Sharpness vs fuzziness of graphics when viewing PDFs

[Muse]

I downloaded the 453 page service manual for my two printers (HP4M and HP4M+) yesterday. Both printers have serious issues. One of the printers, it looks like I'm likely to try replacing the formatter board. Doing so will require a fair amount of disassembly, and the manual helps you along in this with lots of graphics showing you what's where, including screws to remove. Thing is, on my 23" flat panel monitor here the images are hell of fuzzy. It's damn hard to make out more than the approximate location of what they are ostensibly pointing at.

Well, I ponied up $20 for the paper manual, was fortunate (evidently) to find one on eBay yesterday.

But I wonder... is there something I could/can do to bring those PDF graphics into focus... maybe at least somewhat more into focus?

 

[corkyg]

How do they look in a PDF reader? If they are fuzzy on your PC monitor, they were most likely processed into PDF file from a fuzzy source. If that is the case, there's not much you can do. The source is fuzzy, si?

 

[Ketchup]

What size are you using? If I look at the manual at 100%, it is perfectly clear. If I up it to 150% or so, it gets a little fuzzy. Not much you can do about that. I know the last time I needed a better look at a service manual, I just printed the necessary pages. I realize that this may not be an option for you. But you could always just have put them on a flash drive and printed them somewhere else for cheap. Here is the manual I am referring to:

http://home.comcast.net/~wannabeyote/hp-lj-4-5-m-n-plus.pdf

 

[Muse]

What size are you using? If I look at the manual at 100%, it is perfectly clear. If I up it to 150% or so, it gets a little fuzzy. Not much you can do about that. I know the last time I needed a better look at a service manual, I just printed the necessary pages. I realize that this may not be an option for you. But you could always just have put them on a flash drive and printed them somewhere else for cheap. Here is the manual I am referring to:

http://home.comcast.net/~wannabeyote/hp-lj-4-5-m-n-plus.pdf

This machine has Foxit Reader installed. I open the file in that and the graphics are incredibly out of focus, like a person who's legally blind out of focus. If that's how the world looked I'd have a seeing eye dog.

Something's wrong, don't know what it is. I've poked around in Foxit and nothing's working. Maybe I should just download Adobe Reader 10 or something. :\

I have excellent printers. I'm having issues with both, is the problem, that's why I wanted the service manual. However, as long as no errors occur I can print from the HP4M+. The control panel is supposed to say 00 READY after the successful self-test, and I'm sure it would but probably either the formatter board or the control panel itself has some issue, possibly as simple as a loose wire.

The other printer (HP4M) hasn't been hooked up for a few years and I don't know if it's working at all, I think its PSU isn't working right any more.

Anyway, based on what you're saying, Ketchup, I should be able to see the graphics on my monitor nice and sharp, I just haven't figured out how in Foxit.

 

[Ketchup]

Try to open it in your browser and compare the two.

Edit: and I just opened it with Foxit and it zoomed to about 200%, and honestly the text still looks fine.

 

[Muse]

I installed Acrobat, it seems similar. 20-200 vision here.

 

[Muse]

Try to open it in your browser and compare the two.

Maybe it's my Pale Moon browser setting but when I go to hit that link I don't have the option to open it, just save it.

 

[Ketchup]

How about posting a pic of what you are seeing. I think that would rule out "vision."

Here is what I see:

 

[corkyg]

Ketchup's image was sharp as a tack on my monitor w/IE11. In fact, I did a screen snap, and then ran it in my OCR (Omnipage Pro) and it required no editing - perfect capture and save in RTF (Wordpad) format.

I then opened the file in Wordpad and used Ctrl A to get a clipboard copy. That follows. The image sharpness was good enough to process all the way w/o editing.

Site Requirements
The environmental specifications, listed in the Specifications section of Chapter 1, must be maintained to ensure the proper operation of this printer. Consider the following points before installing the printer:
Install the printer in a well-ventilated area. Install the printer on a sturdy, level surface.
Install the printer where the temperature and humidity do not change abruptly. Do not position the printer near water sources, humidifiers, air conditioners, refrigerators, or other major appliances.
Do not expose the printer to direct sunlight, dust, open flames, or ammonia fumes. If the printer is placed near a window, make sure the window has a curtain or blind to block direct sunlight.
Install the printer away from walls. There must be enough space around the printer for proper access and operation (see Figure 2-1).

It is starting to look like a browser display problem. ???

 

[Mark R]

The text and line art is clear but the continuous tone graphics are saved at super low resolution. Looks like someone chose a crazy compression level on the PDF.

 

[Muse]

How about posting a pic of what you are seeing. I think that would rule out "vision."

Text is quite clear, I'm talking about their graphics. I took a screen shot of what I typically see, but it was only 250kb, saved as JPG in Paint, so I took a shot with my point and shoot instead. It's the same except you can see it much better/bigger. It's from page 379 in the service manual you linked, Ketchup. As you can see they circle two objects in the picture, but they are incredibly fuzzy, I have no idea what they depict. Now, when I get into the printer it may be apparent, but then again maybe not. Have a look, this is basically what I'm seeing on my 23" flat panel display:

 

[Muse]

The text and line art is clear but the continuous tone graphics are saved at super low resolution. Looks like someone chose a crazy compression level on the PDF.

Yes, I think you see what I'm talking about. Don't know why Ketchup and corkyg don't understand what I'm saying. I figure I've got rely on those graphics when I attempt to replace components in the printers. It's starting to look like my purchase of the hard copy manual was a sensible thing to do.

 

[ninaholic37]

Text is quite clear, I'm talking about their graphics. I took a screen shot of what I typically see, but it was only 250kb, saved as JPG in Paint, so I took a shot with my point and shoot instead. It's the same except you can see it much better/bigger. It's from page 379 in the service manual you linked, Ketchup. As you can see they circle two objects in the picture, but they are incredibly fuzzy, I have no idea what they depict. Now, when I get into the printer it may be apparent, but then again maybe not. Have a look, this is basically what I'm seeing on my 23" flat panel display:

The image looks too bright to me, but I think the general area or the circles and description is enough to understand what they're talking about

 

[Ketchup]

My pics looks the same as ninaholic37's. Is this what you are seeing too? If not, please share. I am pretty sure I could figure my way around that through the dialog and pics provided.

 

[Muse]

The image looks too bright to me, but I think the general area or the circles and description is enough to understand what they're talking about

Maybe, but I don't want to have my precious printer in pieces (I paid over $1800 for the HP4M, got the other free, but that was a fluke, they don't grow on trees) and be wondering if I'm understanding precisely the instructions. Fuzzy is not good sometimes. Sometimes I want sharp. In any case, my 453 page hard copy is coming either way now. But I wish I could get it sharp on the monitor. I'll probably use the computer version at least for look-ups.

My pics looks the same as ninaholic37's. Is this what you are seeing too? If not, please share. I am pretty sure I could figure my way around that through the dialog and pics provided.

I'm a nervous Nellie, it's true, when tackling a lot of technical projects. I've done a lot, but the potential for mistakes makes me nervous in particular when I haven't done them before or if it's been so long since I have that I've forgotten the terrain. That nervousness has served me well a lot but it does slow me down, definitely.

 

[Micrornd]

These looks slightly clearer to me, but the problem probably resides with the original HP scan of the service manual.

http://www.ddrservice.net/download/...-4Plus-4Mplus-5-5M-5N Service Manual.pdf.html

http://www.avvocatoguatteri.it/retro00/datasheet/lj4_service_manual.pdf

http://einfo.thecircledelivers.com:...4 4plus 4m 4m plus 5 5m 5n Service Manual.Pdf

 

[Muse]

These looks slightly clearer to me, but the problem probably resides with the original HP scan of the service manual.

http://www.ddrservice.net/download/...-4Plus-4Mplus-5-5M-5N Service Manual.pdf.html

http://www.avvocatoguatteri.it/retro00/datasheet/lj4_service_manual.pdf

http://einfo.thecircledelivers.com:...4 4plus 4m 4m plus 5 5m 5n Service Manual.Pdf

Hmm, I think you're right... I received the manual yesterday, brand new, the original HP part, 453 pages. To my surprise and chagrin the graphics look likewise as seen by a person who's legally blind. Dang, that's ridiculous!

I'm just going to have to use what's there, use my powers of deduction, intuition if I'm unsure what they're driving at. Mostly I figure it will be a matter of figuring out what exact screw I'm to remove, stuff like that.

 

[Dude111]

This machine has Foxit Reader installed. I open the file in that and the graphics are incredibly out of focus

Hmmmm I opened it in Acrobat reader and it looked OK @ 100% (Text,etc)

I opened the FONT info as well maybe that will help ya