Guy

Quality of life update for the #eReaderHat Now fetching #ebooks from the #calibreserver is a background task so you can keep #reading as your #books download.

While the software is a mess I think the next step is making a similar carrier board for the #raspberrypi #CM4 form factor.

I'm also considering submitting this to the @hackaday prize for gits and shiggles. Should I?

#eReader #electronics #eBook #electronics #embedded #opensourcehardware #calibre #selfhosting #selfhosted #diy #maker

Aug 11, 2023 at 4:05pmWeb
Show threadGuyAug 11, 2023

The messy code

https://gitlab.com/guyjeangilles/piereader/-/tree/dev?ref_type=heads

Files · dev · Guyrandy Jean-Gilles / piereader · GitLab

GitLab.com

GitLab
Show threadhackadayAug 12, 2023

@extralongdivision
You should absolutely submit it for this year's Hackaday Prize!

We need a fully open hardware and software digital book platform, letting Amazon handle it all is just asking for trouble.

You won't be alone either -- there's at least one other OSHW ereader in the running this year, the Open Book from @joeycastillo

https://hackaday.io/project/168761-the-open-book

The Open Book

The Open Book is an open-hardware device for reading books in all the languages of the world. It includes a large screen and buttons for navigation, as well as audio options for accessibility and ports to extend its functionality. Its detailed silkscreen, with the all the manic energy and quixotic ambition of a Dr. Bronner's bottle, aims to demystify the Open Book's own design, breaking down for the curious reader both how the book works, and how they can build one for themselves.

Show threadGuyAug 15, 2023

@hackaday @joeycastillo I caved. Here's the hackaday project page for the #eReaderHat: https://hackaday.io/project/192366-floss-book-serving-system

First project log is up to. I didn't actually call it the eReaderHat because that's just the current hardware. Soliciting name recommendations

FLOSS Book Serving System

This (still unnamed) project aims to allow book lovers to read books from an ereader they can fully customize and read books from a server they fully control.

Show threadIdcrafterAug 16, 2023
@extralongdivision @hackaday @joeycastillo i like to see more Epaper devices and i wish for them to be color screens which really makes the devices nicer
Show threadGuyAug 16, 2023
@Idcrafter @hackaday @joeycastillo colored screens exist but their refresh time is pretty high. 30+ seconds in some cases. Unfortunately not much can be done until the technology improves.
Show threadPuddleOfKittensAug 17, 2023
@extralongdivision @Idcrafter @hackaday @joeycastillo the tech *has* improved, the Gallery 3 can do a full color update in 1.5s and is proper multi-dye/ACeP not CFA. I would guess that Eink will eventually release a three-color variant, it shouldn't be any harder than full RGB.
Show threadIdcrafterAug 17, 2023
@PuddleOfKittens @extralongdivision @hackaday @joeycastillo i just hope that we get competition soon to make the tech better, there are already atleast one that i know of which would be called inksludge or something and it seems to use no capsules for the ink and they even made a color panel which refreshes almost as fast as a normal Epaper panel, but speed isn't important for new technologies because you can only run after you learned how to walk
Show threadPuddleOfKittensAug 18, 2023
@Idcrafter @extralongdivision @hackaday @joeycastillo are you referring to Display Electronic Slurry (DES)? It's interesting tech but it has nothing to do with color (IIRC they got color via Color Filter Array (CFA), which is fancy way of saying they just glued a stained-glass checkerboard onto the screen). CFA is a dead-end tech, IMO. It kills contrast and effective resolution, which makes it worse than monochrome for anything that doesn't *need* color.
Show threadIdcrafterAug 18, 2023
@PuddleOfKittens @extralongdivision @hackaday @joeycastillo DES and also would i take an color filter array based E-paper display than using an monochrome one because i already have a kindle and do i own a small E-ink 7 Color display which looks great but is quite slow but you can still read books and even do notes with colors. And choice is often an good thing.
Show threadPuddleOfKittensAug 18, 2023

@Idcrafter @extralongdivision @hackaday @joeycastillo I'm a big fan of color and I want it to become viable on eink, I just think CFA is the worst possible way to get there - it inherently, fundamentally guts the contrast and resolution of the screen it augments.

I think fast-multidye is the future because you can simply *toggle off color* and claw back most of the benefits of monochrome (I.e. most of the response time). If they can fix the cost, it's almost a straight upgrade over monochrome.

Show threadGuyAug 18, 2023
@PuddleOfKittens @Idcrafter @hackaday @joeycastillo the driver board for the gallery 3 is 350 USD. Maybe it exists but it's of reach of for us common folk. Likely to change in due time though