Kobo typesetting...

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks they know what's going on

Could be what you say. Or could be that Kobo just hasn't bothered. I wouldn't presume to know why Kobo makes the decisions they do. But it would be nice to have typography that matches KFX and RMSDK.

The whole WebKit config options being added in 4.32 I’d have to say Kobo has bothered. Maybe not to the extent we wish they would, but they’ve done something.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

The whole WebKit config options being added in 4.32 I’d have to say Kobo has bothered. Maybe not to the extent we wish they would, but they’ve done something.

I forgot the WebKit config options were that new. It suggests that someone is experimenting and deciding what to do. Adding the option makes it easier for a developer to experiment and get others to test a change in a live build. And we do see changes arrive in the firmware before they get official support. This could be preparation for an option in the Reading settings.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks they know what's going on

Could be what you say. Or could be that Kobo just hasn't bothered. I wouldn't presume to know why Kobo makes the decisions they do. But it would be nice to have typography that matches KFX and RMSDK.

RMSDK yes, but not KFX. KFX forces a rather large line-height on you regardless of what the font metrics say and no CSS will make it less. RMSDK on the other hand doesn't have that issue. So please not KFX.

When reading KePub with the legibility option on, I do not find the performance slow. However, if Kobo was to fix the things that we are patching to fix, that would go a long way to helping with the typesetting.

[JSWolf]

One simple fix Kobo could do is fix the values used in the hyphenation dictionary.

This what Kobo use.

LEFTHYPHENMIN 5
RIGHTHYPHENMIN 5

This is what I use.

LEFTHYPHENMIN 2
RIGHTHYPHENMIN 2
COMPOUNDLEFTHYPHENMIN 2
COMPOUNDRIGHTHYPHENMIN 2

So with mine, you get hyphens with shorter words and less letters needed on the right/left of the hyphen. This is a very simple change that Kobo could do to improve hyphenation. Why aren't they doing this?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

The whole WebKit config options being added in 4.32 I’d have to say Kobo has bothered. Maybe not to the extent we wish they would, but they’ve done something.

I will agree, it's a start.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When reading KePub with the legibility option on, I do not find the performance slow.

I haven't noticed poor performance either.

However, if Kobo was to fix the things that we are patching to fix, that would go a long way to helping with the typesetting.

I agree.

[MGlitch]

Only slow down I’ve seen is opening a large book and it’s only second or so of black screen. Not something earth shattering.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Only slow down I’ve seen is opening a large book and it’s only second or so of black screen. Not something earth shattering.

Is it slower to open that eBook in optimizeillegibility then in optimizespeed?

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is it slower to open that eBook in optimizeillegibility then in optimizespeed?

I’d presume so since they’re doing different things and legibility saying it focuses on appearance over performance and speed doing the reverse. I’ve not tried speed since it’s not what I want.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

I’d presume so since they’re doing different things and legibility saying it focuses on appearance over performance and speed doing the reverse. I’ve not tried speed since it’s not what I want.

I use the speed one. It still takes a couple of seconds to open the whopping 30MB WoT omnibus (the largest book I have, so I always use it for any kind of testing) on my Sage. I haven't used the legibility option, so have no idea about that.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I use the speed one. It still takes a couple of seconds to open the whopping 30MB WoT omnibus (the largest book I have, so I always use it for any kind of testing) on my Sage. I haven't used the legibility option, so have no idea about that.

You could switch and test. With the new setting it's easier than a patch to switch between speed and legibility. I'd do it, but don't have a giant book to test. I'm guessing there will be very little difference.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I use the speed one. It still takes a couple of seconds to open the whopping 30MB WoT omnibus (the largest book I have, so I always use it for any kind of testing) on my Sage. I haven't used the legibility option, so have no idea about that.

As a happy coincidence that’s the book I used to test as well. Doesn’t seem like it makes a difference on opening then. Maybe rendering the page per turn. Though I’m not complaining about page turn speed with legibility so maybe the Sage is not the optimal device to test, as I said presume it’s probably more powerful than it needs to be for the rendering options.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

You could switch and test. With the new setting it's easier than a patch to switch between speed and legibility. I'd do it, but don't have a giant book to test. I'm guessing there will be very little difference.

Yeah, perhaps I will, though MGlitch already confirmed there's not much difference.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

As a happy coincidence that’s the book I used to test as well. Doesn’t seem like it makes a difference on opening then. Maybe rendering the page per turn. Though I’m not complaining about page turn speed with legibility so maybe the Sage is not the optimal device to test, as I said presume it’s probably more powerful than it needs to be for the rendering options.

The Sage does have a better processor*, but I've been using ligatures since I started patching on the original 6" Aura way back when and turning the page has never taken longer than the act of moving my eyes from the bottom of the screen to the top.

On paper there might be some infinitesimal difference, but it has no real world impact that I have ever observed.

*I really do wish all new ereaders would bump up the processor. Seeing videos of the new Paperwhite really impressed me. The Nook Glowlight 4 also has a better processor, but B&N being B&N I still haven't gotten to see one

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by sherman

I don't think they have the ability to improve typography, at least not without spending lots of development time (and therefore $$).

The problem is that core rendering engines for both epub (RMSDK) and kepub (QtWebKit) have been abandoned by their respective creators.

I vaguely seem to remember the ACCESS PUBPLUS renderer used by Kobo for epub3 was based on WebKit. Version 2 is still based on Webkit but using the Readium SDK.