kepub vs. epub

[GERGE]

Which one do you use?

After using them both, this is what I found. I tried to gather all the differences, but there might be things I missed. Maybe we can complete and discuss the list then upload to wiki? I compared them under the patched firmware, it seems like the better way to do this as patch brings them closer and fixes many problems. Under patched firmware:

kepub;

advantages:

• Reading Status.
• Optional footer and header.
• Faster page turning.
• Quicker response to touch.
• Advanced settings for opentype typefaces.
• Choice between Adobe style page numbering and chapter-based true page numbering.
• Better image rendering, ability to zoom etc.
• Footnotes are rendered as pop-ups with added ability to go to the notes.
• Annotations are better.

disadvantages:

• Broken hyphenation (it works but situations like ever-ybody is commonplace). this is fixed.
• Kerning only works of you edit your typeface to support old-style kerning pairs.
• Justification setting overrides all text, not only on the paragraph level.
• No ligatures.
• Glyphs are sometimes cut-off at lower line spacing values (lower from the device default which is very high). patch fixes this.

If one looks at the kepubs, ability to render footnotes sanely sometimes can force one to use a kepub. In my non-edited, DRM'ed version of Graeber's Debt, for example, footnotes were almost unusable before converting to kebup. Images can also cause this. But the broken hyphenation, no kerning and missing ligatures might be deal breakers for typographically inclined personages.

epub;

advantages:

• Working hyphenation. No longer a bonus.
• Working kerning.
• There are ligatures.
• Better justification algorithm.
• No cut-off glyphs at lower line spacing values.
• Better support for embedded fonts.
• ePubs can be downloaded with the device browser.
• Optional footer, no header.

disadvantages:

• Touch is sometimes less responsive.
• Page style might, very rarely, need editing.
• Slower page turns.
• Opentype typefaces are problematic with advanced settings.
• No reading status.
• No pop-ups for footnotes.
• Only Adobe style page numbering.

Advanced typographical features of epubs makes them main format for novels and stories. But, compared to kebup, footnotes and images are problematic.

Overall, kepubs render better if one discards typography and typography is one of the most important part of reading (apart from the content, obviously), if not the most. Choice is yours, but I think choosing according to the book is the best way to go. With a book without footnotes and important images (or very few of them), go with epub; with something like an academic work, kepubs are better.

Kepub is a nice feature of Kobo, but I think it should be regarded as something that stands next to epub, not something to replace it.

[Ripplinger]

I'm epub all the way. I tried kepub a few times and really dislike the "extras" in it, especially the top header. As for the disadvantages listed:

- Touch is sometimes unresponsive. - I had this problem with a few firmwares and stayed on 1.4.1 for ages, now on 3.12.0 and never have this problem with those firmwares, but if it happened on epubs, it also happened on kepubs for me.
- Page style might, very rarely, need editing. - Still better than kepub layouts, and I can always fix it, but happens rarely like you said.
- Slower page turns. - Never noticed this at all.
- Opentype typefaces are problematic with advanced settings. - Opentype works for me, the weight adjustment usually doesn't work on either otf or ttf though, but since I mainly use Caecilia, or Georgia if some glyphs are missing, it's not an issue.
- No reading status. - Good. All I want to see is Page x of x. I don't need or want to know that I've read 75 books in 200 hours
- No pop-ups for footnotes. - As long as footnotes are linked properly, it's not an issue for the rare times a book I read has them.
- Only Adobe style page numbering. - Which is fine, as long as Page x of x is there as a progress indication, I don't care if the page numbers match a real book, Adobe, or the man in the moon.

[GeoffR]

I prefer epubs, I think the advantages of the epub reader (better font support for kerning, working hyphenation, better justification, more even word spacing, closer line spacing options) are all things that directly affect reading, while the advantages of kepubs (image zoom, reading stats, better annotation and popup footnotes) are mainly things that are extra to the core function of reading.

Some observations:

the kepub reader does support kerning with some fonts, e.g. Amasis and Gill Sans. I haven't done extensive testing, but my guess is that the kepub reader only supports kerning with ttf fonts. The epub reader is certainly better, it seems to support kerning with both ttf and otf fonts.

I haven't noticed any difference in the typegenius features (font weight/sharpness) between epub and kepub, epub seems to work just as well with otf fonts. It depends more on the particular firmware version and particular fonts. [Edit: I just noticed: with firmware 3.13.1 typegenius doesn't work with opf fonts in the epub reader :-(]

As far as the speed of page turning, it is not a big difference unless the book has excessively large html files (usually multiple chapters in one html file), and then the epub reader slows down noticeably. However those sorts of books cause problems for the kepub reader too: the reading stats and some page numbering options don't work properly when the kepub book has multiple chapters in one file.

The kepub reader has problems with uneven word spacing and justification when there are certain non-ascii characters on the line: curley quotes, elipses, m-dashes, etc.

[Terisa de morgan]

As I only read novels, with no special fonts (I remove them prior to sending it), hyphenation is deactivated, I like wide top and bottom margin, no need of small left and right margin, and I prefer remaining pages in chapter and pop-up footnotes, I use kepub.

[AnemicOak]

I use kePub converted from ePub when sending to device using the Kobo extended driver for Calibre.

Originally Posted by GERGE

epub;

disadvantages:

• Touch is sometimes unresponsive.

I sometimes have this problem whether using ePub or kePub.

[GERGE]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

the kepub reader does support kerning with some fonts, e.g. Amasis and Gill Sans. I haven't done extensive testing, but my guess is that the kepub reader only supports kerning with ttf fonts. The epub reader is certainly better, it seems to support kerning with both ttf and otf fonts.

I checked this. While some built-in typefaces have kerning with kepub files, sideloaded typefaces do not. I sideloaded GT Sectra and Vollkorn in truetype, kebup renderer did not render kernings.

[Jellby]

I tried kepub, it ignored some of my formatting (embedded fonts, centered text, pagebreaks) so I went back to epub, at least I've already used to Adobe's shortcomings. Kerning and ligatures are a must for me too. The only thing I miss that might work in kepub is some indication of how much is left of the current chapter (I guess that's part of the "stats"). Pop-up footnotes may be cool, but they probably won't work as I'd like them to in my books, so I'll stay with good ol' end notes.

[GERGE]

Amazon, Kobo, they all have bad typography in their native formats. It boggles the mind; Kindles and Kobos are reading devices, how could they have such bad typography? I know that it isn't really hard to fix font rendering.

At least Kobo offers an alternative renderer.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by GERGE

Amazon, Kobo, they all have bad typography in their native formats. It boggles the mind; Kindles and Kobos are reading devices, how could they have such bad typography? I know that it isn't really hard to fix font rendering.

At least Kobo offers an alternative renderer.

Bad typography? RMDSK as used by Kobo supports hyphenation and kerning. How is that bad?

[GERGE]

I said that at least Kobo offers an alternative renderer which is the RMDSK. Its native format is quite bad typographically.

[sherman]

Epub is my go-to format for the Kobo. I've dabbled in using kepub, but I always go running back to the RMSDK engine again. As others have said, the epub renderer is more pleasing to the eye (IMHO anyway).

It is just a shame RMSDK is so limited in some areas (small-caps, I'm looking at you...)

[rashkae]

I've been using the Kepub and find it much more to my liking so far. I don't notice the typographical limitations at all, but it would always bother me when the epub reader would render images with blotchy shades of grey, (not to mention no zoom for maps or other detailed images.)

The only limitation to Kepub that bothers me (which was not mentioned) is that the page number and position slider (if you are trying to use for the whole book rather than by chapter) goes completely out of whack for books that do not have a ToC entry for every html file. This is a problem with Calibre generated Kepubs only, AFAIK, but it would be nice is ACCESS reader was fixed so book progress followed the epub 'spine', the same as moving forward or backwards does.

[MGlitch]

Epub all the way for me, the extras of kepub would be nice, but they don't outweigh the epub perks in my experience.

[dordale]

I convert all my books to kePub before transferring to my Kobo with the Kobo Extended Drivers. Like rashkae I don't notice the typographical limitations in kePub. What I like about kePub files is the ability to have the in-chapter page count in the footer--gives me a good idea of how long it'll take me to get to the end of the chapter. I also like the in-book stats that were added for side-loaded kePubs with firmware 3.13.1--which I use solely to figure out how long the next chapter will be.

I do wish there was some way to turn off the header. It doesn't really bother me, but I'd rather use that space for reading material--I don't need to have the name of the book I'm reading displayed--that's something I already know.

[meeera]

Epub all the way for me. A title header bugs me, images and footnotes are largely irrelevant for my Kobo reading, I don't like hyphenation, and chapter-based page numbering is useless information to me.