It is currently 28 Mar 2024, 13:51


Question for fellow Seiko EPD E-ink Solar users

Discussion on MODERN LED, LCD, OLED and E-INK watches
  • Author
  • Message
Offline

AlmightyTallest

Wizard

Wizard

  • Posts: 360
  • Joined: 02 Jun 2005, 05:36
  • Location: U.S.A.

Question for fellow Seiko EPD E-ink Solar users

Post17 Jun 2014, 15:25

Hey guys,

I've had my Lupin the 3rd EPD for about two years now, and recently I noticed my watch wasn't coming out of sleep mode so easily when exposed to light.

I have a light meter I use, and found that the watch now seems to require about 3,000 lux in order to wake up. I also found that if this light level isn't seen by the watch for 3 to 4 hours it will fall back into sleep mode.

All other functions work perfectly, the battery charge while the watch is worn shows a full charge, but when the watch is cold, or not being worn it's in the middle on the charge graph. I had to reboot the watch one time after seeing a little more ghosting of the digits and it not waking up as easily about a year after I recieved it. This reboot last year fixed all the problems I had experienced.
However, doing the rebooting of the IC's now doesn't change the behavior of the watch, it still requires about 3,000 lux or more to keep out of sleep mode.

Just wondering if any of you guys had experienced any problems with the amount of light needed to keep your EPD awake or charged, or if you knew what kind of light level kept your watch going.

I thought that the watch would wake up and stay that way with an illumination level of only 500 lux or more. This seems reasonable, since it's considered average office illumination and is the minimum light level that that watch solar panels can use to maintain a charge.

Edit: I think I posted in the wrong section, maybe this should be under Technical discussion? Sorry about that.
Offline

stockae92

Techie

Techie

  • Posts: 142
  • Joined: 16 Jan 2013, 02:42
  • Location: socal

Re: Question for fellow Seiko EPD E-ink Solar users

Post17 Jun 2014, 23:46

I don't have my Seiko SDGA001 anymore, but it has always been a little too easy to get into sleep mode and a little too lazy to get out of it. The matter in fact, it was so easy to get into sleep mode that it would sleep in the office with dimmed light, and this has become an issue for me. This is part of the reason why I don't one it any more.

It was such a fantastic watch, I really wished Seiko would smooth out the "rough edges" and continue to make eInk models. I have a Pebble and the screen is never as nice as the Seiko one.
Offline

AlmightyTallest

Wizard

Wizard

  • Posts: 360
  • Joined: 02 Jun 2005, 05:36
  • Location: U.S.A.

Re: Question for fellow Seiko EPD E-ink Solar users

Post18 Jun 2014, 00:32

Thanks for the info stockae92. It seems like they changed the requirements for the sleep mode a bit with the budget EPD's. Mine will wait 3 to 4 hours before going into sleep mode when deprived of light, it's also mentioned in the manuals for the Cal 771. So it seems Seiko learned from the Cal 770 since it's not as agressive as the SDGA models, but I was surprised how much light mine seems to require to stay active recently.

If anything, it would be neat if they could use a more efficient solar array that would allow the module to operate under lower light conditions, or at least more quickly charge the battery up.

I'm still very happy with mine, just noticed it seems to need more light recently.
Offline

AlmightyTallest

Wizard

Wizard

  • Posts: 360
  • Joined: 02 Jun 2005, 05:36
  • Location: U.S.A.

Re: Question for fellow Seiko EPD E-ink Solar users

Post09 Jul 2014, 23:14

After a few weeks of experimenting I found some interesting things about my Seiko EPD coming out of sleep mode.

When I did a reboot of the IC, some mornings it would take up to 9000 lux in order for it come out of the mode, and if the light level did not equal that value the watch was on a timer from three to four hours after where it would go back into sleep mode. I kept a light meter near the watch to monitor the light levels throughout the day, and the initial start up was done slowly increasing the amount of light to see when the display would come on.

The first light level was too high and so I did another reboot and testing, I found this time it only required 3,500 lux to come out of the mode, interesting, so the next day I rebooted again and found a 6,000 lux light requirement to wake up.

I ended up rebooting until I found the lower 3,000-4,000 lux requirement to come out of the sleep mode and so far the watch seems okay. It's easy to hit this light level during a normal day which then seems to reset the three or four hour timer for the watch to go back into the sleep mode. Of course, any exposure to light levels at or above this initial wake up level extend the time for the watch to fall back to sleep.

So if the light level falls consistently below 6,000 lux at 7pm, at 10 or 11 pm the watch will go to sleep. At least that's how it seems to be working. The manual for this watch says that light levels of only 500 lux will sustain the display, so I don't know if the watch can still charge itself with the solar panels while in sleep mode while the light level meets or exceeds 500 lux and up to just before coming out of the sleep mode.

Perhaps my watch is malfunctioning and now requires the higher light values of 3,000 lux and up just to keep powered up, but right now I'm hesitant to ship it back to Seiko Japan and have them have a look at it just yet.

Just some notes for future reference. :-D

Return to Modern Digitals

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 45 guests