New Kobo Aura HD eInk eReader 1440x1080

[pholy]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Nope. ADE is a specific app that runs on Windows and OSX. It does not run on ereaders.

Feel free to check with reading app developers (I did). I was told that what Adobe licenses to app developers and ereader makers is the DRM decryption components. They do not provide the rendering engine (which displays text).

The ereader package is called (I believe) Reader Source Development Kit, which is licensed to developers who customise it for their hardware and application specifications. Various versions have been released, but it seems to be difficult to determine which version is used in a particular project.

About the time the first Kobo came out, I was told by one of the developers of Isis that Adobe would only license the DRM decryption engine in combination with the ReaderSDK engine. They came as a unit, obviously unacceptable to the Isis people.

Perhaps Adobe has changed this policy.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by pholy

The ereader package is called (I believe) Reader Source Development Kit, which is licensed to developers who customise it for their hardware and application specifications. Various versions have been released, but it seems to be difficult to determine which version is used in a particular project.

About the time the first Kobo came out, I was told by one of the developers of Isis that Adobe would only license the DRM decryption engine in combination with the ReaderSDK engine. They came as a unit, obviously unacceptable to the Isis people.

Perhaps Adobe has changed this policy.

No, I think it more likely that I was wrong:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/readermobile.html

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

When comparing the apparent darkness of the text keep in mind that the font weight can be adjusted on Kobo devices, and by default it is only set at about 60% of maximum. Unless the reviewer has already adjusted the font weight from the default, then the text on the Aura can probably be made much heavier.

Good point. I'll have to see more comparisons from other reviewers before I can decide about the text difference.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by Fourl29

What green and pink blotches? This joke has got to stop at some point. Post us the precise min and sec you saw said "blotches" in the video because I saw the same one and there were none, because there are none in the kindle paperwhites. This is the only place on the web perpetuating this myth.

So, please go ahead, where in the goodereader video did you see blotches?

I assure you I was not kidding. What I see in this comparison, is a mostly pink top, while the bottom is green. Some people will see it, some people will not. It all depends on the type of color vision you have. Therefore, just because you don't see the color blotches, doesn't mean they are not there.
There are other threads where you can argue this out if you feel the need - this is not one of them.

My point was, to me, personally, the lighting is so much better that I am seriously considering getting an Aura, though I love Amazon and would continue purchasing content there. I agree that the contrast is better on the Kindle - fonts look much darker with the light on medium and high, though would be interested to see the font in different weights ( see Booklover6 comment above).

I like the side by side comparison because it shows both lit screens next to each other.

[Katsunami]

By the way, those guys of GoodEReader are (IMHO) morons with regard to their night time reading tests.

WHO CARES if Reader X can go brighter than Reader Y when reading in complete darkness? The only thing you need to know is: can the front-light setting go low enough to read comfortably in total darkness?

It doesn't matter ZILCH if the most comfortable setting for you is 5%, 10%, or 20% when reading in total darkness.

The other thing you need to know is: can it go high enough to brighten up the screen in moderate lighting conditions (like, on a bright but cloudy day). If yes, then it's good enough. It doesn't matter if the setting needs to be 70% or 80% or even higher.

So if one reader has 24 settings, like the Kindle Paperwhite, and my most used settings are 5 (total darkness) up to 20 (moderately bright conditions), then I effectively have 16 settings availabe. If another reader uses 1 step percentages from 1 to 100%, and the most used settings would be 20% to 80%, I have 61 settings available.

You don't buy an audio-installation by listening to several, each on 50% volume and then buy the loudest (or softest) of the bunch. You compare them by setting them to a comfortable listening level *for you*, and it doesn't matter anything if that setting is 5 out out of 10, or 9 out of 24, or 33 out of 100. So, why would it matter with an e-reader?

My TV goes from 1 to 24, and like the Paperwhite, it is not completely silent/off when set to 1 (it is when I press MUTE). My receiver goes from 0 to 45, and I'd need to set it to 30 or so to reach the same loudness as my TV would have on 24. My Hammond organ has a Master Volume slider that goes from totally silent up to ear-blastingly loud. The slider is about 10cm long. As it's a clickless, analog slider, it basically has an unlimited amount of settings. If I'm listening to the TV, to the receiver, or playing the organ, I couldn't care less where the setting or slider ends up after I find a good volume.

The only things I want to know is:
- Can it go low enough if I want it soft?
- Can it go high enough if I want it really loud?
- Do I have enough steps in between the lowest and highest settings to find the level I want at any given time?

How the same settings such as "set at 50%" and "set at 12 out of 24" compare amongst different devices means *nothing*.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Nope. ADE is a specific app that runs on Windows and OSX. It does not run on ereaders.

Feel free to check with reading app developers (I did). I was told that what Adobe licenses to app developers and ereader makers is the DRM decryption components. They do not provide the rendering engine (which displays text).

From Adobe...

New Features of the Adobe Reader Mobile 9 release (which supersedes the previous Adobe Reader LE solution) include:

PDF reflow, enabling resizing text-oriented documents for greatly improved readability on small screens. PDF is the international standard (ISO 32000-1) for more secure and reliable distribution and exchange of electronic documents and forms.

EPUB support, providing support for the new XML-based standard for reflow-centric eBooks.

Adobe Content Server 4 compatibility, allowing for content protection for commercially published premium content, whether fulfilled by wireless or wired connections.

Simplified APIs, designed to ease porting and integration with your own device software and help you achieve faster time-to-market.

Reference systems for popular ARM-based operating systems, including embedded Linux and Windows Mobile®.

So yes, the SDK does have the rendering engine.

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/readermobile.html

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPFf...e_gdata_player

While others have mentioned its technical lacunae, I found GoodReader's review quite instrucive for Kobo neophytes (meaning foonts like moi).

The relative lack of advertising, the precision and flexibility of the page options, the practicality of the PDF rendering (since PDFs seem virtually unreadable on other e-ink devices) -- all of these made it clear that the Kobo OS is preferable for veteran DTP nerds. I even liked the spare lists which represent the Kobo Store. The OS seems to prioritize reading over advertising.

Now if only Kobo would show the colors offered for the Aura and sleep case instead of merely listing them. The Espresso sounds like a lovely idea, but how does it look, esp. in its case?

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

From Adobe...



So yes, the SDK does have the rendering engine.

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/readermobile.html

As I used to explain for the JBL, it is the implementation of Adobe Reader
Mobile 9 on the device, not ADE that provides the capability to read ebooks
with the ADE DRM (and as of Adobe Reader Mobile 9.1.1, B&N DRM as well).
The reader mobile software on the device also handles its primary job of
rendering the epub and pdf formats.

ADE itself is also a program that you may need on your PC to manage and
authorize your use of the DRM, for your device or otherwise.

The Software Development Kit (SDK) for ADE and the Reader Mobile include
what's needed for the device maker to implement the rendering of ADE DRM
infected epubs and/or PDFs.

Luck;
Ken

[doubleshuffle]

OK, now what sounded like a beautifully straight and simple answer from JSWolf has turned into an experts' discussion I am unable to follow.

Does Kobo's using ADE mean that "sideloaded", non-DRM epubs will look the same on the reader as when I open them with ADE on my desktop? Yes? No? Can't say? Is there a simple answer for the layman?

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by doubleshuffle

OK, now what sounded like a beautifully straight and simple answer from JSWolf has turned into an experts' discussion I am unable to follow.

Does Kobo's using ADE mean that "sideloaded", non-DRM epubs will look the same on the reader as when I open them with ADE on my desktop? Yes? No? Can't say? Is there a simple answer for the layman?

Maybe, it depends on the device maker's selection of display options and
features as well as those you may have selected for the reader functions
imbedded in your desktop/PC ADE program. You can change the display
and the device maker has even more options.

Luck;
Ken

Originally Posted by xendula

I assure you I was not kidding. What I see in this comparison, is a mostly pink top, while the bottom is green. Some people will see it, some people will not. It all depends on the type of color vision you have. Therefore, just because you don't see the color blotches, doesn't mean they are not there.
There are other threads where you can argue this out if you feel the need - this is not one of them.

My point was, to me, personally, the lighting is so much better that I am seriously considering getting an Aura, though I love Amazon and would continue purchasing content there. I agree that the contrast is better on the Kindle - fonts look much darker with the light on medium and high, though would be interested to see the font in different weights ( see Booklover6 comment above).

I like the side by side comparison because it shows both lit screens next to each other.

I just watched the comparison of the Paperwhite and the Kobo. A couple of points that I will make is they really need to turn that damn light down on the Kobo so we can see the text better. The reviewers have it way too bright compared to the PW. Also WTF is up with those super wide line heights. You can get a lot more text on the smaller PW than on the Kobo. I hope that is just an indication that the reviewers are lacking in knowledge on how to set up an ereader rather than an indication that Kobo has created line heights that are virtually unusable. Good lord it looks like the old term papers I wrote a hundred years ago in college where I was required to use double line spacing so the professor could write her/his comments between the lines! Ugly and difficult to read. Yuk!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I just watched the comparison of the Paperwhite and the Kobo. A couple of points that I will make is they really need to turn that damn light down on the Kobo so we can see the text better. The reviewers have it way too bright compared to the PW. Also WTF is up with those super wide line heights. You can get a lot more text on the smaller PW than on the Kobo. I hope that is just an indication that the reviewers are lacking in knowledge on how to set up an ereader rather than an indication that Kobo has created line heights that are virtually unusable. Good lord it looks like the old term papers I wrote a hundred years ago in college where I was required to use double line spacing so the professor could write her/his comments between the lines! Ugly and difficult to read. Yuk!

All I can say is that the folks at GoodEReader just have no clue how to do a good video review.

[doubleshuffle]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Maybe, it depends on the device maker's selection of display options and
features as well as those you may have selected for the reader functions
imbedded in your desktop/PC ADE program. You can change the display
and the device maker has even more options.

Luck;
Ken

Thanks, Ken.

So I'll just have to keep on waiting for user reports...

BTW: I can't change any settings on my desktop ADE but font size. I might be stupid, though...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by doubleshuffle

Thanks, Ken.

So I'll just have to keep on waiting for user reports...

BTW: I can't change any settings on my desktop ADE but font size. I might be stupid, though...

Not stupid. That's all there is.

[doubleshuffle]

Thanks. That's some relief...