MR at Sony Daily Edition press conference

[ProDigit]

looks from the pic that the 7" device has an increase in vertical resolution,but it looks like horizontal resolution is still fixed at 600 pixels... A bummer I'd say, for on the 7", lettersize and A4 PDF pages will appear as large as on a 6" screen, only with 2 bars on top and under...

there's also no word that a pdf zoom function exists on those models.
Most likely Small zoom will be a page per screen view (with white borders). Current Sony pdf viewer has medium and large, but in those views,the reader converts the pdf text to regular text, and displays it on screen. Say if the column on the PDF contained one word too much per line to fit on the screen in Medium zoom, you'd end up with every other line written a full line (eg on the even rows) and a word (on the uneven rows).
I've had this on my PRS-505 too, despite it re-organizing the structure of the paragraphs.

Like mentioned above, you'll probably end up with 2 bars in 'S', and regular text in M or L.
Another bad thing is that the Sony Reader can not successfully insert pictures in those reformatted text. Quite often pictures and illustrations end up under the paragraph, or on the next page.

I had hoped they would increase at least the horizontal resolution too, to 720 or 768 pixels, and the vertical to 1024.
Without a horizontal resolution increase,or even worse, without any resolution increase at all (if that be the case), I fear that few people will be willing to buy the 7" device, but for those that favor the wireless function.

I wonder why they didn't go for a 5"(pocket size), 7" (book size) and 9" (PDF/A4/Letter size) model?

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

I wonder why they didn't go for a 5"(pocket size), 7" (book size) and 9" (PDF/A4/Letter size) model?

Discarding the size that people are used to from all their existing models seems like it would be a bit of a drastic approach though, with their three new devices they have sufficiently distinct features to not confuse their customers with too many choices and if the daily edition does well then they still have room to introduce a larger model at a later date.

Also, wouldn't weight be a concern with a larger 9" screen?

[dmikov]

Not that I care much about letter sized pdfs, but I think this format will do quite well on them.

The screen is 7" tall OR it can be 7" wide, so you can view your letter sized pdf in landscape mode and will just have to view half page at a time. You'll probably will have 90% zoom from actual letter size, but it will hardly noticable.
Use program to strip margins and it will be 100%.

[dmikov]

Edit: Just checked so called letter sized pdfs I have and their dimensions are 7.4 x 9.3 (To print letter it zooms them up).
So it will be perfect in landscape mode.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by dmikov

The screen is 7" tall OR it can be 7" wide, so you can view your letter sized pdf in landscape mode and will just have to view half page at a time.

The screen is probably 6" wide (7" diagonal). It will still be better than 6" diagonal for letter PDFs, but you will need three landscape screens per page.

[Dave Berk]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The screen is probably 6" wide (7" diagonal). It will still be better than 6" diagonal for letter PDFs, but you will need three landscape screens per page.

Can't find it now, but I seem to remember reading that the screen is 7" tall.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Dave Berk

Can't find it now, but I seem to remember reading that the screen is 7" tall.

Sony's press release says "seven-inch wide", but they almost certainly mean 7" diagonal. Sony seems to have been deliberately with holding technical specs (not unusual 3 months before delivery of a new product), and so far as I can tell the Daily Reader mockup was never lined up against the Touch Reader so that any difference in width would be apparent.

[alecE]

Thank you for your most interesting review and for taking the time to share this.

Guess I shall have to curb my impatience and wait a little while to actually see the goodies.

[dmikov]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Sony's press release says "seven-inch wide", but they almost certainly mean 7" diagonal. Sony seems to have been deliberately with holding technical specs (not unusual 3 months before delivery of a new product), and so far as I can tell the Daily Reader mockup was never lined up against the Touch Reader so that any difference in width would be apparent.

It is most definitely 7" tall. NOT diagonal. Hence new form factor and resolution.

[MelC]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

there's also no word that a pdf zoom function exists on those models.
Most likely Small zoom will be a page per screen view (with white borders). Current Sony pdf viewer has medium and large, but in those views,the reader converts the pdf text to regular text, and displays it on screen. Say if the column on the PDF contained one word too much per line to fit on the screen in Medium zoom, you'd end up with every other line written a full line (eg on the even rows) and a word (on the uneven rows).
I've had this on my PRS-505 too, despite it re-organizing the structure of the paragraphs.

If you watch the PRS-600 demo from MobileTech Review you can see that the zoom is actually pretty functional.

Mel

[Mr. Goodbar]

If you look at the first picture in the engadget hands on here:

http://www.engadget.com/photos/sonys...trait/2233498/

It seems clear that the screen is actually 7 inches wide and not 7 inches diagonally. You have to mentally adjust the pictures since the screens don't line up, but it definitely seems larger than just an additional inch diagonally to my eyes.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by MelC

If you watch the PRS-600 demo from MobileTech Review you can see that the zoom is actually pretty functional.

Mel

I agree. That's why I think they're emphasizing the 7 inches wide screen. Put it in landscape and zoom in on a pdf to eliminate the white space margins and you should have almost true size reading. Still a half page or so at a time, but maybe functional.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

If you look at the first picture in the engadget hands on here:

http://www.engadget.com/photos/sonys...trait/2233498/

It seems clear that the screen is actually 7 inches wide and not 7 inches diagonally.

The Touch Reader is 6 7/8 inches tall, so this photo proves that the Daily Reader's screen isn't 7 inches tall because it is shorter than the Touch.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The Touch Reader is 6 7/8 inches tall, so this photo proves that the Daily Reader's screen isn't 7 inches tall because it is shorter than the Touch.

I stand corrected. I hadn't looked at the actual dimensions of the 600 yet. It still appears to me that it is bigger than 7 inches diagonally, but I guess the angle of picture doesn't help.

If it's only 7 inches diagonally that confuses me a little on positioning. It doesn't seem enough of a step up from the 6 inch device. I guess we'll have to wait for the actual units to get a good feel for what it's like.

[sforce]

In this pic, the relative screen size of the 6" to the 7" vs the 5" to the 6" tend to support the idea of the 7" screen being 7" tall, rather than 7" diagonal. Note also, that the 7" unit looks to be the same width as the 6"

http://www.slashgear.com/sony-reader...r-399-2553710/