New firmware

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by cellaris

I no longer have the PocketBook Era. The new owner kindly sent me some screenshots this afternoon.

I still don't understand why my Era does not have this feature yet, if that Era does. But in any case support probably needs to be added to the iOS app if I'm going to use it (have it in PB Cloud etc).

Also what is the impetus for this? Convenience (no need to convert to ePub)? Or is something lost in conversion?

[cellaris]

Personally I have no interest in using the AZW3 format on a PocketBook device, nor would I have any interest on a Kobo device if it added support for AZW3 files. It doesn't do anything for me, and I don't think it looks any better than on a Kindle either. I will continue to use the ePub format and the KOReader reading programme.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cellaris

Personally I have no interest in using the AZW3 format on a PocketBook device, nor would I have any interest on a Kobo device if it added support for AZW3 files. It doesn't do anything for me, and I don't think it looks any better than on a Kindle either. I will continue to use the ePub format and the KOReader reading programme.

But others coming from a Kindle may like being able to read KF8 without having to convert. As for how it looks, it looks much better on a Pocketbook as you get kerning, ligatures, and hyphenation. With KF8 (out of the box) on a Kindle, you get none of that.

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But others coming from a Kindle may like being able to read KF8 without having to convert. As for how it looks, it looks much better on a Pocketbook as you get kerning, ligatures, and hyphenation. With KF8 (out of the box) on a Kindle, you get none of that.

But PB Reader does not correctly recognise styles in this format. This is different from the ePub format, where there is no problem with document styles. Here are some screenshots with the same AZW3 opened with Kindle (with the hyphenation corrected), AlReader X and PocketBook Reader (even without hyphenation I would still prefer to use a Kindle).

[rcentros]

Well, I upgraded my Touch HD 3 to try out AZW3. Calibre refuses to send the book unless it converts it to ePub first. When I directly copy the AZW3 file to the PocketBook I'm told that I'm "This book is either damaged or under copyright protection." So this is definitely not a direct path to reading Kindle books on the PocketBook. I'm going to try converting to ePub and then back to AZW3 to see if it will actually read AZW3 at all.

EDIT: That worked but, for practical purposes, what would be the purpose of converting my book twice? I guess it would work for non-DRM AZW3s, but I don't know that I've ever seen one of those in in the wild. Maybe a few of the books sold on Amazon. I usually see either ePubs or mobis where public domain books are offered.

But I do think the book displays better on the PocketBook. At least the margins are better. I'll see if I can take some comparison screenshots tomorrow.

EDIT 2: Here are my screenshots (from one of the free books of the month on Amazon). The Kindle screenshots are taken from a book directly downloaded from Amazon on the Voyage. The PB AZW3 shots from the book converted to ePub and back to AZW3. And the PB ePub shots taken from a single conversion from AZW3 to ePub in Calibre. I didn't adjust anything when I converted these. I used the Constantia font all three sets of screenshots (as close to the same size as I could get). The Kindle Voyage is set to its narrowest margins, the PocketBook HD 3 is set to its widest margins. As you can see, AZW3 on the PocketBook loses all styling. All italics and bold text is gone. If it was just the Chapter Headings it would okay, but no italics (especially) and bold in the pages just doesn't work.

Overall quality? The margin on the Voyage is irritating to me. It looks like the PocketBook does a lot more hyphenation (not sure if the Voyage does any hyphenation). The Voyage layout is not terrible, but I like the PocketBook better.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Well, I upgraded my Touch HD 3 to try out AZW3. Calibre refuses to send the book unless it converts it to ePub first. When I directly copy the AZW3 file to the PocketBook I'm told that I'm "This book is either damaged or under copyright protection." So this is definitely not a direct path to reading Kindle books on the PocketBook. I'm going to try converting to ePub and then back to AZW3 to see if it will actually read AZW3 at all.

With your device connected, you can choose Configure this device and add AZW3 to the list of file extensions that calibre will send directly.

[tomsem]

I'm still not convinced there is any benefit in using AZW3 directly instead of converting to ePub. Is the result better somehow?

I cannot test it yet myself as my Era does not support AZW3.

[Update:] Oh yes, it does: but when downloaded from Amazon account Content page, and imported to calibre (with DeDRM applied), Era will not like it. Have to do AZW3->AZW3, then it works. Or convert ePub->AZW3 will work. So far I don't see any benefit over convert to ePub.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tomsem

With your device connected, you can choose Configure this device and add AZW3 to the list of file extensions that calibre will send directly.

Originally Posted by tomsem

I'm still not convinced there is any benefit in using AZW3 directly instead of converting to ePub. Is the result better somehow?

I cannot test it yet myself as my Era does not support AZW3.

Okay, thanks for the tip. I set the HD 3 up to accept AZW3 from Calibre and it worked to transfer the book, but I got the same error that I did when "manually" moving the book over to the HD 3 ("damaged or copy protected"). So, at this point, unless you have a source for non-DRM AZW3s, this feature seems about worthless.

I don't understand why your Era is not allowing you to read AZW3 books. I'm guessing you're using the newest firmware, 6.7.775, but I wonder if there is a way to force your Era to re-update?

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by rcentros

But I do think the book displays better on the PocketBook. At least the margins are better.

The Kindle Voyage is set to its narrowest margins, the PocketBook HD 3 is set to its widest margins.

Overall quality? The margin on the Voyage is irritating to me.

PocketBook also allows you to change your default margins and line spacing. If you have KOReader installed, you can do this directly from the e-reader itself using its text editor.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by cellaris

PocketBook also allows you to change your default margins and line spacing. If you have KOReader installed, you can do this directly from the e-reader itself using its text editor.

I'm happy with the PocketBook's defaults. I usually use the middle margin setting. A little white space, but not too much. In the sample (above) I was just trying to get the PocketBook and Kindle to look as much alike as possible.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Okay, thanks for the tip. I set the HD 3 up to accept AZW3 from Calibre and it worked to transfer the book, but I got the same error that I did when "manually" moving the book over to the HD 3 ("damaged or copy protected"). So, at this point, unless you have a source for non-DRM AZW3s, this feature seems about worthless.

I don't understand why your Era is not allowing you to read AZW3 books. I'm guessing you're using the newest firmware, 6.7.775, but I wonder if there is a way to force your Era to re-update?

I did an experiment: I converted a DRM free ePub to AZW3. This AZW3 opens on my Era.

Then I took an AZW3 imported from Amazon (w deDRM applied), and did a AZW3 -> AZW3 conversion. This also opens on my Era.

So there is some additional tweak needed to the AZW3 download before it will open without an error.

But I also converted the imported AZW3 directly to ePub and compared it with the AZW3 converted from the same file. The ePub looks better to me.

It's possible that calibre's conversion to AZW3 could be improved (but if it is perfectly fine for Kindle why do anything?), or some tweak could be done on the initial import to obviate the need for this, but that will require some additional investigation.

It's also possible that the only workflow PocketBook tested was that of converting from AZW3 from ePub, and not with actual AZW3's downloaded from Amazon (even DRM free ones). I should have some DRM free books in my Kindle library that I can test.

And for me there will be 2 other issues:

- AZW3 is not supported by KOReader
- It doesn't seem to work with PocketBook Reader app for iOS at present.

For now, I'm going to stick with ePub conversion.

BTW, what is the storage limit for PocketBook Cloud? I seem to have run into it, and if so it appears quite 'modest'.

[Update: I have a number of DRM-free titles in my Kindle library, some of which support 'enhanced typography', however so far these all download in AZW (Mobi 7?) and not AZW3 (KF8). I'm guessing all 'simultaneous usage: Unlimited' titles are like this, and that all AZW3 downloads are in fact DRM protected.]

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I did an experiment: I converted a DRM free ePub to AZW3. This AZW3 opens on my Era.

Then I took an AZW3 imported from Amazon (w deDRM applied), and did a AZW3 -> AZW3 conversion. This also opens on my Era.

So there is some additional tweak needed to the AZW3 download before it will open without an error.

But I also converted the imported AZW3 directly to ePub and compared it with the AZW3 converted from the same file. The ePub looks better to me.

It's possible that calibre's conversion to AZW3 could be improved (but if it is perfectly fine for Kindle why do anything?), or some tweak could be done on the initial import to obviate the need for this, but that will require some additional investigation...

I'm almost positive Calibre not is the culprit. I think PocketBook doesn't really handle AZW3 files correctly. I did as you suggested, converted a Kindle AZW3 DRM file to AZW3 and I was able to copy the converted file to my Touch HD 3. I could read it, but all italics, bold and chapter heading styles was lost. (Just as shown in my post with samples, above) I then looked at the converted AZW3 file in Calibre, all italics, bold chapter heading, etc., were retained. Not exactly the same as the original, but really close.

I've attached two images (3 screens). On the left is the original after being read into Calibre. On the right is the AZW3(from Amazon) to AZW3 conversion. As you can see they are pretty close, the converted uses a slightly smaller Chapter title font, but all the styling is retained. The AZW3 on the right is how the second file (middle one) displays on the PocketBook. So Calibre is doing a good job, it's PocketBook that has issues with AZW3s. (I haven't test ePubs converted to AZW3.)

[JSWolf]

So while Pocketbook can handle KF8, it currently does a poor job. Maybe given it's the first time PB will fix this in a later firmware.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So while Pocketbook can handle KF8, it currently does a poor job. Maybe given it's the first time PB will fix this in a later firmware.

I just remembered something I had forgotten. Doesn't Calibre's reader application change AZW3 files into ePub when displaying? It seems I remember that it does (or used to do) this. So my Calibre screen grabs may not be a true test at all. Although Calibre does seem to find the correct format in the converted AZW3 (K8) book when displaying it. (Whether it still changes to ePub or not.)

[boogaa]

Hello,

I own the PB 740 but under the French brand Vivlio. I try to put the last Pocketbook's firmware but I got the following error messages :
no update image found // The device will turn off in few seconds.
I think it must detect that it is a Vivlio reader. Do you think there is a way to override this limit and install the pocketbook firmware ?

Thanks
Best regards