Best 8+ inch device in terms of clarity and contrast

Cosmos · 05-13-2023, 10:18 AM

I have tried a mobiscribe wave and most recently just received a pocketbook inkpad 4.
Have returned the mobiscribe due to lacking contrast and clarity. The same can be said for the new inkpad unfortunately. Despite the new 1200 Carta screen, I felt that text clarity and contrast were lacking in ambient light compared to an old PW4 I have in the drawer. I am not quite sure why display quality is not the main focus for manufacturers.
I'm returning the inkpad 4 as well. Looking at this forum, the PW4 doesn't seem like the best screen either which is odd given that it beats both of the aforementioned newer devices.

What else would you suggest? My main use setting would be in ambient light really. I don't like using a frontlight. Interested in e-pub reading, reading mangas and occasionally academic reading. This is why I have been trying the (almost) 8 inch devices. Thank you.

I've been thinking about ordering a sage or a scribe to test. There is nothing else left is there with the bigger screen? How do these 2 compare to a kindle PW4 for example in terms of contrast and clarity in ambient light?

Quoth · 05-13-2023, 11:41 AM

An original Libra is better than PW3 which is better than a PW4. Compared in daylight and by electric room lights. Compared side by side.

The Sage is nearly identical to original Libra in clarity and contrast and brightness in daylight and artificial room lighting, but 8″ instead of 7″ and much faster with Calibre and PDFs. PDF manuals/instruction books are mostly OK too.

Also no comparison in Calibre integration of Kobo vs anything else.

I had a reMarkable and have an Elipsa (same 10.3″ screen). The Elipsa is better but inferior for reading on to the Sage due to extra size and weight, not the 227 dpi vs 300 dpi. I only use the Elipsa now for checking layout of some PDFs for POD. Most scanned books in PDF are fine on the Sage.

There is a 9.7″ screen ereader, but at 150 dpi it must be a similar panel to the DXG just with touch added. The DXG is rubbish compared even with a 7″ Libra even for PDFs.

Cosmos · 05-13-2023, 02:00 PM

Thanks for the insight. Very helpful.
I have always wanted to get the sage but was hesitant due to its age (not sure when kobo are going to be releasing a newer version) and battery life.
I don't really mind if I need to charge it daily after a few hours of reading. How has your experience been with the battery? Have you tried Koreader on it with battery?

Very interesting. The Sage should hopefully be the device to keep then. Part of me worries there is also a panel lottery when it comes to devices or just luck with the quality of your overlying glass/plastic. We'll see. Thanks again.

Quoth · 05-13-2023, 03:44 PM

I did have KOReader on the Elipsa for PDFs till a FW version that did PDF crop sensibly.
I do sometimes use it on the Likebook Mars as its native epub is dire. Oddly its PDF reader is better than KOReader!

But I'd not use it for epub on Sage. I'd fix broken epubs and wife would have benefit too. KOReader for epub, IMO, is to override broken epubs. You loose the advantage of My Books (filters and categories) and Search that is so much better than Kindle if you use KOReader. Having collections, titles, authors, series, unread / reading / finished and Recent etc on My Books via Calibre Metadata is so easy. The KOReader is painful for searches in comparison and by default slowly browses real folders rather than sort & filter by Library Metadata. Also I use highlight & touch keyboard annotate (big highlight, small note) and export that via Kobo Utilities to a tabbed text editor.

We read a huge amount on the Sage and battery life is not an issue. Front light, WiFi and BT are off.
Also we have 3m long (10ft in American) USB-C cables that cost €2 ($2 in American

) and a charge from 10% to 90% is less than 45 minutes. She'd not go back to Libra or Paperwhite 3 and she never uses note books.

Two other family members have Sage (4 total). No complaints. All seem identical quality.

Aleron Ives · 05-13-2023, 03:54 PM

The Sage battery is worse than the Libra battery, but it's not like it's a massive difference. It's just dumb that Kobo went with a 1200 mAh battery for an 8" quad-core device and a 1420 mAh battery for a 7" single-core device. You should still be able to get many days between charges, especially if you're not using the frontlight or doing any writing.

Colonel Cathcart · 05-14-2023, 09:06 AM

This is a bit old, but still might be interesting for you to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm-YBQMj8Jw

Skydog · 05-14-2023, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

The Sage battery is worse than the Libra battery, but it's not like it's a massive difference. It's just dumb that Kobo went with a 1200 mAh battery for an 8" quad-core device and a 1420 mAh battery for a 7" single-core device. You should still be able to get many days between charges, especially if you're not using the frontlight or doing any writing.

"Worse than" implies the Libra2 has a sub-standard battery. That is simply not the case.

Quoth · 05-14-2023, 02:57 PM

Worse run time, though still acceptable duration. Quality of the component is likely identical.

Aleron Ives · 05-14-2023, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skydog

"Worse than" implies the Libra2 has a sub-standard battery.

I see no such implication. The Sage has worse battery life than the Libra 2, since it has a more demanding processor and a smaller battery. The Libra 2 has excellent battery life, so the Sage is hardly a slouch, but it's still not as good as the Libra 2.

Uncle Robin · 05-15-2023, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cosmos

Thanks for the insight. Very helpful.
I have always wanted to get the sage but was hesitant due to its age (not sure when kobo are going to be releasing a newer version) and battery life. \

The battery life I get, since it was put me off buying a Sage for a long time. Not buying an erader (any ereader) because it's 3 years or so since release I don't get. THe tech is ismple, well-proven and without a lot room for ground-breaking advancements. A new Sage today would be new, not 3 year old stock, and the reading experience would be as good as it was when the device was released. Just keep a power bank handy.

Cosmos · 05-16-2023, 05:47 PM

Thanks all. This is a comparison between the PW4 and IP4 if anybody's interested. This is the sort of difference I see.

chrisridd · 05-17-2023, 02:21 PM

Thanks for the photos @Cosmos - unfortunately I can't really tell the difference because of the angle, lighting, and different distances.

Can you take macro shots square on to each device?

Cosmos · 05-17-2023, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisridd

Thanks for the photos @Cosmos - unfortunately I can't really tell the difference because of the angle, lighting, and different distances.

Can you take macro shots square on to each device?

My phone's macro camera is terrible. It takes ages to focus and any difference in results will probably be down to focus and won't be meaningful. Sharpness of the text is largely similar to be fair on both. They're both 300 ppi screens. Looking very closely at the text, it is as sharp on both. The main issue that affects clarity for me is the difference in contrast. It is mainly the background paper. On the kindle, it is whiter than the IP4 making it easier to read. The text itself is also a little bit blacker on the kindle on the lowest boldness setting. I intended to show the difference in contrast from different angles in the pictures above. And switched device location over to show it is not the lighting. A picture also shows the screens with the settings showing backlight as off (although all pictures had the lights off)

Cosmos · 05-17-2023, 03:39 PM

All photos were taken with the frontlights off on both device. Looking at the thumbnails without clicking on the images, one appears to be have more of a warm/yellow grayish background while other is more white. The difference may be subtle. People do accuse me of over detecting things at times.

Skydog · 05-17-2023, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

I see no such implication. The Sage has worse battery life than the Libra 2, since it has a more demanding processor and a smaller battery. The Libra 2 has excellent battery life, so the Sage is hardly a slouch, but it's still not as good as the Libra 2.

That is an accurate (and better) description, particularly for anyone considering a purchase

05-13-2023, 10:18 AM	#1
Cosmos Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2023 Device: None	Best 8+ inch device in terms of clarity and contrast I have tried a mobiscribe wave and most recently just received a pocketbook inkpad 4. Have returned the mobiscribe due to lacking contrast and clarity. The same can be said for the new inkpad unfortunately. Despite the new 1200 Carta screen, I felt that text clarity and contrast were lacking in ambient light compared to an old PW4 I have in the drawer. I am not quite sure why display quality is not the main focus for manufacturers. I'm returning the inkpad 4 as well. Looking at this forum, the PW4 doesn't seem like the best screen either which is odd given that it beats both of the aforementioned newer devices. What else would you suggest? My main use setting would be in ambient light really. I don't like using a frontlight. Interested in e-pub reading, reading mangas and occasionally academic reading. This is why I have been trying the (almost) 8 inch devices. Thank you. I've been thinking about ordering a sage or a scribe to test. There is nothing else left is there with the bigger screen? How do these 2 compare to a kindle PW4 for example in terms of contrast and clarity in ambient light? Last edited by Cosmos; 05-13-2023 at 10:21 AM.

05-13-2023, 03:44 PM	#4
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,165 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	I did have KOReader on the Elipsa for PDFs till a FW version that did PDF crop sensibly. I do sometimes use it on the Likebook Mars as its native epub is dire. Oddly its PDF reader is better than KOReader! But I'd not use it for epub on Sage. I'd fix broken epubs and wife would have benefit too. KOReader for epub, IMO, is to override broken epubs. You loose the advantage of My Books (filters and categories) and Search that is so much better than Kindle if you use KOReader. Having collections, titles, authors, series, unread / reading / finished and Recent etc on My Books via Calibre Metadata is so easy. The KOReader is painful for searches in comparison and by default slowly browses real folders rather than sort & filter by Library Metadata. Also I use highlight & touch keyboard annotate (big highlight, small note) and export that via Kobo Utilities to a tabbed text editor. We read a huge amount on the Sage and battery life is not an issue. Front light, WiFi and BT are off. Also we have 3m long (10ft in American) USB-C cables that cost €2 ($2 in American ) and a charge from 10% to 90% is less than 45 minutes. She'd not go back to Libra or Paperwhite 3 and she never uses note books. Two other family members have Sage (4 total). No complaints. All seem identical quality. Last edited by Quoth; 05-13-2023 at 03:50 PM.

05-16-2023, 05:47 PM	#11
Cosmos Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2023 Device: None	Thanks all. This is a comparison between the PW4 and IP4 if anybody's interested. This is the sort of difference I see. Attached Thumbnails

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05-13-2023, 11:41 AM	#2
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,165 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	An original Libra is better than PW3 which is better than a PW4. Compared in daylight and by electric room lights. Compared side by side. The Sage is nearly identical to original Libra in clarity and contrast and brightness in daylight and artificial room lighting, but 8″ instead of 7″ and much faster with Calibre and PDFs. PDF manuals/instruction books are mostly OK too. Also no comparison in Calibre integration of Kobo vs anything else. I had a reMarkable and have an Elipsa (same 10.3″ screen). The Elipsa is better but inferior for reading on to the Sage due to extra size and weight, not the 227 dpi vs 300 dpi. I only use the Elipsa now for checking layout of some PDFs for POD. Most scanned books in PDF are fine on the Sage. There is a 9.7″ screen ereader, but at 150 dpi it must be a similar panel to the DXG just with touch added. The DXG is rubbish compared even with a 7″ Libra even for PDFs.

05-13-2023, 02:00 PM	#3
Cosmos Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2023 Device: None	Thanks for the insight. Very helpful. I have always wanted to get the sage but was hesitant due to its age (not sure when kobo are going to be releasing a newer version) and battery life. I don't really mind if I need to charge it daily after a few hours of reading. How has your experience been with the battery? Have you tried Koreader on it with battery? Very interesting. The Sage should hopefully be the device to keep then. Part of me worries there is also a panel lottery when it comes to devices or just luck with the quality of your overlying glass/plastic. We'll see. Thanks again.

05-13-2023, 03:54 PM	#5
Aleron Ives Wizard Posts: 1,026 Karma: 11500112 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	The Sage battery is worse than the Libra battery, but it's not like it's a massive difference. It's just dumb that Kobo went with a 1200 mAh battery for an 8" quad-core device and a 1420 mAh battery for a 7" single-core device. You should still be able to get many days between charges, especially if you're not using the frontlight or doing any writing.

05-14-2023, 09:06 AM	#6
Colonel Cathcart Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 340434 Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: Israel Device: Kobo Libra H2O	This is a bit old, but still might be interesting for you to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm-YBQMj8Jw

05-14-2023, 02:57 PM	#8
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,165 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	Worse run time, though still acceptable duration. Quality of the component is likely identical.

05-17-2023, 02:21 PM	#12
chrisridd Guru Posts: 928 Karma: 2146660 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Kobo Aura, Kobo Aura ONE, Marvin 3	Thanks for the photos @Cosmos - unfortunately I can't really tell the difference because of the angle, lighting, and different distances. Can you take macro shots square on to each device?

05-17-2023, 03:39 PM	#14
Cosmos Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2023 Device: None	All photos were taken with the frontlights off on both device. Looking at the thumbnails without clicking on the images, one appears to be have more of a warm/yellow grayish background while other is more white. The difference may be subtle. People do accuse me of over detecting things at times.

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