Can Sony upgrade PRS700 screen?

[talaivan]

Like many people in this form, I was quite disappointed in the PRS700 when I saw it because of the fuzzy screen. Is this fixable? It would seem to me that it must be possible to produce a touch-sensitive layer that also spreads light from a backlight without blurring the letters underneath. For that matter, the light Sony sells for the PRS505 doesn't blur letters. Is there some technical reason why a touch-sensitive layer can't be clear?

[wallcraft]

Conventional wisdom is that the original EInk readers did not come with touch screens because they would dim the screen. Wacom (used by iRex) does not do this, but is expensive. I originally assumed that the PRS-700 used PVI's Touch EPD (PVI adding "touch" to eink), but this is entirely behind the screen. From the press release:

PVI’s new Touch EPD uses the innovative “force sensing” touch technology. In this technology, several force sensors are placed under the e-paper display. When a user touches the display, proprietary software calculates the location and intensity of the touch with input from the sensors. There is no additional layer of materials on top of he display as there is in traditional touch technologies; as such, there is no impact to the reflective qualities of the display.

This does not sound like the PRS-700 at all. It seems that Sony may be using touch layers above the EInk film, and tried to turn a problem into a feature by adding side lighting between the layers.

[HarryT]

I'd have thought it much more likely that the reduction in screen clarity was due to an extra layer on the screen to diffuse the light from the side LEDs, rather than being caused by the touch screen. Any light diffuser must, by its very nature, "blur" to a certain extent.

Is it necessary to actually touch the screen of the 700 to "activate" the "touch sensitivity", or does mere close proximity to it suffice? That would tell us whether the system they've used is genuinely touch sensitive or capacitive in nature.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by HarryT

... Is it necessary to actually touch the screen of the 700 to "activate" the "touch sensitivity", or does mere close proximity to it suffice?....

It needs not only a touch (like an iPhone), but more of a slight press on the screen.

In fact, I can very lightly wipe off a speck of dust from the screen, without it reacting at all (the iPhone would react to the equivalent pressure.)

[talaivan]

Harry -- the light wedge Sony sells for the PRS 505 is completely clear. There's no blurring whatsoever -- like seeing the screen through a clear piece of glass (I just checked). The wedge does manage to diffuse the light, and it seems about as thick as the layer on the 700. But it's certain that the need to diffuse light from the side LED's is not the cause of the 700's blurriness.

[Ler0y Jenkins]

Originally Posted by talaivan

Harry -- the light wedge Sony sells for the PRS 505 is completely clear. There's no blurring whatsoever -- like seeing the screen through a clear piece of glass (I just checked). The wedge does manage to diffuse the light, and it seems about as thick as the layer on the 700. But it's certain that the need to diffuse light from the side LED's is not the cause of the 700's blurriness.

That's why I think Sony went with a different screen for the 700.

[HarryT]

So the evidence is stacking up that the culprit is the touch screen itself, do you think?

[johnnyr]

Originally Posted by HarryT

So the evidence is stacking up that the culprit is the touch screen itself, do you think?

Thats what it is looking like.

[lovebeta]

Wait for PRS-707, lol.

[sigmax]

Hi people

I JUST SOLD my prs505 in order to get the money to jump into a prs700 only to find all the rants about image clarity.

I think image clarity is paramount in an ebook reader.

It is incredible that Sony guys ended up with such a lame implementation on prs-700 ... the ones in charge of the decision about the touchscreen / wedge quality, deserve to be fired!!

MAYBE someone can open up his / her prs-700 and find out if the whole lightwedge / touchscreen thing can be "defused" and leave the screen as on prs-505 ?

OR there are functions that can be accessible only thru touchscreen ?

Regards,

Enrique.

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by talaivan

Harry -- the light wedge Sony sells for the PRS 505 is completely clear. There's no blurring whatsoever -- like seeing the screen through a clear piece of glass (I just checked). The wedge does manage to diffuse the light, and it seems about as thick as the layer on the 700. But it's certain that the need to diffuse light from the side LED's is not the cause of the 700's blurriness.

Is that with the light turned off? On another thread someone mentioned that they read their PRS-505 through the light wedge even when not illuminated.