HD KF6 and fuzzy text

[Blossom]

When I bought my KF6 I raved about the text rendering on it but it seems that after it upgraded to Fire 5.0 the text is no longer sharp or crisp as it once was.

Yesterday I dusted off the old KF6, upgraded to the latest firmware. Installed Google Play thinking I'd give it another chance. I noticed right away the text wasn't as good as I remembered​ it being. So I've tried various ereader apps even my favorite Google Play Books looks fuzzy even the Kindle part looks fuzzy...what did they do to it?

On a happy note I was excited to see the brightness fixed and I no longer need a dimmer app which is why I stop using it a few years ago.

I am sad to think I can no longer read on this comfortably because the text rendering has changed.

I'm now relieved that they never upgraded the Fire phone to 5.0.

Sent from my XT1528

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Blossom

When I bought my KF6 I raved about the text rendering on it but it seems that after it upgraded to Fire 5.0 the text is no longer sharp or crisp as it once was.

Yesterday I dusted off the old KF6, upgraded to the latest firmware. Installed Google Play thinking I'd give it another chance. I noticed right away the text wasn't as good as I remembered​ it being. So I've tried various ereader apps even my favorite Google Play Books looks fuzzy even the Kindle part looks fuzzy...what did they do to it?

On a happy note I was excited to see the brightness fixed and I no longer need a dimmer app which is why I stop using it a few years ago.

I am sad to think I can no longer read on this comfortably because the text rendering has changed.

I'm now relieved that they never upgraded the Fire phone to 5.0.

Sent from my XT1528

I'll have to look at my Fire 6. I haven't been struck by a fuzzy text issue; however, I ended up removing Google Play from both my Fire tablets because I thought it adversely affected performance and I was very displeased with the malware that kept installing itself. I wonder if Google Play is the cause?

My only issue with my Fire 6 right now is that Swype is so buggy to be unusable. It had a tendency to double write words, as in SwypeSwype. I wasn't able to find a keyboard I liked and now I'm using stock, which is ok, but I'd prefer something with a few more bells and whistles.

[Blossom]

I haven't noticed any problems with Google Play. No slowness or performance issues. The battery life is still the same which is really horrible for this tablet compared to KF7. I've given up on them fixing it.

ES File Explorer is known for malware so if you have that get rid of it. It was sold to a Chinese company. I've downgraded mine to the last safe version. 4.0.2.3

I finally settled on Google Play Books with a different font and I had to enlarge the font to get rid of the horrible fuzzy uneven rendering. It looks okay but I prefer smaller text but that looks horrible.

Bookari, Moon+, Pocketbook Reader, Nook all render badly no matter the font size or font. Kindle is fuzzy but not as bad as the others but no longer as good as it once was.

Sent from my XT1528

[tomsem]

I don't see any issues with fuzzy text on my HD6.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I haven't noticed any problems with Google Play. No slowness or performance issues. The battery life is still the same which is really horrible for this tablet compared to KF7. I've given up on them fixing it.

ES File Explorer is known for malware so if you have that get rid of it. It was sold to a Chinese company. I've downgraded mine to the last safe version. 4.0.2.3

I finally settled on Google Play Books with a different font and I had to enlarge the font to get rid of the horrible fuzzy uneven rendering. It looks okay but I prefer smaller text but that looks horrible.

Bookari, Moon+, Pocketbook Reader, Nook all render badly no matter the font size or font. Kindle is fuzzy but not as bad as the others but no longer as good as it once was.

Sent from my XT1528

If you do a screen capture (Vol Down + Power), does that image have fuzzy text?

[Blossom]

As you can see it's fuzzy around the edges. Some letters on fonts I notice don't render all the way. They look thinner then other letters. It more noticeable on 3rd party readers.

[tomsem]

Hmm. I see the vertical strokes (for example) in your screen capture are not aligning on pixel boundaries well. they are 3 pixels wide, but only the center column is dark the left and right are lighter. I assume this is what you mean by 'fuzzy': excessive antialiasing.

When I choose the same font and size (I think: Helvetica size '2'?) the verticals are also 3 pixels wide but two of the columns are dark, and only the right hand column is 'antialiased.' So it is crisper than your sample.

I have had some issues with getting 'component' updates for my Fire HD6. For the longest time things like the Kindle app was stuck on some old version and even after applying FireOS update manual that was unchanged. At some point it got 'unstuck' and I got a series of component updates (the FireOS version did not change), and finally I got the expected features. Perhaps you have some issue like this that affects text layout.

You probably know how to check component versions: go to Settings, Apps & Games, Manage All Applications, ALL. But I have no idea which component would affect text layout, such that we could compare versions.

[Blossom]

I'm beginning to suspect that orange light bleed at the bottom has something to do with the fuzziness. It makes the text as you say lose it's anti-aliasing. My grey backgrounds now have an uneven orange cast to it. It's ugly​.

Sent from my XT1528

[Blossom]

Doing a factory reset. I noticed​ the menus are messed up listing options twice. I don't think it will fix the fuzzy text issue but a reset is obviously needed.

Sent from my XT1528

[Blossom]

Factory reset done. Battery was depleted by the time finished. It was at 98% when started. I found where the components updates are so all up to date on them.

I suspect too many upgrades on top of each other corrupted the system.

Text is still fuzzy but I'm thinking it has to do with Amazon stop caring about text rendering with Fire 5.0 I hope my phone never updates to it.

The fuzzy text affects all text not just books.

Sent from my XT1528

My Fire HD 6 is running 5.3.1.1. It says that 5.3.3.0 is ready to install. I checked the text rendering and it looks fine. However, I haven't used the HD 6 in months, so I forgot how frigging slow it is. Press an app icon button, go fix dinner, eat dinner, wash dishes, come back and wait a while longer then eventually the app opens. Geez! No wonder it collects dust. I was going to charge it up, but quite frankly I don't think it is worth the effort or electricity. I think it is time I gift it to the trash can.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by jswinden

My Fire HD 6 is running 5.3.1.1. It says that 5.3.3.0 is ready to install. I checked the text rendering and it looks fine. However, I haven't used the HD 6 in months, so I forgot how frigging slow it is. Press an app icon button, go fix dinner, eat dinner, wash dishes, come back and wait a while longer then eventually the app opens. Geez! No wonder it collects dust. I was going to charge it up, but quite frankly I don't think it is worth the effort or electricity. I think it is time I gift it to the trash can.

Try a factory reset after you upgrade. It should not be slow. Mines not but syncing as the database is built does take a long time so it's best to plug her in while waiting for that first sync and leave it alone. You can tell when it syncing it gets super hot on the back and the battery drains quickly.

Sent from my XT1528

[Blossom]

I think the reset made the text better it's still not as good as it's once was but it's not as badly render as before. Even the orange bleed at the bottom is less noticeable. I've been reading on the Kindle app. Sadly they have destroyed Lucida my favorite font to read on Kindle. It's badly spaced now and not as elegant as it once was. I use it on my Fire Phone and have used it since they took Trubuchet away. I switched to Bookerly which is lighter than Lucida and took some time to get use to it.

Sent from my XT1528

Originally Posted by Blossom

Try a factory reset after you upgrade. It should not be slow. Mines not but syncing as the database is built does take a long time so it's best to plug her in while waiting for that first sync and leave it alone. You can tell when it syncing it gets super hot on the back and the battery drains quickly.

Sent from my XT1528

Well TBH, the HD 6 is not worth much, and never was. I'm ready to throw the little guy away. After all, Fire OS is even worse than Android, and place either on a lackluster Fire tablet and all you have is headaches. I don't need it, and quite frankly I have two tablets that do everything it can do and much faster and better.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Well TBH, the HD 6 is not worth much, and never was. I'm ready to throw the little guy away. After all, Fire OS is even worse than Android, and place either on a lackluster Fire tablet and all you have is headaches. I don't need it, and quite frankly I have two tablets that do everything it can do and much faster and better.

Donate it then or give it to someone. It's a nice tablet for gaming if nothing else. I really like mine when I do use it. Once you add Google Play the tablet becomes so much more. My Fire Phone sat for the longest then I added Google Play and now it no longer collects dust. I'm hoping the KF6 will be used more now it's been added. I've been reading on it. I use my KF7 for games. I'll be adding Google Play on it next.

Sent from my XT1528