Re: [NTLK] Newton's HWR [WAS: "Re: Newton reclassification"]

~~~ On 2007/04/29 06:46, Woody Smith at woodysmith@comcast.net wrote ~~~

> It sounds like you may have a problem referred to as Jaggies.
> see<http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/index.php/TheJaggies> for a
> brief description and some possible remedies.
> For list discussion of this topic search the list archives at
> <http://www.newtontalk.net/archive/>
> Woody
>
>
>
> On Apr 28, 2007, at 6:42 PM, MICHAEL W LODER wrote:
>
>> Being a Newton-newbie, I have some questions about handwriting
>> recognition. Sometimes it does an excellent job of making sense out
>> of my left-hander's scribbles, at other times, it cannot seem to
>> make sense of anything I write. But I notice that sometimes the
>> lines accurately follow my pen, at other times, the lines that
>> appear seem to have a mind of their own. When that happens, nothing
>> comes out right. So, why is that?
>> So, next question: Do any of you feel that the type or make of
>> stylus makes a difference in the Newton's ability to take down the
>> handwriting? Reason I ask is that my Newton came with a non-apple,
>> cheap stylus. It appears to work MOST of the time, but at other
>> times, the Newton won't even appear to be aware that I am touching
>> the screen. Are there certain stylus types to avoid, and types to
>> prefer?
>> Thanks for your help. This is a great community. WES LODER
>
>

Dear Wes,

Welcome to the wonderful world of the Newton!

As a relative newcomer myself I doubt that I'm the best person to address
this, and I suspect Woody and Tony are right to refer to Jaggies as your
probable problem. But since you're new (and perhaps your Newton is too?),
and since your Jaggies are intermittent, I would add the following just in
case things aren't yet drastic.

I think there are two things that could give you intermittent Jaggies that
wouldn't necessarily mean you have to replace anything.

The first one is dust. If dust and dirt get under the case bezel around the
screen, the differential in pressure on the screen seems able to cause
problems. See the links to pages referred to by Woody to get started
reading about this. A number of people seem to have had at least temporary
success with running a thin card under the bezel all the way round, to
remove dirt. From my experience I would add to the advice I've seen about
this that you need to use a card that's sturdy enough (but not too thick) so
that won't tear or shred while you're doing this. otherwise you could end
up adding thready bits of cardboard to the other dirt.

Second -- and this is just a wild guess, more as a question to the more
knowledgeable members of the community than as a statement of fact -- it
just may be possible that a contributing factor to your Jaggies is that as a
left-hander, you might tend to put a little extra pressure on the bezel
around the screen as you write, or to get serious variations in writing
pressure. It would depend on your arm and hand position when you write, I
guess. In my admittedly limited experience, the Newton can find extra
pressure or pressure variation confusing when it's trying to determine where
the stylus is touching it and what it's doing. You could test this as a
possible cause: experiment with writing while consciously making sure you
only allow minimal contact by the writing hand, and see if the Jaggie
problem goes away.

Obviously, if there is any residual dust under the screen in addition to
excess pressure, I expect these two things could combine to make the problem
even worse.

Of course, if your digitizer is on its way out, you have to ignore what I've
said and get a repair. I had my digitizer replaced for me around Christmas
time and now I'm like a cat with two tails AND a large bowl of milk.

Just some more grist for the mill.
 
Shalom.
Christian

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