PRS-900 High Bevel on Frame stinks

phazlehurst · 01-01-2010, 07:23 PM

Hi...

Just a minor warning, but the 4 or 5 millimeter inset screen on the PRS900 kind of stinks because the first line of text on a page is always in shadow unless the light is absolutely perfect.

I always have to wiggle the reader at the top of a page just so I can read the text since I like an angle to read, which works fine for most of the page...

EDIT: Just to add, I only am downloading books from Sony's service, so can't comment on other books. Ironically, I'd expect the Sony Reader books to be *better* since I pay for them.

P

netseeker · 01-01-2010, 07:36 PM

Do you have ebooks which are formatted without a top margin? Or is the shadow really that big?

tompe · 01-01-2010, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by netseeker

Do you have ebooks which are formatted without a top margin? Or is the shadow really that big?

A lot of the ePub I downloaded from MR was without a top margin when displayed in my Gen3. Good that it is also a problem for PRS-900. Maybe that will get people to care about top margin.

phazlehurst · 01-01-2010, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by netseeker

Do you have ebooks which are formatted without a top margin? Or is the shadow really that big?

Seems like most of them are coming through with no top margin. Certainly my older books that were probably converted a long time ago.

Also, find it annoying that the "margin mode" doesn't do anything for these books. They looked fine on my 700... but that could have been pre-ePub format I guess.

netseeker · 01-01-2010, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

A lot of the ePub I downloaded from MR was without a top margin when displayed in my Gen3. Good that it is also a problem for PRS-900. Maybe that will get people to care about top margin.

I use at least a little top margin in all my ebook uploads because i don't like it when the first line starts to closely spaced to the top of the screen. Btw. did you inform the uploaders of those ebooks about that? I'm sure most of them would consider adding a top margin...

netseeker · 01-01-2010, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phazlehurst

Seems like most of them are coming through with no top margin. Certainly my older books that were probably converted a long time ago.

Also, find it annoying that the "margin mode" doesn't do anything for these books. They looked fine on my 700... but that could have been pre-ePub format I guess.

Could you try some other ePubs please? I would like to eliminate all doubt that it's a general problem with the PRS-900.

tompe · 01-01-2010, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by netseeker

I use at least a little top margin in all my ebook uploads because i don't like it when the first line starts to closely spaced to the top of the screen. Btw. did you inform the uploaders of those ebooks about that? I'm sure most of them would consider adding a top margin...

I am trying to figure out what causes the problem since there are some book without a @page specification that works OK and some do not.
All the HarryT's Dickens book I tested worked OK for example.

phazlehurst · 01-01-2010, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by netseeker

Could you try some other ePubs please? I would like to eliminate all doubt that it's a general problem with the PRS-900.

Will do... if someone can give me a link or a "good" book that I can download, i'll try it right now.

tx

P

Lilly · 01-01-2010, 09:53 PM

phazlehurst, please let Sony knows there's a problem. They can't fix it if none is reporting it. I plan to order a PRS-900 tomorrow.

netseeker · 01-01-2010, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phazlehurst

Will do... if someone can give me a link or a "good" book that I can download, i'll try it right now.

tx

P

You can try it with one of HarryT's ePub, eg. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54477. It uses a top margin with a height of 5pt, hence the PRS-900 should at least display a little top margin.

phazlehurst · 01-01-2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

I am trying to figure out what causes the problem since there are some book without a @page specification that works OK and some do not.
All the HarryT's Dickens book I tested worked OK for example.

Ok, so I just downloaded and installed "Tale of two cities" by HarryT and in normal mode there's a margin at the top of about ".75" of a line of text... So in my average room with light above me, and book at about 20 degrees, the shadow crops the tops of t's and l's... but "vowels" and so on look fine. I.e., "vowel" is fine except for the top of the l.

In "no margin" mode, the first whole line is in shadow... so it's much better.

By way of comparison... The Black Ice an old book by Michael Connelly from Sony has no top margin and so is in shadow the whole... I checked his new book "Nine Dragons" same problem.

I checked a different author from Sony... Inside Steve's Brain (about Steve Jobs) and it has the same problem.

Clearly the issue is that the epubs from Sony aren't inclusive of a margin...

Sigh. I'll yell at them right now.

P

JSWolf · 01-01-2010, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

A lot of the ePub I downloaded from MR was without a top margin when displayed in my Gen3. Good that it is also a problem for PRS-900. Maybe that will get people to care about top margin.

I saw the 900 recently and did not find no top margin to be an issue at all.

shrktank · 01-02-2010, 10:02 AM

I agree with Wolf, I have had my 900 now and have read about 3 books thus far. So far the bevel has not been an issue

netseeker · 01-02-2010, 10:23 AM

Please open a software which is capable of displaying text in any sort. Take a look how characters are displayed near the edges by default. Any software, printed material and any visual styleguide i know follows this basic rule: Use at least a little margins because otherwise characters near display edges and other kind of lines will be harder to read for a lot of people.

Bottom margins should be larger than top margins and outer margins should be larger than inner margins and larger as the used line spacing as well. These are well known facts in book typography.

tompe · 01-02-2010, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by netseeker

Please open a software which is capable of displaying text in any sort. Take a look how characters are displayed near the edges by default. Any software, printed material and any visual styleguide i know follows this basic rule: Use at least a little margins because otherwise characters near display edges and other kind of lines will be harder to read for a lot of people.

Bottom margins should be larger than top margins and outer margins should be larger than inner margins and larger as the used line spacing as well. These are well known facts in book typography.

Exactly.

But the reason that the inner margin is smaller is that the two inner margins on opposite sides adds together and the white space in the middle should not be greater than the outer margin. That is not an issue for an ebook reader but I assume the page number in the margin is a good reason to have larger outer margin.

01-01-2010, 07:23 PM	#1
phazlehurst Member Posts: 12 Karma: 60 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: PRS900, and PRS700 and PRS505	High Bevel on Frame stinks Hi... Just a minor warning, but the 4 or 5 millimeter inset screen on the PRS900 kind of stinks because the first line of text on a page is always in shadow unless the light is absolutely perfect. I always have to wiggle the reader at the top of a page just so I can read the text since I like an angle to read, which works fine for most of the page... EDIT: Just to add, I only am downloading books from Sony's service, so can't comment on other books. Ironically, I'd expect the Sony Reader books to be better since I pay for them. P Last edited by phazlehurst; 01-01-2010 at 07:54 PM.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
K3 battery life stinks... what?	stewie1	Amazon Kindle	89	09-05-2010 11:25 AM
Delay of ebook releases...stinks	cigarjockey	Sony Reader	2	11-28-2009 09:29 PM
This book stinks! (re: the old deadtree kind)	ardeegee	Lounge	0	11-12-2009 05:39 PM
You read a book and it stinks. What do you do?	TadW	Reading Recommendations	69	08-24-2009 09:15 AM

01-01-2010, 07:36 PM	#2
netseeker sleepless reader Posts: 4,763 Karma: 615547 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Germany, near Stuttgart Device: Sony PRS-505, PB 360° & 302, nook wi-fi, Kindle 3	Do you have ebooks which are formatted without a top margin? Or is the shadow really that big?

01-01-2010, 09:53 PM	#9
Lilly Guru Posts: 688 Karma: 2090 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505, PRS-900 & PRS-950, Amazon Kindle2	phazlehurst, please let Sony knows there's a problem. They can't fix it if none is reporting it. I plan to order a PRS-900 tomorrow.

01-02-2010, 10:02 AM	#13
shrktank Connoisseur Posts: 83 Karma: 92 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Imperial,Mo Device: Sony 650,Nook Color and iPad	I agree with Wolf, I have had my 900 now and have read about 3 books thus far. So far the bevel has not been an issue

01-02-2010, 10:23 AM	#14
netseeker sleepless reader Posts: 4,763 Karma: 615547 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Germany, near Stuttgart Device: Sony PRS-505, PB 360° & 302, nook wi-fi, Kindle 3	Please open a software which is capable of displaying text in any sort. Take a look how characters are displayed near the edges by default. Any software, printed material and any visual styleguide i know follows this basic rule: Use at least a little margins because otherwise characters near display edges and other kind of lines will be harder to read for a lot of people. Bottom margins should be larger than top margins and outer margins should be larger than inner margins and larger as the used line spacing as well. These are well known facts in book typography.

Advert

Advert