Libra 2 Kobo Libra 2 first impressions

[daboone72]

The missing images from the above post.
As the admin wouldn't let me add them

[frostschutz]

Originally Posted by daboone72

For photos of chips:
[...]
Anyway I just the need the details of the three I've ringed. As one of them will most likely be the Wifi one.

Does this help you?

[Pjama]

Here are my first impressions of the Libra 2, which I have just set up.

The difference for me between this and the Libra H2O is night and day.

The text is razor sharp and has great contrast.

I have just opened the library book I'm currently reading, and it has opened it using the publisher font - and I can actually read it! I can hardly even see the publisher font on the Libra H20. And changing to the usual fonts I use, Georgia and Malabar, they definitely look crisper and more defined.

The menu text is also super defined compared to the first generation Libra.

The screen light is a lot better, but I can still see little (actually minuscule, and I think I am being ridiculously picky) signs of where the lights are coming from on the button side. The light is not as even as that on my Oasis 3. This is with the standard light on - adding the orange seems to make the screen look pretty much perfect.

The text is so crisp though, I just compared it to my Libra H2O to be sure I wasn't imagining it!

No pics as going to read now.

I will definitely be keeping this, and selling my Libra H2O on eBay.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by Pjama

The difference for me between this and the Libra H2O is night and day.
(....)

The text is so crisp though, I just compared it to my Libra H2O to be sure I wasn't imagining it!

I will definitely be keeping this, and selling my Libra H2O on eBay.

I agree. I gave my Libra h2o to my husband.
The text is amazing on my Libra 2 and I am so glad I went ahead and ordered it!

[Antioch]

Originally Posted by rogerinnyc

...I'm going to get a sleeve from Etsy and use it with a small reading stand that folds flat and will fit inside the sleeve.

What stand and case did you end up getting?

[Antioch]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I also care about typography, but I still use kepub (though I enable ligatures with a patch). Layout isn't as good as ePub, but if I used ePub I know I would be frustrated about the 'missing' features.

Which patch enables this for kePubs?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Antioch

Which patch enables this for kePubs?

I believe you have to add it manually. It's been a while since I had to patch firmware. Here's the link to github. And here is the code:

KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeLegibility:
  - Enabled: no
  - PatchGroup: KePub stylesheet additions alternatives
  - Description: |
        Enables ligatures/kerning in KePubs, but may cause some additional
        rendering problems for fully justified text.
        N.B. May be unsuitable for users who read languages which display vertical text.
  - FindBaseAddressString: ".KBSearchResult, .KBAnnotation, .KBHighlighting {"
  # *** Don't change anything in the 4 ReplaceString lines below ***
  # Create some room to add the extra CSS
  - ReplaceString: {Find: ".KBSearchResult, .KBAnnotation, .KBHighlighting { font-size: 100% !important; -webkit-text-combine: inherit !important; }\n", Replace: ".KBSearchResult,.KBAnnotation,.KBHighlighting{font-size:100%!important;-webkit-text-combine:inherit!important}.KBAnnotatio", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 122, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"horizontal-tb\"] { border-bottom: 2px solid black !important; }\n", Replace: "n[writingMode=\"horizontal-tb\"]{border-bottom:2px solid #000!important}.KBAnnotation[writin", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 212, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"vertical-rl\"] { border-right: 2px solid black !important; }\n", Replace: "gMode=\"vertical-rl\"]{border-right:2px solid #000!important}.KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"v", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 299, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"vertical-lr\"] { border-left: 2px solid black !important; }", Replace: "ertical-lr\"]{border-left:2px solid #000}/*******************************************/", MustMatchLength: yes}
  # *** Don't change anything in the 4 ReplaceString lines above ***
  #
  - FindReplaceString:
        Find:    "/*******************************************/"
        Replace: "body{text-rendering:optimizeLegibility      }"
        MustMatchLength: yes

Not sure why it is still beta. It used to be part of the patches, then was pulled and is available as a beta.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I believe you have to add it manually. It's been a while since I had to patch firmware. Here's the link to github. And here is the code:

KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeLegibility:
  - Enabled: no
  - PatchGroup: KePub stylesheet additions alternatives
  - Description: |
        Enables ligatures/kerning in KePubs, but may cause some additional
        rendering problems for fully justified text.
        N.B. May be unsuitable for users who read languages which display vertical text.
  - FindBaseAddressString: ".KBSearchResult, .KBAnnotation, .KBHighlighting {"
  # *** Don't change anything in the 4 ReplaceString lines below ***
  # Create some room to add the extra CSS
  - ReplaceString: {Find: ".KBSearchResult, .KBAnnotation, .KBHighlighting { font-size: 100% !important; -webkit-text-combine: inherit !important; }\n", Replace: ".KBSearchResult,.KBAnnotation,.KBHighlighting{font-size:100%!important;-webkit-text-combine:inherit!important}.KBAnnotatio", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 122, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"horizontal-tb\"] { border-bottom: 2px solid black !important; }\n", Replace: "n[writingMode=\"horizontal-tb\"]{border-bottom:2px solid #000!important}.KBAnnotation[writin", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 212, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"vertical-rl\"] { border-right: 2px solid black !important; }\n", Replace: "gMode=\"vertical-rl\"]{border-right:2px solid #000!important}.KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"v", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 299, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"vertical-lr\"] { border-left: 2px solid black !important; }", Replace: "ertical-lr\"]{border-left:2px solid #000}/*******************************************/", MustMatchLength: yes}
  # *** Don't change anything in the 4 ReplaceString lines above ***
  #
  - FindReplaceString:
        Find:    "/*******************************************/"
        Replace: "body{text-rendering:optimizeLegibility      }"
        MustMatchLength: yes

Not sure why it is still beta. It used to be part of the patches, then was pulled and is available as a beta.

This patch no longer exists for the 4.30.xxx firmware. That patch is for the 4.28.xxx firmware. For the Libra 2, 4.28.xxx does not exist. Please only post about Libra 2 patches for firmware 4.30.xxx.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Not sure why it is still beta. It used to be part of the patches, then was pulled and is available as a beta.

The original patch was a one-size-fits-all solution - hence *not* beta. This GitHub beta has a small potential of having unknown/unexpected/unwelcome side effects when highlighting for those who read vertical text - hence beta. See the N.B. in the patch description.

Ligatures/kerning may not even be relevant to vertical text languages, e.g. Chinese/Japanese. I don't have the lingual experience to know.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This patch no longer exists for the 4.30.xxx firmware. That patch is for the 4.28.xxx firmware. For the Libra 2, 4.28.xxx does not exist. Please only post about Libra 2 patches for firmware 4.30.xxx.

Incorrect. The linked beta is relevant for all known firmwares from 4.28.xxxxx onwards, and for all Kobo models which run them.


I was considering re-adding it to the standard patch pack at the next firmware update because no-one has reported any difficulties with the beta. However, I have no way of knowing how many people have actually used it - other than @ZodWallop and myself who are both readers of English books. This is not much of a basis for a meaningful beta test.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I was considering re-adding it to the standard patch pack at the next firmware update because no-one has reported any difficulties with the beta...

[Pjama]

I have now had my Libra 2 for a little over a week, I wanted to give an update to let you know that the highlighting and notes functions are MUCH smoother compared to the Libra H2O. It must be due to the Carta HD screen, as the processor hasn’t been updated. Something else I have noticed is that the screen feels smoother, the Libra H2O had an almost Paperwhite 1 texture - remember when the Paperwhite was launched, and one of the USPs was the texture of the screen (supposedly paper-like), which had a slightly rough finish? The Libra H2O screen reminded me of that, with a very slightly rough finish. The Libra 2 is extremely smooth.

Anyway, a beautiful e-reader, and, for once, I don’t feel guilty about having bought it, as the screen is perfect for my eyes. I love reading EPUBs with two pages on screen at once, and the library kepubs are also great. This time around, I am not going to worry about sticking religiously to one format or the other - I am using EPUBs for my novels with no illustrations or maps, and kepub for everything else.

It’s lovely having the even lighting - with my Libra H2O, whenever I turned to landscape mode (which I do a lot, e.g. when reading epubs in two-page layout) on that device, I always had to try to consciously ignore one brighter uneven patch in the corner. Now I can just concentrate on reading, so it is bliss, actually, as I can stop obsessing about the lighting quality.

I feel the slight extra weight, but it does not trouble me, it actually feels a little more substantial. And the fact that the extra weight is due to a larger battery actually makes me pleased it weighs more.The buttons are much, much better as well. And I love my mauve cover. I hope I can behave with this similar to my iPad, which I will soon have had for ten years, as there has been no need to upgrade (I mostly use it for this kind of thing, and website/newspaper reading, plus the odd game), I would like to just keep this for the next ten years. What would tempt me to upgrade would be moving above 300 dpi. That’s it, really.

For me, upgrading from the Libra H2O to the Libra 2 has been well worth it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I was considering re-adding it to the standard patch pack at the next firmware update because no-one has reported any difficulties with the beta. However, I have no way of knowing how many people have actually used it - other than @ZodWallop and myself who are both readers of English books. This is not much of a basis for a meaningful beta test.

I also used this patch.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I also used this patch.

Good - a 50% increase! Bad - still only confirmed OK for horizontal text in English books.

Anyway, the patch is, once again, part of the standard kobopatch pack.

[MGR97]

Hi, I’ve seen some people already doing it but I wanted to ask again (sorry if it has been asked before, I’m not used to this site yet haha). How’s the process of replacing the sd card on Kobo Libra 2? Are there any problems with the new sd card? I did that on my Kobo Clara Hd and it works great, but the screen is starting to feel a bit small for the use that I have (I mostly read manga). Thanks in advance!

[mathil]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I also used this patch.

I would love using this patch if I didn't have to choose between this and fully justified text. I can read without ligatures but absolutely can't read unjustified text - it makes me feel as if I'm not reading a book but a Word document, if that makes sense (note: this is not a complaint - it's great enough that this patch exists at all for those who can use it!)

By the way, I can confirm it wouldn't make any sense for Japanese or Chinese text.