What’s actually slowing this PC down?

Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more

On a BOOX reader, faint text or images left behind after a page turn are usually ghosting, a normal characteristic of E Ink rather than immediate evidence of a damaged display. The practical fix is to match the refresh mode to what you are doing: use HD for mostly static, text-focused reading; use Speed for scrolling or other rapidly changing content; and use Regal where your model offers it and you want less ghosting without giving up as much visual quality.

When remnants build up, run a manual Full Refresh. You can reach the controls from Control Center > EinkWise, and BOOX also lets you assign a full refresh to a gesture, Navigation Bar control, or Navigation Ball where those options are available. The exact labels and paths can differ by BOOX model, firmware, color display and app.

What ghosting means on a BOOX screen

BOOX defines ghosting as “faint remnants of previous content, like text or images, remain visible after the screen refreshes.” Its Help Center describes this as a normal aspect of E Ink technology. In practice, you may notice a pale outline of the previous page, a toolbar that seems to linger after an app change, or fragments of an image after scrolling.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Ghosting is most visible when the screen has changed repeatedly without a complete refresh. A page-turn animation, scrolling list, handwriting movement, video-like content or a third-party app can update many regions quickly. Those updates are designed to be faster and more comfortable than a full-screen flash, but they can leave more residual image information behind.

#1 Best Overall
BOOX Tablet Go Color 7 Gen II E Ink Tablet Support Active Stylus InkSense (Black)
  • Does not support EMR stylus, Support Active Stylus InkSense, but the sytlus is not included in the box.
  • Screen: 7" Kaleido 3 (4096 colors)glass screen with flat cover-lens. Resolution: 1680 x 1264 (B/W 300 ppi, Color 150 ppi) CPU: Octa-core. RAM: 4GB. OS: Android 13 ROM: 64GB Connectivity: Wi-Fi + BT 5.1
  • Front Light with CTM (Warm and Cold) G-sensor for Auto Rotation
  • Document Formats: PDF, CAJ, DJVU, CBR, CBZ, EPUB, EPUB3, AZW3, MOBI, TXT, DOC, DOCX, FB2, CHM, RTF, HTML, ZIP, PRC, PPT, PPTX Image Formats: PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF Audio Formats: WAV, MP3 Supports 3rd-party apps
  • Buttton: Power Button, Page-Turn Buttons USB-C Port (Supports OTG or use as an audio jack) microSD Card Slot Built-in Speaker Built-in Microphone

Normal ghosting should clear, or become much less noticeable, after a Full Refresh. A different situation is an abnormal mark that remains after a full refresh, appears when the content has not changed, or is unrelated to anything recently displayed. BOOX’s guidance covers refresh settings for ordinary artifacts; it does not provide a hardware-fault diagnosis procedure. Persistent abnormalities should be referred to BOOX support.

The fastest way to clear accumulated remnants

  1. Open Control Center. Swipe down from the top-right edge of the screen.
  2. Open EinkWise. Tap EinkWise in Control Center. On some devices, the same controls can be reached through a configured gesture or the Navigation Bar.
  3. Run Full Refresh. Choose the full-refresh command to redraw the entire display. The screen may flash more strongly than it does during a partial refresh; that is expected.
  4. Turn on Auto Full Refresh if available. BOOX’s general ghosting guidance recommends enabling this setting after you select an appropriate refresh mode. Availability and placement depend on the device and firmware.

A Full Refresh is a clearing action, not a guarantee that ghosting will never return. If you continue using a fast partial-refresh mode for dynamic content, faint remnants can accumulate again. The goal is to use full refreshes often enough for your tolerance and task, without forcing a screen-wide refresh after every small change.

Choose a refresh mode for the task

BOOX frames refresh modes as a tradeoff between visual quality and update speed. The best choice depends on whether the page is static or changing frequently. Mode names, availability and behavior are not identical across all BOOX generations, apps or firmware versions.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
Mode Best fit What to expect
HD Static reading and crisp text Prioritizes display quality. It is usually the clearest choice for novels, PDFs that you are reading without scrolling, and other pages that remain still.
Speed Scrolling and frequently changing content Prioritizes faster updates. BOOX suggests it for dynamic use and, on color devices, for addressing ghosting in third-party apps. Image quality can be lower than in HD.
Regal General reading or material with color and images, when supported Designed to reduce ghosting while preserving visual quality in supported contexts. It is not offered on every device or in every app.
Smooth Dynamic use on models that include this mode Some BOOX generations provide a model-specific Smooth option aimed at fluid updates. Do not assume that its behavior or ranking is the same on another generation.

Do not treat the table as a universal performance ranking. BOOX’s mode descriptions come from device and firmware-specific documentation. A mode that appears on one reader may be absent on another, and an app may expose a separate set of controls.

For a book that barely changes

Start with HD. If a faint header or previous page still bothers you, perform a Full Refresh and keep Auto Full Refresh enabled when the option is present. Because the page is static, the slower update behavior is usually a worthwhile exchange for sharper text.

For long pages, lists and scrolling

Try Speed first. It is intended for content that changes repeatedly, where waiting for a high-quality redraw after every movement would make navigation feel slow. If the trail becomes distracting, use a manual Full Refresh, switch to HD for the reading portion, or choose Regal when your model and app provide it.

For images and color content

Regal may offer a better balance on supported devices, particularly for general reading or color- and image-rich material. Color models can expose different controls from monochrome models, so use the mode names visible in your own EinkWise panel rather than assuming that a setting from another BOOX model exists.

Free tools Windows power users keep installed

One-click scans. No signup required.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Configure refresh behavior from EinkWise

EinkWise is the central place to change the mode that a BOOX device uses for the current context. The documented route is:

  1. Swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center.
  2. Tap EinkWise.
  3. Select the refresh mode offered for the current device or app, such as HD, Speed or Regal.
  4. If remnants have accumulated, select Full Refresh.

BOOX also documents access through a gesture or the Navigation Bar. Gesture defaults and the controls shown on the Navigation Bar can vary, so the visible option on your device is authoritative. On devices that include a Navigation Ball, BOOX lists it as another place to invoke a full refresh.

Rank #2
BOOX Tablet 10.3" Note Air 5 C 6G 64G E Ink Tablet Color ePaper Notebook
  • Screen: 10.3" Kaleido 3 (4,096 colors) glass screen with flat cover-lens. Resolution: B/W: 2480 x 1860 (300 ppi). Color: 1240 x 930 (150 ppi). Touch: BOOX stylus touch (4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity) + capacitive touch. CPU: Octa-core + BSR RAM: 6GB ROM: 64GB Connectivity: Wi-Fi + BT 5.1 Front Light with CTM (Warm and Cold) G-sensor for Auto Rotation
  • OS: Android 15 Document Formats: PDF, CAJ, DJVU, CBR, CBZ, EPUB, EPUB3, AZW3, MOBI, TXT, DOC, DOCX, FB2, CHM, RTF, HTML, ZIP, PRC, PPT, PPTX Image Formats: PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF Audio Formats: WAV, MP3 Supports 3rd-party apps
  • Button: Power Button with Fingerprint Recognition USB-C Port (Supports OTG or use as an audio jack) microSD Card Slot Built-in Dual Speakers Built-in Microphone Battery: 3,700mAh Li-ion Polymer Dimensions: 225 x 192 x 5.8 mm (8.9" x 7.6" x 0.23") Weight: Approx. 430 g (15.2 oz)
  • Dark, gray, or wrongfully believed low resolution screen : All Eink products used Kaleido 3 color e-ink technology, which currently has inherent limitations and share the same darker or grayer screen than LCD/LED ones. This is a characteristic of all e-ink products, not a defect. If it doesn't meet your expectations, you may return the product under our return policy. However, please note this is not considered a product fault.
  • Over 99% of mobile apps are optimized for LCD/OLED screens with: High refresh rate expectations; Color-rich interfaces; Animation-heavy designs; These design choices conflict with E Ink's natural strengths in static content display.Energy Efficiency Trade-off‌: E Ink relies on electrophoretic particles that physically move to form images, resulting in slower refresh rates, makes it inherently unsuitable for conventional app interfaces designed for always-powered displays. If the buyers are not satisfied, they can apply for return or exchange, but it cannot be regarded as a malfunction.

Refresh behavior can be configured per app. That matters because an e-book reader, a browser, a note-taking app and a video-like interface make very different demands on the display. A setting that feels clean in a static reading app may be unnecessarily slow in a scrolling app.

NeoReader: adjust refreshes inside the reading app

NeoReader has its own refresh controls in addition to the device-level settings. To open them:

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
  1. Tap the center of the page to reveal the reading controls.
  2. Open the menu in the top-right corner.
  3. Choose Refresh.

Depending on your model and firmware, the Refresh panel can include page refresh mode, refresh rate, deep full-refresh and drag-to-refresh options. These controls let you decide how often NeoReader performs a more complete redraw rather than relying on repeated partial updates.

Set the interval according to your tolerance

BOOX notes that more taps between full refreshes can allow more ghosting to accumulate. If a document is becoming visibly dirty before the next full refresh, shorten the interval. You will see full refreshes more often, but the page should remain cleaner. If the screen is staying clear and you prefer fewer flashes, a longer interval may be comfortable.

Use deep full-refresh when ordinary refreshes are not enough

When NeoReader offers deep full-refresh, use it for stubborn remnants that a normal page update has not removed. It is a stronger redraw and therefore a less suitable choice for every small navigation action. The available wording and behavior can differ by device.

Dragging and handwriting-style interaction

If your document or workflow uses drag-to-refresh, configure that option in NeoReader’s Refresh panel when it is present. It is intended for interactions where content moves continuously, but it can produce a different balance of responsiveness and image quality than a static page mode.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Color devices and third-party apps

Color BOOX devices and third-party apps may present controls that are not identical to NeoReader’s. BOOX advises enabling Full Refresh for apps and suggests Speed mode for third-party apps when ghosting is a problem. Treat that as a vendor recommendation, not a universal rule: the best setting depends on the app, the type of content and the controls exposed by your model.

  1. Open the app where the artifacts are visible.
  2. Open Control Center and enter EinkWise.
  3. Look for an app-specific or global Full Refresh option and enable it when available.
  4. Try Speed for a scrolling or rapidly changing interface.
  5. Run a manual Full Refresh after changing the setting, then repeat the same actions that produced the artifacts.

If the app has its own display or refresh menu, compare those controls with EinkWise. Avoid assuming that a mode selected in NeoReader will carry over unchanged to another app.

When to use a manual Full Refresh

A full refresh is useful at specific moments rather than as a ritual after every page. Use one when:

Rank #3
BOOX Palma 2 Pro Mobile ePaper eBook Reader 8G 128G 150PPI in Color Mode (White)
  • BOOX Palma2 Pro Mobile ePaper eBook Reader 8G 128G 150PPI in Color Mode
  • Faint text or image fragments are visible across the current page.
  • You have switched from a graphic-heavy or scrolling app to a text page.
  • A partial refresh left a toolbar, cursor or selection highlight behind.
  • You changed the refresh mode and want to judge the new setting from a clean screen.
  • NeoReader’s configured interval has been reached and the page is visibly accumulating remnants.

BOOX documents several ways to invoke or assign the command: Control Center, Navigation Ball, a gesture, or a Navigation Bar control, depending on the device. Assigning a convenient shortcut is worthwhile if you frequently switch between static reading and dynamic apps.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Support on Ko-Fi

A practical setup for common BOOX workflows

Mostly novels and articles

  1. Select HD in EinkWise.
  2. Enable Auto Full Refresh if your firmware provides it.
  3. Use a manual Full Refresh when a previous page becomes visible.

This profile favors crisp, stable text over the fastest possible page transitions.

PDFs with frequent panning or scrolling

  1. Start with Speed while navigating or panning.
  2. Switch to HD when you stop on a page and need maximum text clarity.
  3. Run Full Refresh after a long sequence of pans if remnants accumulate.

The two-mode approach avoids making a high-quality mode handle every movement while still giving you a clean page for close reading.

Color books, diagrams and image-heavy pages

  1. Check whether Regal is available for the current app.
  2. If it is, try Regal for general reading and image-rich material.
  3. If a third-party app remains dirty, follow BOOX’s suggestion to test Speed and enable Full Refresh for apps.

Color displays can expose different choices from monochrome readers, so keep the settings that are actually visible on your device.

Scrolling apps and web pages

  1. Use Speed or a model-specific Smooth mode for movement.
  2. Pause scrolling and perform a Full Refresh if the page develops a noticeable trail.
  3. Return to HD or Regal for a stationary reading view when those modes are available.

How to tell normal ghosting from a possible display problem

Use this sequence before assuming the screen has failed:

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
  1. Note whether the mark corresponds to content you just viewed.
  2. Open EinkWise from Control Center and run Full Refresh.
  3. If the artifact is in NeoReader, use its Refresh menu and, where available, deep full-refresh.
  4. Display a different page or app and repeat one clean full refresh.
  5. Observe whether the mark disappears, becomes substantially lighter, or remains fixed independently of the content.

Residual content that clears with a full refresh is consistent with ordinary ghosting. A fixed mark that persists after the documented refresh actions, appears without recent content changes, or occurs across unrelated screens is not explained by the normal settings guidance. Contact BOOX support for model-specific assistance instead of trying to diagnose a hardware cause from refresh behavior alone.

Why results differ between BOOX devices

Refresh modes and UI paths can change with firmware, device generation, screen type and app. BOOX’s refresh-mode documentation discusses changes in the context of Firmware V4.1, but the available material does not establish a release date for that firmware. Use the labels and controls shown on the current device rather than relying on a screenshot or instruction written for another generation.

Monochrome and color models can expose different options. NeoReader can provide controls that a third-party app does not, while an app may apply its own refresh behavior on top of EinkWise. These differences are expected; they are why a setting copied from another BOOX owner may not appear in your menus.

Ghosting-reduction checklist

  • Choose HD for static, text-focused reading.
  • Choose Speed for scrolling or rapidly changing content.
  • Try Regal for supported general-reading or color/image-rich contexts.
  • Use model-specific Smooth only when your device offers it and dynamic use benefits from it.
  • Open Control Center by swiping down from the top right, then tap EinkWise.
  • Run Full Refresh when remnants accumulate.
  • Enable Auto Full Refresh when that setting is available.
  • In NeoReader, open the page menu’s Refresh panel to adjust mode, refresh rate, deep full-refresh and drag-to-refresh options exposed by your firmware.
  • Shorten the interval between full refreshes when more taps are leaving more residue.
  • For color devices and third-party apps, enable Full Refresh where available and test Speed as BOOX suggests.
  • If a mark survives clean full refreshes and appears independently of content, contact BOOX support.

The Bottom Line

Ghosting on a BOOX E Ink screen is usually a normal residual-image effect. Match HD, Speed or Regal to the kind of content you are viewing, configure NeoReader’s refresh interval when needed, and use Full Refresh through EinkWise whenever remnants build up. If an artifact remains after clean full refreshes, treat it as a support issue rather than simply changing modes again.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1
BOOX Tablet Go Color 7 Gen II E Ink Tablet Support Active Stylus InkSense (Black)
BOOX Tablet Go Color 7 Gen II E Ink Tablet Support Active Stylus InkSense (Black)
Front Light with CTM (Warm and Cold) G-sensor for Auto Rotation
$289.99
Bestseller No. 3
BOOX Palma 2 Pro Mobile ePaper eBook Reader 8G 128G 150PPI in Color Mode (White)
BOOX Palma 2 Pro Mobile ePaper eBook Reader 8G 128G 150PPI in Color Mode (White)
BOOX Palma2 Pro Mobile ePaper eBook Reader 8G 128G 150PPI in Color Mode
$399.99

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.