A Comparison of format limitations based on The Hobbit - Page 2

wallcraft · 04-21-2009, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaspode

Can I take it that you bought the LRX from the Sony Store?

Yes. I don't have a PRS-505 or 700, but Sony will sell to anyone in the US with a Windows PC and a US credit card (or anyone who says they are in the US and has gift cards). I originally got the US Sony account for the Google ePub ebooks, and you don't need a credit card for those.

The LRX version looks good, but so does the ePub version and you can circumvent the ePub's DRM and migrate it to other devices if you ever switch from the PRS line. Actually, many other EInk devices will be getting Adobe ePub support - so again I thing ePub may be the better option for a book like this that you may want to keep for a long time. I know I reread the Hobbit and LOTR about twice a decade.

Jellby · 04-21-2009, 10:40 AM

Hmm... The ePUB version has all-uppercase titles in the TOC and the PDF version has them properly capitalized? That's not good (for ePUB). Whenever I'd buy an ePUB book I intend to remove the DRM (if any) and fix this kind of formatting "glitches".

Over · 04-21-2009, 01:51 PM

I thought the map in the MOBI version was of a higher resolution (according to pdurrant). Or maybe that's only the Kindle version.

Anyway, those images in the mobi version really suck.

Why different resolutions in those different formats? Is MOBI format still made with PDA and pocket PCs in mind?!

pdurrant · 04-21-2009, 02:05 PM

The images in the Hobbit are a little smaller than in LOTR. (certainly no more than 600 pixels in max dimension.)

The dimensions quoted in this thread for the map seem about right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Over

I thought the map in the MOBI version was of a higher resolution (according to pdurrant). Or maybe that's only the Kindle version.

Anyway, those images in the mobi version really suck.

Why different resolutions in those different formats? Is MOBI format still made with PDA and pocket PCs in mind?!

wallcraft · 04-21-2009, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Over

IWhy different resolutions in those different formats? Is MOBI format still made with PDA and pocket PCs in mind?!

From Image support and display:

Quote:

Mobipocket Creator will automatically resize / recompress images that take too much space so you do not have to worry about over-burdening your book with high-resolution pictures. The limit is 63KB (63x1024 bytes). Images above that size are resized or recompressed. With the JPEG format, this lets you use images of 600x800 pixels and above. If you need to finely control the resizing / recompressing of your pictures, use an image editing software to bring the size of the image below 63K in GIF or JPEG format before using it in your publication. It will be stored in the book without any modification.

I'm not sure that the 63K bytes per image limit still applies in all cases, but none of the images in this MOBI was larger than about 82KB and the image resizing and compression appears to have been done automatically by MobiPocket software.

This isn't only a PDA issue, I'm sure that Amazon would rather download a 1MB file than a 4MB file and resolutions above 600x800 don't add much value to a Kindle ebook.

MerLock · 04-21-2009, 02:32 PM

Thanks for doing this. I admit, I'm new to all this and a bit overwhelmed by the quanity of the different types of formats out there. Wish there was just one standardized format for all the reading devices out there.

mindwise · 04-21-2009, 03:05 PM

Hi Wallcraft,

The image you have using ereader doesn't seem to be our default settings and I don't think it shows off ereader very well. Here is our default font, background, and spacing settings for ereader showing The Hobbit.

You can make adjustments to your preferred taste (I would probably go with a smaller font and not have full justification). Thanks!

Scott
Fictionwise

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

In an attempt to answer the question "is there a best format" for recent ebooks from a mainstream publisher, I have made screenshots of Tolkein's The Hobbit from Harper Collins in six ebook formats on a Desktop PC. There are already a few screenshots and other comments on formatting in Lord of the Rings Now Available! KINDLE, EPUB, PDF, LIT, and MOBI but that thread is too long to concentrate of formatting. Since all versions are presumably made from the same "master" copy, it isn't all that surprising that there is relatively little difference.

The six images are MOBI, LIT, eReader, ePub, LRX, and PDF. They are all from the 1st page of the 1st chapter. I can post other screenshots if anyone has other pages they would like to see. The readers have not been made consistent, for example I have not always chosen the same font or font size where this is under user control. I bought both a FictionWise and a BoB (OverDrive) MOBI, but these seem to be identical so only one is shown here. I assume the Kindle version is the same (it is the same filesize).

I was surprised that many of the illustrations are in landscape mode. This isn't too bad for a handheld device, but does not work well on a desktop.

The eReader and MOBI versions are about 1MB, the ePub, LIT and PDF versions are about 4MB and the LRX a bit larger still. This might imply that eReader and MOBI versions have smaller image files.

pilotbob · 04-21-2009, 03:41 PM

Scott,

Hrmmm... shouldn't there be a space between "smell," and "nor" then between "door" and "opened" ??? Really layout problems on the first page of the first chapter? And you wonder why ebook readers get so frustrated with this stuff alot of times.

BOb

ilovejedd · 04-21-2009, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mindwise

No anti-aliasing?

JSWolf · 04-21-2009, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

No anti-aliasing?

Not with eReader.

AnemicOak · 04-21-2009, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Scott,

Hrmmm... shouldn't there be a space between "smell," and "nor" then between "door" and "opened" ??? Really layout problems on the first page of the first chapter? And you wonder why ebook readers get so frustrated with this stuff alot of times.

BOb

FWIW, it must be something with the eReader version. The LIT doesn't have those problems.

pilotbob · 04-21-2009, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

FWIW, it must be something with the eReader version. The LIT doesn't have those problems.

Right... well just my point. So you would think Scott (I am assuming Pendergrast since he said "our ereader version") would not show such a crappy layout screen print. Just read it and you see several layout/spacing mistakes. Not good when you are saying that someone else didn't make it look good.

BOb

pdurrant · 04-21-2009, 04:31 PM

Hi Scott,

Nice to see you here at Mobileread. I prefer serif fonts myself too.

The coding problems in the first few paragraphs are a problem -- they show in the other eReader screenshot too, but not in Mobipocket et al., so I suspect it's a conversion problem. Hopefully you can fix that yourselves pretty quickly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mindwise

Scott
Fictionwise

Godzil · 04-21-2009, 05:41 PM

Arg, WHY only the ePub version has NO justifications?

It's a shame...

JSWolf · 04-21-2009, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godzil

Arg, WHY only the ePub version has NO justifications?

It's a shame...

Because they did not put in text-align: justify; into the CSS. But if you've managed to strip the DRM, it's very easy to fix.

04-21-2009, 03:41 PM	#23
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	Scott, Hrmmm... shouldn't there be a space between "smell," and "nor" then between "door" and "opened" ??? Really layout problems on the first page of the first chapter? And you wonder why ebook readers get so frustrated with this stuff alot of times. BOb Last edited by pilotbob; 04-21-2009 at 04:02 PM.

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04-21-2009, 10:40 AM	#17
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,570 Karma: 20150435 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Hmm... The ePUB version has all-uppercase titles in the TOC and the PDF version has them properly capitalized? That's not good (for ePUB). Whenever I'd buy an ePUB book I intend to remove the DRM (if any) and fix this kind of formatting "glitches".

04-21-2009, 01:51 PM	#18
Over Wizard Posts: 1,462 Karma: 6061516 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Cascais, Portugal Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2", OnePlus 6	I thought the map in the MOBI version was of a higher resolution (according to pdurrant). Or maybe that's only the Kindle version. Anyway, those images in the mobi version really suck. Why different resolutions in those different formats? Is MOBI format still made with PDA and pocket PCs in mind?!

04-21-2009, 02:32 PM	#21
MerLock Evangelist Posts: 411 Karma: 1034889 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: none	Thanks for doing this. I admit, I'm new to all this and a bit overwhelmed by the quanity of the different types of formats out there. Wish there was just one standardized format for all the reading devices out there.

04-21-2009, 05:41 PM	#29
Godzil a pthread?? where? where? Posts: 1,763 Karma: 30462 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Somewhere in EU Device: Newton MessagePad 2100, and only this	Arg, WHY only the ePub version has NO justifications? It's a shame...