screen is getting darker

vvoi666 · 04-11-2007, 04:15 PM

there is a lot of talking about increased ghosting in v2.9. i have that too, but there is a something new that annoys (and frightens) me even more:

my screen is getting darker!

the upper left corner is the brightest part and the lower it gets, the darker the screen gets. it's almost a mid gray all over right now. it's getting harder to read comfortably every day.

does anyone else have this problem? can this be addressed with a different screen refresh routine?

RWood · 04-11-2007, 05:11 PM

It sounds like warrenty repair/replace time. No e-ink screen should do that.

vvoi666 · 04-12-2007, 12:09 PM

i took a few pictures of my display.

is it broken or can this be solved with some 'software' tweaks.

on the first pic you can see three different brightness levels of the screen (device has just been turned off). this is not a shadow falling on the screen!
it gets darker from the upper left to the lower right.

in the third picture you can see how dark it is when reading. the bar with the chapter number used to be a mid gray against the 'white' paper. now it's almost indistinguishable from the background.

maybe one of the irex guys can comment on this, so i don't have to post this on both forums.

thanks

ps: here are links to bigger pics (1800x2100px, 500k) -> pic1, pic2, pic3

vvoi666 · 04-20-2007, 05:11 AM

just a quick follow up on this thread:

irex confirmed that my iliad has to be sent in for repair!
i guess, they will replace the screen.

does anyone know if it's possible to get the bigger battery while they're working on it anyway (haven't heard back from them on this one)?

so, another iliad 'bites the dust'.
is there a 'body count' thread? we should do one with the problems that ocurred and what was done about it (repaired, exchanged...). the hardware seems quite faulty, even for a 1st gen device.

The GreatGonzo · 04-20-2007, 08:13 AM

I would love to have at least a simplified explanation of how this darkening of the screen can happen; I thought I had at least a basic understanding of how e-ink works, but I cannot figure out why the display would get darker in certain spots, making it look like an infection or something. If the e-ink particles for some reason lost their ability to react to the processor's commands, wouldn't the screen look more like a tv that's not set to a station? White noise?

NatCh · 04-20-2007, 08:32 AM

Perhaps if only one set of particles (i.e. the black ones) lost their charges.

vvoi666 · 04-20-2007, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

Perhaps if only one set of particles (i.e. the black ones) lost their charges.

this sounds reasonable.
maybe the wacom stylus support plays a role here also. doesn't the wacom technology use some kind of induction based location detection for the stylus? that would mean that there has to be a megnetic field around the display. that would mess up the screen.
i could be totally wrong on this, though.

does anyone know if there is a difference in size of the black/white particles between the ilad and the sony reader? is the higher resolution of the iliad just added 'pixels' or are the pixels smaller also?

maybe they should have gone with the 'proven' 800x600 screen that everyone else uses.

NatCh · 04-20-2007, 11:31 AM

Wow. I hadn't even thought about what sort of effect the Wacom might have on the system .... I don't know enough about the details of either to make any kind of real evaluation, but the effects could be significant.

On the other hand, that's the sort of thing you'd hope a manufacturer, who does have all those details (and access to folks who actually understand them), would take into consideration before they slap the two pieces together in a big, juicy techno-sandwich.

vranghel · 04-20-2007, 03:03 PM

vvoi, in the last month, i noticed that my screen has gotten darker. Im not sure, it could be only my impression. How did u know for sure?

My screen has an uniform colour, except for a *slightly* lighter dot(approx 1 cm dia).

vvoi666 · 04-21-2007, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vranghel

Im not sure, it could be only my impression.

yeah, that's what i thought for a few weeks, too. but for me it really got harder and harder to read over time. then i noticed that a gray bar with chapter numbers (see post above for pic) had almost the same color as the 'white background' and the different colored areas of the screen became more and more obvious.

i've printed out the gray scale from the pics above and compared it for another two weeks. the screen's darkest area shifted almost two levels to the darker grays.

printing out the 16 level gray scale is quite useful. you can track your screen change and compare it to other iliads.

to print the scale, you need a graphic program that understand hex color values (almost any program does that). than you draw 16 squares/rectangles/bars, whatever, and fill them with the grays. the 16 gray values run from #ffffff (white) through #000000 (black).

here are the values:

#000000 (black)
#111111
#222222
#333333
#444444
#555555
#666666
#777777
#888888
#999999
#aaaaaa
#bbbbbb
#cccccc
#dddddd
#eeeeee
#ffffff (white)

we should ask someone with a new/unbroken iliad for the gray value of his display. then anyone can compare it to their own to check.

vranghel · 04-21-2007, 05:19 PM

I managed to snap a few shots, indoors, overcast sky.

[EDIT:] The file limit for attachments is 1mb.
Here is my mirror of the pics:

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4

Pic 5

Pic 6

All images are 3072 x 2304 pixels

vvoi666 · 04-22-2007, 07:46 AM

that screen on your first picture looks a lot like my first pic. the brightest area on the top of the screen and the diagonal dark area about the half screen down (i don't have the bright area on the lower right). and it looks too dark overall.

you can definitely see a pattern here.

i have started a thread in the irex support forum. maybe you should post there also (with a link to your pictures). they can tell you what to do.

vranghel · 04-22-2007, 07:42 PM

I have posted a message in your thread.

Lets see what the techies say.

k2r · 05-03-2007, 08:14 AM

It started as a vertical stripe in the middle of the screen and now covers most of it.

This is highly annoying since I'll be travelling a lot during the next weeks.
Well, that's what you get for adopting cutting edge technology.

I'll send an email to iRex today :-(

vranghel · 05-03-2007, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k2r

It started as a vertical stripe in the middle of the screen and now covers most of it.

This is highly annoying since I'll be travelling a lot during the next weeks.
Well, that's what you get for adopting cutting edge technology.

I'll send an email to iRex today :-(

The good news is that the box shipping will take VERY little time, as they ship it from Herzebrock (thats in germany, non-german folks!).

I dont know what the resturn time will be.

05-03-2007, 08:14 AM	#14
k2r Zealot Posts: 124 Karma: 177 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bochum, Germany Device: MP2K, iLiad	Same problem here It started as a vertical stripe in the middle of the screen and now covers most of it. This is highly annoying since I'll be travelling a lot during the next weeks. Well, that's what you get for adopting cutting edge technology. I'll send an email to iRex today :-( Attached Thumbnails Last edited by k2r; 05-03-2007 at 08:16 AM.

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04-11-2007, 04:15 PM	#1
vvoi666 Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 29 Join Date: May 2006	screen is getting darker there is a lot of talking about increased ghosting in v2.9. i have that too, but there is a something new that annoys (and frightens) me even more: my screen is getting darker! the upper left corner is the brightest part and the lower it gets, the darker the screen gets. it's almost a mid gray all over right now. it's getting harder to read comfortably every day. does anyone else have this problem? can this be addressed with a different screen refresh routine?

04-11-2007, 05:11 PM	#2
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	It sounds like warrenty repair/replace time. No e-ink screen should do that.

04-12-2007, 12:09 PM	#3
vvoi666 Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 29 Join Date: May 2006	i took a few pictures of my display. is it broken or can this be solved with some 'software' tweaks. on the first pic you can see three different brightness levels of the screen (device has just been turned off). this is not a shadow falling on the screen! it gets darker from the upper left to the lower right. in the third picture you can see how dark it is when reading. the bar with the chapter number used to be a mid gray against the 'white' paper. now it's almost indistinguishable from the background. maybe one of the irex guys can comment on this, so i don't have to post this on both forums. thanks ps: here are links to bigger pics (1800x2100px, 500k) -> pic1, pic2, pic3 Attached Thumbnails

04-20-2007, 05:11 AM	#4
vvoi666 Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 29 Join Date: May 2006	just a quick follow up on this thread: irex confirmed that my iliad has to be sent in for repair! i guess, they will replace the screen. does anyone know if it's possible to get the bigger battery while they're working on it anyway (haven't heard back from them on this one)? so, another iliad 'bites the dust'. is there a 'body count' thread? we should do one with the problems that ocurred and what was done about it (repaired, exchanged...). the hardware seems quite faulty, even for a 1st gen device.

04-20-2007, 08:13 AM	#5
The GreatGonzo Old Yeller Posts: 180 Karma: 67 Join Date: May 2006 Device: Iliad & Kindle - The Best of Both Worlds	I would love to have at least a simplified explanation of how this darkening of the screen can happen; I thought I had at least a basic understanding of how e-ink works, but I cannot figure out why the display would get darker in certain spots, making it look like an infection or something. If the e-ink particles for some reason lost their ability to react to the processor's commands, wouldn't the screen look more like a tv that's not set to a station? White noise? Last edited by The GreatGonzo; 04-20-2007 at 12:36 PM.

04-20-2007, 08:32 AM	#6
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Perhaps if only one set of particles (i.e. the black ones) lost their charges.

04-20-2007, 11:31 AM	#8
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Wow. I hadn't even thought about what sort of effect the Wacom might have on the system .... I don't know enough about the details of either to make any kind of real evaluation, but the effects could be significant. On the other hand, that's the sort of thing you'd hope a manufacturer, who does have all those details (and access to folks who actually understand them), would take into consideration before they slap the two pieces together in a big, juicy techno-sandwich.

04-20-2007, 03:03 PM	#9
vranghel Addict Posts: 285 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Proud Iliad owner	vvoi, in the last month, i noticed that my screen has gotten darker. Im not sure, it could be only my impression. How did u know for sure? My screen has an uniform colour, except for a slightly lighter dot(approx 1 cm dia).

04-21-2007, 05:19 PM	#11
vranghel Addict Posts: 285 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Proud Iliad owner	I managed to snap a few shots, indoors, overcast sky. [EDIT:] The file limit for attachments is 1mb. Here is my mirror of the pics: Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 Pic 6 All images are 3072 x 2304 pixels Last edited by vranghel; 04-21-2007 at 05:40 PM.

04-22-2007, 07:46 AM	#12
vvoi666 Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 29 Join Date: May 2006	that screen on your first picture looks a lot like my first pic. the brightest area on the top of the screen and the diagonal dark area about the half screen down (i don't have the bright area on the lower right). and it looks too dark overall. you can definitely see a pattern here. i have started a thread in the irex support forum. maybe you should post there also (with a link to your pictures). they can tell you what to do.

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04-22-2007, 07:42 PM	#13
vranghel Addict Posts: 285 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Proud Iliad owner	I have posted a message in your thread. Lets see what the techies say.