Some questions regarding Oasis 2 & comics/manga

[ilovejedd]

Help! I have a few questions for Oasis 2 owners regarding file sizes for comics/manga purchased from Amazon. Figured it's much better to ask here first before buying an Oasis 2.

If you can answer the following questions for 1-2 comics/manga, it would be very much appreciated:

1. Title and vol/chapter/issue of comic/manga?
2. What's the file size of the comic/manga on Amazon's product details page?
3. What's the file size of the comic/manga on the Oasis 2 via direct download (on the device) or send to Kindle?
4. What's the file size of the comic/manga using the Download & transfer via USB option?

Or for those who don't purchase comics/manga but wish to help, maybe use one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Valiant-X-Man...dp/B072JXR28J/

https://www.amazon.com/FCBD-2017-All...dp/B06XB1LXMC/

https://www.amazon.com/Naruto-Retros...dp/B015WZJDO6/

Thank you very much!

[jhowell]

Out of curiosity I purchased (for free) the first comic you listed, "Valiant: X-O Manowar FCBD Special" (B072JXR28J), listed as 33437 KB on the product page. I sent it to multiple devices and also used the download for USB option. Here were the results:

Oasis 2 delivered: 264 KB (azw3) + 3.37 MB (azw6) = 3.6 MB

Oasis 2 USB download: 5.70 MB (azw3)

Kindle for PC delivered: 5.70 MB (azw3) + 26.9 MB (azw6) = 32.6 MB

Android Tablet delivered: 29.4 MB (KFX)


(I suspect the smaller file size in the first case is due to images being in B/W instead of in color in the other cases.)

[j.p.s]

I have been extremely curious about the very large and very variable size ratio between the KFX size listed by Amazon and the azw3 size for transfer by USB. There have been rumors that it is all down to images, but I don't think so.

Maybe the tablet version has higher resolution.

jhowell, please note the D/L via USB azw3 images are full color.

Check for yourself with kindleunpack

I wish I had waited to get the OTA KFX, since it doesn't seem to be larger, there are a lot more files and Amazon pushed all kinds of crud that it has been waiting for my kindle to come out of airplane mode.

ETA:

I misread jhowell's color image comment, so I guess KFX delivered can be smaller than USB azw3

jhowell: Are the images any different between the kindle for pc azw3 and the azw6?

ETA2: I also downloaded the
FCBD 2017- All-New Guardians Of The Galaxy #1
usb azw3: 5745128 bytes
the OTA azw6 file was 3496758 bytes

The above was all for 7" Oasis

[jhowell]

The page images in the azw3 USB download, the azw6 from K4PC, and kfx from Android are all JPEG with resolution of about 1250x1920.

The main difference is that in the azw3 file they are more compressed at about 250KB each, while in the azw6 and kfx the same images are much less compressed at around 1MB each.

[jhowell]

As another test I tried a free Manga, Naruto Retrospective (B015WZJDO6), listed as 92646 KB.

Oasis delivered: 37.9 MB (kfx)

Oasis USB download: 31.5 MB (azw3)

Kindle for PC delivered: 31.5 MB (azw3) + 58.9 MB (azw6)

Kindle for Android delivered: 64.9 MB (kfx)


(Again the Kindle for PC delivered files best matches the listed size for the book.)

[ilovejedd]

Thank you very much! For OTA download, those are the same file sizes I get on my Paperwhite 3 so it doesn't seem as if the Oasis 2 is getting higher quality versions.

Question, how did you check the resolution for the azw6 and kfx files? For Naruto, is the resolution still 1250x1920? I wonder if the retina iPads get higher resolution versions. Thanks for the Naruto ASIN. I was originally trying to look for free manga but a search for "free manga" wasn't giving me any hits. Meanwhile, searching for "FCBD" (Free Comic Book Day) gave a ton.

Also, what version of K4PC are you running? Just updated K4PC to 1.17 and it only downloads azw3, no azw6. It does seem as if the file sizes on the product details page are based on the total download size for Kindle for PC (and I guess Mac, as well).

Again, a BIG, BIG

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The page images in the azw3 USB download, the azw6 from K4PC, and kfx from Android are all JPEG with resolution of about 1250x1920.

The main difference is that in the azw3 file they are more compressed at about 250KB each, while in the azw6 and kfx the same images are much less compressed at around 1MB each.

Thanks! OK, so azw6 and kfx images from K4PC and android downloads are higher quality rather than higher resolution, at least for these examples of manga.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jhowell

As another test I tried a free Manga, Naruto Retrospective (B015WZJDO6), listed as 92646 KB.

Oasis delivered: 37.9 MB (kfx)
Oasis USB download: 31.5 MB (azw3)
Kindle for PC delivered: 31.5 MB (azw3) + 58.9 MB (azw6)
Kindle for Android delivered: 64.9 MB (kfx)

(Again the Kindle for PC delivered files best matches the listed size for the book.)

So the amazon listed D/L size is for azw3 + kfx?

Does K4PC download both at once for K4PC versions that aren't restricted to azw3?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

For OTA download, those are the same file sizes I get on my Paperwhite 3 so it doesn't seem as if the Oasis 2 is getting higher quality versions.

I've only done a few USB transfers for both the Voyage and the 7" Oasis, but the file size has always been the same. (Each book had a few dozen images and was otherwise a typical non-fiction book.)

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by jhowell

As another test I tried a free Manga, Naruto Retrospective (B015WZJDO6), listed as 92646 KB.

Oasis delivered: 37.9 MB (kfx)

Kindle for Android delivered: 64.9 MB (kfx)

Hmm, given there are very few colored pages in manga, this discrepancy can't just be because of color vs b/w.

This really makes me appreciate publishers that allow high quality, DRM-free backups on comiXology (Image, IDW, Valiant, etc).

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Thank you very much! For OTA download, those are the same file sizes I get on my Paperwhite 3 so it doesn't seem as if the Oasis 2 is getting higher quality versions.

I agree. As another test I sent the same two books to my PaperWhite 2, which has an even lower resolution screen. The file sizes were identical to those on my Oasis 2.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Question, how did you check the resolution for the azw6 and kfx files?

I have some hacked together Python scripts that can extract the content from different Kindle file types.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

For Naruto, is the resolution still 1250x1920? I wonder if the retina iPads get higher resolution versions.

For Naruto the images are 1280x1920 with a few pages in color in azw3, azw6, and kfx from Android. The same images are 965x1448 all in B/W in kfx from the kindles.

So the kindles are getting lower resolution images for that manga, but still high quality based on the file sizes.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I wonder if the retina iPads get higher resolution versions.

I doubt that different types of iOS and android devices get different resolution/quality files. As far as I can tell the apps all get the highest quality available, even if running on a phone.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Also, what version of K4PC are you running?

I have version 1.21 of Kindle for PC. The newer versions download azw6 files with higher quality images.

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Thanks! OK, so azw6 and kfx images from K4PC and android downloads are higher quality rather than higher resolution, at least for these examples of manga.

As I mentioned above, for the second one I tested the Oasis received lower resolution than the apps.

Originally Posted by j.p.s

So the amazon listed D/L size is for azw3 + kfx?

It appears to match the worst case size of azw3 + azw6.

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Does K4PC download both at once for K4PC versions that aren't restricted to azw3?

I don't understand the question. I am running version 1.21 of K4PC. It has support for KFX. However both of these comics were delivered to it in azw3+azw6 format.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Does K4PC download both at once for K4PC versions that aren't restricted to azw3?

Originally Posted by jhowell

I don't understand the question. I am running version 1.21 of K4PC. It has support for KFX. However both of these comics were delivered to it in azw3+azw6 format.

I've never used K4PC (I use linux) and know little about it.

I have a number of books with maps that don't have enough resolution to read place names, even when zoomed. Since recent eink kindles can zoom images I think it might be beneficial to have the highest resolution versions of these books on the 7" Oasis. Even better would be to substitute the higher resolution images into the azw3 versions of the books.

I was asking whether the azw3 and azw6 files are both downloaded by K4PC at the same time.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I was asking whether the azw3 and azw6 files are both downloaded by K4PC at the same time.

Yes they are downloaded together. The azw3 has the main structure of the book and lower quality images. The azw6 just has the better quality images and only works in conjunction with the azw3.

This is oddly wasteful. The azw3 really doesn’t need to have any image at all since the ones from the azw6 are actually used. The combination I would expect of azw3 without images along with an azw6 is sometimes seen on Kindle devices.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Yes they are downloaded together. The azw3 has the main structure of the book and lower quality images. The azw6 just has the better quality images and only works in conjunction with the azw3.

This is oddly wasteful. The azw3 really doesn’t need to have any image at all since the ones from the azw6 are actually used. The combination I would expect of azw3 without images along with an azw6 is sometimes seen on Kindle devices.

Thanks!

I guess they figure a computer has a TB disk and file size doesn't matter. In the case of K4PC D/L, which file has the "enhanced typesetting" if the azw6 only has images?

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I doubt that different types of iOS and android devices get different resolution/quality files. As far as I can tell the apps all get the highest quality available, even if running on a phone.

Probably the easiest way to implement. I was just curious. Iirc, comiXology for iOS got HD versions much earlier than Android. I'll have to double check but I seem to recall the resolution for some of the comiXology HD comics are higher than the Pro 12.9's 2732x2048 resolution.

Originally Posted by jhowell

Yes they are downloaded together. The azw3 has the main structure of the book and lower quality images. The azw6 just has the better quality images and only works in conjunction with the azw3.

This is oddly wasteful. The azw3 really doesn’t need to have any image at all since the ones from the azw6 are actually used. The combination I would expect of azw3 without images along with an azw6 is sometimes seen on Kindle devices.

I've never tried but can K4PC transfer files to Kindle e-ink? Which version does it transfer? The azw3 with LQ images or azw3 text+azw6? If it's the former, then we can guess why they send two versions of images when downloading via desktop app.