8 replies to this topic

[Ps191]

Hi Everyone:

 

Mods move thread if this is not the correct forum.

 

Like title says has anyone use a planetarium app on an e-reader? I'd like to hear from users. 

 

My research indicates some e-readers run android and can access the play store. Some also have the hardware that sould support a planetarium app. I guess an area of questions I have is how does the B&W screen work at night with planetarium app? What about color e-reader screens?

 

User experiences welcome. Also please share the hardware and software you're using.

 

 

[Ps191]

I'm considering a Boox Go Color 7 running SkySafari, but would love to hear about other combination that work or didn't work.

[Jon Isaacs]

I am curious why you are interested in a Ereader rather than a tablet?

 

For use at night, red on black will affect your night vision the least and unless the screen is an AMOLED or OLED, it will leak white light and a red film filter is most desirable to help preserve your night vision.

 

Jon

[trurl]

All tablets can be ereaders. 

 

That model ereader appears to be an Android tablet since it has Google Play.

 

What I would wonder about is what sensors it has, such as compass, gyroscope, gps

[gmiller123456]

I believe the OP is referring to e-paper displays that don't emit light.

I only have the very first Kindle edition. The resolution for showing small details is pretty limited, so a star chart would have to be zoomed in a lot to de useful. Maybe the newer displays have more resolution. Also the screen update speed is quite slow, making browsing around nearly impossible.

[ShaulaB]

My $125 Lenovo 10 inch Android tablet runs Sky Safari Pro 7 just fine. I use it to control a Celestron CGE Pro mount holding a C14.

[Tanglebones]

I use a Boox Note Air 4 C and Sky Safari 7 runs just fine on it. I got it principally for sketching at the eyepiece though have yet to use it outside for that purpose yet. I do find you have to adjust settings to eliminate ghosting but beyond that it's effortless. 

 

I prefer e-readers over tablets for outside as they're front-lit rather than back-lit and can be turned down to the very barest lighting. They also work well in day, with screens easy to read despite the harshest glare. Very pleased with mine - now I just need to get using it to sketch more. Admittedly not easy with the weeks of clouds we seem to be having.

[Ps191]

I am curious why you are interested in a Ereader rather than a tablet?

 

For use at night, red on black will affect your night vision the least and unless the screen is an AMOLED or OLED, it will leak white light and a red film filter is most desirable to help preserve your night vision.

 

Jon

gmiller 123456 nailed it. Since I work at a computer most of the day I'm interested in my personal screen time to be as easy on my eyes as possible, thus looking for the paper screen experience. I don't currently have tablet so, if possible, I'd also love to find a ereader that would serve double duty and run a planetarium app.

 

All tablets can be ereaders. 

 

That model ereader appears to be an Android tablet since it has Google Play.

 

What I would wonder about is what sensors it has, such as compass, gyroscope, gps

Sensors, or lack thereof, is a good point. Many of the ereaders are sensors poor so I may have to be ready to copy location and any other information required from my phone.

 

I believe the OP is referring to e-paper displays that don't emit light.

I only have the very first Kindle edition. The resolution for showing small details is pretty limited, so a star chart would have to be zoomed in a lot to de useful. Maybe the newer displays have more resolution. Also the screen update speed is quite slow, making browsing around nearly impossible.

Yes, the epaper screen is the big reason I'm considering an ereader. Thanks for sharing your experience. I do believe the latest epaper screens are better, but I'm asking to confirm.

 

I use a Boox Note Air 4 C and Sky Safari 7 runs just fine on it. I got it principally for sketching at the eyepiece though have yet to use it outside for that purpose yet. I do find you have to adjust settings to eliminate ghosting but beyond that it's effortless. 

 

I prefer e-readers over tablets for outside as they're front-lit rather than back-lit and can be turned down to the very barest lighting. They also work well in day, with screens easy to read despite the harshest glare. Very pleased with mine - now I just need to get using it to sketch more. Admittedly not easy with the weeks of clouds we seem to be having.

Thank you Tangblebones for the very relevant experience. Just to confirm you're creating your sketches on the Note 4? What adjustments did you need to make to eliminate ghosting?

 

Until you mentioned it, I didn't think about the advantage of the front light. I live in a dark hole, so dark I've seen shadows created from starlight. I've never felt the night mode on most screens are dark enough. So I'd be excited if an ereader screen could be darkened even more.

 

Thanks everyone for sharing. It sounds like with a few hiccups the latest ereaders hardware can handle the task. I think in the future we'll see epaper screen become more common on devices and also as stand alone monitors. It also wouldn't surprise me if amateur astronomers become some of the early adopters. 

 

Best,

Kevin
 

[Tanglebones]

Thank you Tangblebones for the very relevant experience. Just to confirm you're creating your sketches on the Note 4? What adjustments did you need to make to eliminate ghosting?

Hi Kevin.

 

Onyx Boox e-readers have a lot of settings to play with, as does SS itself, so between the two there are a lot of possible combinations and I'm still experimenting. One thing I did find very helpful is to set Full Refresh Frequency to '1-Tap' and Refresh Mode set to 'Regal', which is for minimal ghosting. 1-Tap lets me tap the screen a single time to clean up the image if needed.

 

WRT Regal mode, it says this is for light-coloured backgrounds and would cause 'slight flickering' on dark backgrounds but I haven't noticed this. It works fine for me, though in SS I did have to turn horizon glow and Milky Way off.

 

The only regret I have over this is buying a couple of months too soon. The Note Air 4 C is a large screen device and I wanted a smaller one, but at the time it was the smallest size they offered with a stylus for sketching. Now, I see, they have smaller ones. Such is life.