Replacing Aluratek Libre Pro Screen Backing?

[vugtitan]

i got the aluratek libre pro second hand from ebay for £20 just to see what it is like and do not like the dark green backing used for the LCD display as it results in poor contrast with the black letters.

i was wandering if i should dismantle it and replace the hideous green backing with a sheet of white paper cut to the right size as this would improve contrast as a black on white is much better contrast then black on dark green contrast.

i have seen various gadgets like gimmicky clocks with LCD screens which have no backing and are transparent see through so i was wandering if i should take this reader apart and replace the lcd backing with white cardboard or paper to improve contrast.

i have taken the back panel off already and it has a huge sized 2800 mAh battery in it. Same size as the bulge at the back.

i wander why they used a such a huge size battery when most batteries are 1/2 the size for 2800 mAh.

I have not removed the circuit board as it has quite a few screws to undo and i thought i would ask you for your opinion first on replacing the green lcd backing.

[ProDigit]

The back of the reader is a metal sheet.
Theoretically they should reflect more light, when light is shone upon them.
A white background, will still look a bit grey in a darker environment, and will not reflect as much light as a metal background. Plus, when reading it in sunlight, the white might be too bright for your eyes!

I would also believe that the metallic substrate is part of the LCD display. Removing it would probably damage the screen. But I've never opened it to verify.
Know, that because of the LCD technology, you'll never have as bright of a background as paper, or even e-ink, even if you would be able to do the mod!

[vugtitan]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

The back of the reader is a metal sheet.
Theoretically they should reflect more light, when light is shone upon them.
A white background, will still look a bit grey in a darker environment, and will not reflect as much light as a metal background. Plus, when reading it in sunlight, the white might be too bright for your eyes!

I would also believe that the metallic substrate is part of the LCD display. Removing it would probably damage the screen. But I've never opened it to verify.
Know, that because of the LCD technology, you'll never have as bright of a background as paper, or even e-ink, even if you would be able to do the mod!

I have opened lcd displays of toys,and phones.took them apart and it is usually a reflector strip at the back.

the aluratek has a particularly hideous green backing.

have you seen it?

i cannot understand which retarded designer would do something so stupid as in more recent models they have made it white.

in more recent models it seems white!

look and compare here:-

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...og&sa=N&tab=wi

if you take it away you have transparent panel with black numbers on the screen.


the lcd screen has black writing but is ruined by the dark green backing.

[ProDigit]

I don't know about the green; I presume the aluratek is about the same as the jetbook.
The jetbook looked rather greyish, perhaps somewhat brown, depending in what kind of environment you look at it.

I do know that a greenish tint is the byproduct of LCD crystals that are not 100% aligned, much like a brown/black-ish tint is the byproduct of the polarization filter.

So it could be the byproduct of regular (cheaper) LCD technology.

The back could be reflector, but I presume it's more possible for it to be metallic in nature.

[vugtitan]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

I don't know about the green; I presume the aluratek is about the same as the jetbook.
The jetbook looked rather greyish, perhaps somewhat brown, depending in what kind of environment you look at it.

I do know that a greenish tint is the byproduct of LCD crystals that are not 100% aligned, much like a brown/black-ish tint is the byproduct of the polarization filter.

So it could be the byproduct of regular (cheaper) LCD technology.

The back could be reflector, but I presume it's more possible for it to be metallic in nature.

hi

i tried to open it.

it is built like a tank.

very solid.

first 14 click locks around all the edges.

then a dozen screws in side. on the circuit board to the frame.

then it is glued to the frame!

i managed to get a look at the edge of the display and that is glued SOLID to the circuit board.impossible to pry it off. without breaking it.

which ever control freak came up with this did not want it changed.


arrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. so annoyed.

i like the software as it copes with mobi,epub,doc,rtf,text,pdf,mp3,html...


anyone know if the more recent ones have a white/gray background?

it seems to be white in the pictures.

[Ken Maltby]

If I take my Aluratek Libre Pro (ALP), with it powered off, and orient it to a light source
so that the screen is evenly lit, the background is about the same as the background of
a quote box here on MR. If I do the same with one of my JBLs and compare it with the
ALP they are about the same. Now... this is in a room with white walls and ceiling and
fairly subdued lighting. In the same room with the devices brought into brighter light
the background looks a little whiter, but still not as white as a sheet of paper.

With either ALP or JBL on a menu page the backgrounds respond the same to changes
in lighting and the color of the light, as reflected by the environment. In any case they
appear no worse or at the most only slightly darker than the backgrounds here at MR.

The reflective surface you are finding on your toys and phones is there to reflect the
light from the "backlight" so that it travels up through the LCD Panel properly. No such
surface is needed for these displays as no backlight is used and the carefully constructed
reflective surface that they use is built into the LCD Panel itself.

Luck;
Ken

[vugtitan]

it is very dark green and in most illustrations on the web it is green.

in any case is there a way of adding BOLD and THICK fonts to improve legibility?


it only has virtually identical fonts which is ridiculous.

i have tried making them bigger but that ruins the text flow and paragraphs regardless of epub,mobi or pdf formats.

[Ken Maltby]

One of the things that those who prefer the ALP over the jetBooks was that the ALP
had a Serif font.

My ALP has the 20i version of the firmware and it is using the Adobe Reader Mobile
v.9.1.1 reading software for .pdf and .epub files. With that, any fonts embedded in
the ebook will be used, instead of the default fonts of the ALP.

If you open a .pdf or .epub file in the ALP and press the "Menu" button then you open
the [9] "Settings" option, you should have an [6] "About pdf" option. This option will
list the version of the Adobe reader your ALP is using.

Luck;
Ken

[vugtitan]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

One of the things that those who prefer the ALP over the jetBooks was that the ALP
had a Serif font.

My ALP has the 20i version of the firmware and it is using the Adobe Reader Mobile
v.9.1.1 reading software for .pdf and .epub files. With that, any fonts embedded in
the ebook will be used, instead of the default fonts of the ALP.

If you open a .pdf or .epub file in the ALP and press the "Menu" button then you open
the [9] "Settings" option, you should have an [6] "About pdf" option. This option will
list the version of the Adobe reader your ALP is using.

Luck;
Ken

any way of getting the operating system partition to be visible and adding additional fonts?

[ProDigit]

You could convert your books to epubs, and change the font.
You could also make your whole ebook bold, so all the text will show fatter.

I found on my Ez-Reader Pro one font type that is very viewable! (ft 2, forgot the name).

If your screen looks green, try reading it under a purple light or something to compensate.
Red, yellow, or even blue backlight can change the background color a bit.

On a cloudy day, my Jetbook had a little tint of brown in the grey.
Under white LED light, it looked more grey.

[vugtitan]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

You could convert your books to epubs, and change the font.
You could also make your whole ebook bold, so all the text will show fatter.

I found on my Ez-Reader Pro one font type that is very viewable! (ft 2, forgot the name).

If your screen looks green, try reading it under a purple light or something to compensate.
Red, yellow, or even blue backlight can change the background color a bit.

On a cloudy day, my Jetbook had a little tint of brown in the grey.
Under white LED light, it looked more grey.

i added css script to calibre to mobi files to make it bolder but to no avail as it just defaults to the installed fonts.


in the latest updat there is a linux bin file.could this opened and extra fonts added?

i tried opening it in windows xp using isobuster and magic iso both which can open bin files to no avail.


i had a look around but no one seems to have hacked into it to add better fonts.

[Ken Maltby]

You might try .epub or .pdf files, as I mentioned, instead of .mobi files.

Luck;
Ken

[ProDigit]

Yes, MOBI is limited to 3 fonts.
Epub is not.
PDF only works if you make the papersize very small, like a quarter of lettertype or a quarter of A4 maximum.
Even at half the size of A4 or lettertype the text is barely readable, and much finer than mobi...

I've never actually tried reading PDF's on my jetbook, other than reflowed.
For reflow the papersize does not matter, but if you want to see it fullsize (which I doubt the jb can do (or the aluratek) it does.

I remember that I could increase the fontsize on most documents though (epub/mobi/pdf reflow/txt)! If you want to read better, perhaps increase text size.?