Is the Kindle 3 a good choice for manga?

Ericthegreat · 10-17-2010, 02:57 PM

Is the kindle 3 the best choice for manga? I would like to read right to left, have good quality, and be at a good price?

Rinzwind · 10-17-2010, 03:02 PM

I hope so. My Kindle will arrive tuesday and I sure hope manga's work well.
But basically manga's are a bunch of jpegs(?)

Here are 2 video's from youtube on wich I base my purchase of my Kindle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZGPl9YvIKQ
(and this one showing Highschool of the Dead, my favourite anime last season)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6vTV6O97NM

Albright · 10-17-2010, 03:05 PM

[edit: I was making a point which turned out to be false. Never mind.]

daffy4u · 10-17-2010, 03:06 PM

I dont' read Manga but there is some software called "Mangle" that makes Manga usable on the Kindle. There is another program called "Canti" that you can read about here.

curstpriest · 10-17-2010, 03:08 PM

It's bad.
DX works, but not ideal for comics. Somtimes text is too small to read easily.

Ericthegreat · 10-17-2010, 03:19 PM

Is 16 colors of gray capable of differentiating the diff colors of gray in manga?

Rinzwind · 10-17-2010, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ericthegreat

Is 16 colors of gray capable of differentiating the diff colors of gray in manga?

Based on the 2 video's I have seen I would have to guess: yes.
I will bookmark this and come back on it tuesday after unpacking my Kindle (HOTD is awaiting).

edit:

From: http://foosoft.net/mangle/

Quote:

<..>I was annoyed with these issues and thus Mangle was born (the program name is a mix of "Manga" and "Kindle" in case you haven't figured it out yet; I thought it was pretty clever at the time). Fortunately you can get all the benefits of my work without really doing anything (and it won't even cost you anything since Mangle is free, GPL software). With Mangle you can easily:

Sort and organize images from different directories; bulk rename feature for output to the Kindle
Optionally re-save images in a format Kindle will be sure to understand with no visible quality loss
Downsample and rotate images for optimal viewing on Kindle, convert to grayscale to save space and improve contrast
Automatically generate book meta-data so that your manga is always properly detected and viewable in-order
Mangle is also cross platform, and doesn't require an install (it's a standalone executable that you can run from anywhere). It is also "environmentally friendly" by not messing with your registry or modifying your system in any way. If you ever want to uninstall it, just delete the executable and you're done.<..>

Soulcatcher · 10-17-2010, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curstpriest

It's bad.
DX works, but not ideal for comics. Somtimes text is too small to read easily.

DX is perfect, never had any problems using Mangle. Which mangas were bad for you? I'm curious

curstpriest · 10-17-2010, 05:33 PM

On the k3 comics are far too small, you have to go to landscape mode, and still small.
On the DXG there are problems with some comics (not specifically manga but same boat)

The main issue comes from comics that have color/glossys or ones that use small/stylistic text. Also some that use two page spreads.

I'd point to the whole marvel noir series. The text is really small, the environments are rather dark, and the kindle does a pretty poor job grayscaling the dark color images. Makes for a pretty poor reading experience.

Soulcatcher · 10-17-2010, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curstpriest

On the k3 comics are far too small, you have to go to landscape mode, and still small.
On the DXG there are problems with some comics (not specifically manga but same boat)

The main issue comes from comics that have color/glossys or ones that use small/stylistic text. Also some that use two page spreads.

I'd point to the whole marvel noir series. The text is really small, the environments are rather dark, and the kindle does a pretty poor job grayscaling the dark color images. Makes for a pretty poor reading experience.

Yeah, i tried some Daredevil Noir and it doesn't look very good.

But my point regarding manga still stands - most of the manga is very different from that Marvel Noir stuff (not to mention it's B&W) and it is perfect on DX(G).

As for small Kindles - sure, i was never able to read manga on my Sony prs505 cause of screen size and 800x600 res.

Ericthegreat · 10-17-2010, 10:59 PM

But aren't most manga about that size, except for the shonen jump/magazine type?

Rinzwind · 10-18-2010, 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curstpriest

On the k3 comics are far too small, you have to go to landscape mode, and still small.
On the DXG there are problems with some comics (not specifically manga but same boat)

The main issue comes from comics that have color/glossys or ones that use small/stylistic text. Also some that use two page spreads.

I'd point to the whole marvel noir series. The text is really small, the environments are rather dark, and the kindle does a pretty poor job grayscaling the dark color images. Makes for a pretty poor reading experience.

Oh but manga has its own size: those pocket books are close to 6".
From what I have seen on the web manga should work.

I am going to report back tonight (it's 11:10 cet now) since my kindle arrived today O+

Waba · 10-18-2010, 11:02 AM

Mangle[d] images LOOK great... But there is no way to navigate pages in Kindle 3 image viewer... Utterly frustrating.

tomsem · 10-18-2010, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waba

Mangle[d] images LOOK great... But there is no way to navigate pages in Kindle 3 image viewer... Utterly frustrating.

Not sure what you mean - navigation is just like turning ebook pages. You do need to have the image filenames reflect the desired sequence, and create subfolder under /pictures to hold them all. Mangle (and I assume Canti) does the appropriate file naming for you.

Another option is to wrap the image files in a PDF. Then you can use bookmarks, zoom, contrast adjustment on K3, see page numbers, etc. Full screen PDF display is slightly smaller (because of the reading progress area at the bottom and I think some built in margins), so ideally you would make images slightly smaller than 800x600 to avoid any rescaling distortion on a 6" screen. I am planning to figure out the exact image dimensions that will avoid any rescaling in full-page PDF viewing, but haven't gotten around to it yet. But even 800x600 images look pretty good when they're inside a PDF, the rescaling is minimal. Of course for DX you'll want to retain more resolution.

monkeyluis · 10-18-2010, 11:52 AM

I use the iPad for my manga & comics. I'll have to try it on the kindle though.

10-17-2010, 02:57 PM	#1
Ericthegreat Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: none	Is the Kindle 3 a good choice for manga? Is the kindle 3 the best choice for manga? I would like to read right to left, have good quality, and be at a good price?

10-17-2010, 03:02 PM	#2
Rinzwind Connoisseur Posts: 96 Karma: 16 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Netherlands Device: Kindle 3G UK 3.03	I hope so. My Kindle will arrive tuesday and I sure hope manga's work well. But basically manga's are a bunch of jpegs(?) Here are 2 video's from youtube on wich I base my purchase of my Kindle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZGPl9YvIKQ (and this one showing Highschool of the Dead, my favourite anime last season) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6vTV6O97NM Last edited by Rinzwind; 10-17-2010 at 03:04 PM.

10-17-2010, 03:05 PM	#3
Albright Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle 3	[edit: I was making a point which turned out to be false. Never mind.] Last edited by Albright; 10-17-2010 at 03:15 PM.

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10-17-2010, 03:06 PM	#4
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	I dont' read Manga but there is some software called "Mangle" that makes Manga usable on the Kindle. There is another program called "Canti" that you can read about here.

10-17-2010, 03:08 PM	#5
curstpriest Confused Posts: 402 Karma: 5538 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Bay Area Device: Kindle DXG	It's bad. DX works, but not ideal for comics. Somtimes text is too small to read easily.

10-17-2010, 03:19 PM	#6
Ericthegreat Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: none	Is 16 colors of gray capable of differentiating the diff colors of gray in manga?

10-17-2010, 05:33 PM	#9
curstpriest Confused Posts: 402 Karma: 5538 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Bay Area Device: Kindle DXG	On the k3 comics are far too small, you have to go to landscape mode, and still small. On the DXG there are problems with some comics (not specifically manga but same boat) The main issue comes from comics that have color/glossys or ones that use small/stylistic text. Also some that use two page spreads. I'd point to the whole marvel noir series. The text is really small, the environments are rather dark, and the kindle does a pretty poor job grayscaling the dark color images. Makes for a pretty poor reading experience.

10-17-2010, 10:59 PM	#11
Ericthegreat Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: none	But aren't most manga about that size, except for the shonen jump/magazine type?

10-18-2010, 11:02 AM	#13
Waba Groupie Posts: 154 Karma: 368 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Polson, MT Device: Kobo Aura HD, PRS-350/950, HP Touchpad, Kindle Keyboard	Mangle[d] images LOOK great... But there is no way to navigate pages in Kindle 3 image viewer... Utterly frustrating.

10-18-2010, 11:52 AM	#15
monkeyluis Banned Posts: 725 Karma: 656644 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Central Florida Device: iPad "3", Kindle Touch, Kindle Fire, iPhone 4S	I use the iPad for my manga & comics. I'll have to try it on the kindle though.