angle of the screen resulted in a slightly darker/lighter text.

12-07-2009, 06:50 PM	#25
Ladyrixx Groupie Posts: 152 Karma: 585496 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro, Kobo Mini, Nook Glowlight 2, Kobo Forma	The only time I've noticed my screen lightening was when I was reading in line on Black Friday (I live in Iowa, so this was near freezing) I had to stop reading the manga I was reading, it was simply too light. A normal book was still legible, and when I booted the book back up in the store in line it was back to normal. (I've noticed the same thing with leaving it by a window as we get to near-zero temps here. The screen doesn't like cold.)