Forma ‘red’ light

Stevex · 12-30-2018, 07:44 PM

Hi just a quick question.
I have an Aura One and have the backlight at maximum red.
I got a Forma a few months back. It’s OK but the maximum red seems still almost white compared to the Aura One. That’s a great shame because I love that almost parchment sunset background and miss it a lot when I use the Forma. Also it’s much more healthy for the eyes.
So my question: why the change? Or is it just a quirk with my Forma?
Thanks, Steve

BookCat · 12-30-2018, 10:11 PM

Does it get any redder if you turn the brightness down?

Stevex · 12-30-2018, 10:56 PM

I have the brightness at 7% on both machines

barsanuphe · 12-31-2018, 10:26 AM

I'm seeing this too. Forma turns yellow where the Aura One turns red. I have to admit I liked the red hue better, although the Forma as a whole is a better device.

Stevex · 01-04-2019, 04:12 PM

Hi barsanuphe, thanks for the confirmation. I’d really appreciate any more feedback. Is it like this on all Formas? Is that by design? If so why?
I’ll be very grateful for any more insights. Cheers

ZodWallop · 01-04-2019, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevex

Hi just a quick question.
I have an Aura One and have the backlight at maximum red.
I got a Forma a few months back. It’s OK but the maximum red seems still almost white compared to the Aura One. That’s a great shame because I love that almost parchment sunset background and miss it a lot when I use the Forma. Also it’s much more healthy for the eyes.
So my question: why the change? Or is it just a quirk with my Forma?
Thanks, Steve

It's not a solid answer, but color changing light is still relatively new and I think they're still learning which color is best.

My Glowlight 3 changes to amber or maybe the amber-orange of a sodium-vapor street lamp. When I first saw the red Aura One I thought it looked ugly.

NiLuJe · 01-04-2019, 05:35 PM

IIRC, the KA1 had a much more complex LED array (f.g., we could essentially make the FL full green, right, @pazos? [EDIT: Yup

]).

In any, case, the one on the Forma is definitely (generally) more on the yellowy/orangey spectrum than the reds I've seen mentioned for the KA1

.

barsanuphe · 01-04-2019, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

My Glowlight 3 changes to amber or maybe the amber-orange of a sodium-vapor street lamp. When I first saw the red Aura One I thought it looked ugly.

Well, full red is unreadable but when not at 100% I feel it is easier on the eyes when reading without any lights on, for example. The Forma's yellow is a tad more agressive on the eyes in that case.
I find that in general I'm reading with more brightness % than on my Aura one.

JeanPierre · 01-05-2019, 02:09 PM

I think it's the early Aura ONEs that go red at the extreme end. Later ones like mine, purchased in early 2018, go a deep orange, as depicted on their website. I use this feature daily and am very fond of it.

This observation about the warm front light from reviews was another reason I elected not to purchase a Forma, and believe the Aura ONE to be the superior device. I prefer e-readers to be symmetrical tablets and not have buttons, and I also make use of the ambient light detector regularly. I find the landscape reading setting pointless, since I don't read any PDFs on my e-reader (I prefer to use a tablet for this), and the wider the screen you're reading text on, the more horizontal eye movement is required, which is more taxing than vertical eye movement. I also prefer not to have the accelerometer since I have on occasion rotated the device to inspect an image, and prefer to have it behave like a sheet of paper in this regard. An inability to lock to a specific portrait orientation would just result in unnecessary refreshes, eating into the battery life, which they didn't bother to improve with the Forma, it seems.

One feature I do like about the Forma is the dimmer front light at lower settings, since I never use a brightness of more than 12% on my Aura ONE. The 100% setting is ridiculous for any use except using it as a torch in the event of a power outage at night. Any ambient lighting that would make a 12% level redundant ought to result in the light being turned off completely, imho.

Stevex · 01-06-2019, 06:30 PM

Thanks for the feedback everyone. At least, it seems the much-less-red Forma is by design, not a freak of my machine. I think it’s a mistaken design. I found I’ve gone back to my Aura One as my main reader.

JeanPierre · 01-07-2019, 08:39 PM

I think that Kobo may have moved from a combination of white and RGB LEDs with the Aura ONE to a combination of white and orange LEDs with the Forma. I wonder if this related to a frequently-encountered issue of ugly green blotches appearing at the bottom of the screen of a number of Aura ONE models, as discussed in the following thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=284795

I personally encountered this problem with 4 of them, before finding one without the issue. Perhaps they were unhappy with the rate at which the Aura ONE models were being returned due to unsatisfactory RGB LED lighting.

12-30-2018, 07:44 PM	#1
Stevex Addict Posts: 225 Karma: 15318 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: Kobo Glo HD	Forma ‘red’ light Hi just a quick question. I have an Aura One and have the backlight at maximum red. I got a Forma a few months back. It’s OK but the maximum red seems still almost white compared to the Aura One. That’s a great shame because I love that almost parchment sunset background and miss it a lot when I use the Forma. Also it’s much more healthy for the eyes. So my question: why the change? Or is it just a quirk with my Forma? Thanks, Steve

01-04-2019, 05:35 PM	#7
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012494 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	IIRC, the KA1 had a much more complex LED array (f.g., we could essentially make the FL full green, right, @pazos? [EDIT: Yup ]). In any, case, the one on the Forma is definitely (generally) more on the yellowy/orangey spectrum than the reds I've seen mentioned for the KA1 . Last edited by NiLuJe; 01-05-2019 at 01:10 PM.

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12-30-2018, 10:11 PM	#2
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	Does it get any redder if you turn the brightness down?

12-30-2018, 10:56 PM	#3
Stevex Addict Posts: 225 Karma: 15318 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: Kobo Glo HD	I have the brightness at 7% on both machines

12-31-2018, 10:26 AM	#4
barsanuphe Connoisseur Posts: 75 Karma: 40008 Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Paris, France Device: PW2, Kobo H20, Kobo Aura One	I'm seeing this too. Forma turns yellow where the Aura One turns red. I have to admit I liked the red hue better, although the Forma as a whole is a better device.

01-04-2019, 04:12 PM	#5
Stevex Addict Posts: 225 Karma: 15318 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: Kobo Glo HD	Hi barsanuphe, thanks for the confirmation. I’d really appreciate any more feedback. Is it like this on all Formas? Is that by design? If so why? I’ll be very grateful for any more insights. Cheers

01-05-2019, 02:09 PM	#9
JeanPierre Zealot Posts: 137 Karma: 398492 Join Date: Apr 2018 Device: Kobo Aura One	I think it's the early Aura ONEs that go red at the extreme end. Later ones like mine, purchased in early 2018, go a deep orange, as depicted on their website. I use this feature daily and am very fond of it. This observation about the warm front light from reviews was another reason I elected not to purchase a Forma, and believe the Aura ONE to be the superior device. I prefer e-readers to be symmetrical tablets and not have buttons, and I also make use of the ambient light detector regularly. I find the landscape reading setting pointless, since I don't read any PDFs on my e-reader (I prefer to use a tablet for this), and the wider the screen you're reading text on, the more horizontal eye movement is required, which is more taxing than vertical eye movement. I also prefer not to have the accelerometer since I have on occasion rotated the device to inspect an image, and prefer to have it behave like a sheet of paper in this regard. An inability to lock to a specific portrait orientation would just result in unnecessary refreshes, eating into the battery life, which they didn't bother to improve with the Forma, it seems. One feature I do like about the Forma is the dimmer front light at lower settings, since I never use a brightness of more than 12% on my Aura ONE. The 100% setting is ridiculous for any use except using it as a torch in the event of a power outage at night. Any ambient lighting that would make a 12% level redundant ought to result in the light being turned off completely, imho.

01-06-2019, 06:30 PM	#10
Stevex Addict Posts: 225 Karma: 15318 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: Kobo Glo HD	Thanks for the feedback everyone. At least, it seems the much-less-red Forma is by design, not a freak of my machine. I think it’s a mistaken design. I found I’ve gone back to my Aura One as my main reader.

01-07-2019, 08:39 PM	#11
JeanPierre Zealot Posts: 137 Karma: 398492 Join Date: Apr 2018 Device: Kobo Aura One	I think that Kobo may have moved from a combination of white and RGB LEDs with the Aura ONE to a combination of white and orange LEDs with the Forma. I wonder if this related to a frequently-encountered issue of ugly green blotches appearing at the bottom of the screen of a number of Aura ONE models, as discussed in the following thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=284795 I personally encountered this problem with 4 of them, before finding one without the issue. Perhaps they were unhappy with the rate at which the Aura ONE models were being returned due to unsatisfactory RGB LED lighting.