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I've wanted a color Kobo for years, but I'm a bit disappointed. The main benefit of a color eReader is for (some) PDFs, comics, etc., all of which benefit huge

I've wanted a color Kobo for years, but I'm a bit disappointed. The main benefit of a color eReader is for (some) PDFs, comics, etc., all of which benefit hugely from a larger screen than the Libra's 7" display. I hoped Kobo's first color reader would be at least 8", and preferably 10.3". Carrying all my RPG PDFs on a color eInk display would be super cool, as I find reading on such a device much easier on my eyes than an iPad. I think the argument for color is much weaker on a book-sized reader. You get the library and sleep screens (which are admittedly cool to have in color!), but the rest of your usage will mostly not benefit. Kobo's PDF software isn't great, though there are third-party readers you can install that improve the experience. No matter how good those are, though, they still benefit greatly from a larger display. Presumably, this is just the first step. IIUC, the Libra 2 is their most popular reader, so I suppose it makes sense. Just a bit disappointing.

carlosjobim 3y ago
There are other makers that have larger color e-ink displays, such as Boox.
AlotOfReading 3y ago
Color PDFs and comics almost always assume good, full gamut color reproduction. e-ink can't do that. It can only do a few pastel colors well. The typical books usage is much more in-line with the capabilities of the display. Highlighting is substantially improved with even a little color, as are interstitial art and cover icons.
- carlosjobim 3y ago
  The E-Ink Spectra 6 displays [1] released last year has full color gamut, thus beating any other display technology in an outdoors scenario. The problem is that they take something like 12 seconds to refresh and I haven't seen any consumer devices using them. In the near future I think spectra displays will be excellent for readers when they manage to get the refresh a bit more speedy, while ironically the B&W displays with color filters will be the E-Ink technology suited for tablets and phones in general. [1] https://youtu.be/U7V2EFAcbtU https://youtu.be/U7V2EFAcbtU
- mitthrowaway2 3y ago
  Will it be good enough for, say, graphs? A lot of scientific papers and news articles have illegible figures when reproduced in black and white, because you can't tell the lines apart.
  - AlotOfReading 3y ago
    Depends on the graph and newspaper. The best case scenario is a desaturated version of old print newspapers. Their DPI was near this screen's DPI (200 vs 150) and it'll suffer from the same problem of losing low contrast details. You won't be reading rendering papers, but it'll probably help a basic line graph.
- Brian_K_White 3y ago
  Any color at all would be invaluable for diagrams, schematics, graphs/plots and other reference material where different subsystems, pipes/cables, datasets, etc are distinguished by color.
pxc 3y ago
> The main benefit of a color eReader is for (some) PDFs, comics, etc., all of which benefit hugely from a larger screen than the Libra's 7" display. I hoped Kobo's first color reader would be at least 8", and preferably 10.3" Same. I'm visually impaired, which means I use large print for my reflowable content. I'd love to read comics or PDFs of print magazines, but for that I'll need a display that's larger than what those are normally printed on! Afaict there are no decent vendors offering genuinely large color e-readers— just some GPL violators' whose devices run Android. If I can't get a super-magazine-sized e-ink display for fixed-layout content, the next best thing would be a very large one that I can put in landscape mode and fit to width, scrolling only vertically. That wouldn't be too bad, especially if refresh speed is okay-ish. For that, though, I'd still prefer something larger than my Clara 2E (which I love).
TillE 3y ago
I suspect the iPad will remain the best option for stuff like RPG books. It's relatively cheap, the screen is large, it's fast and responsive, etc. It's not pleasant for reading in a dark room, but otherwise it's close to the ideal.
mariusor 3y ago
Their 10' model is already over 350EUR in price, adding a colour screen to it, it would make it too expensive to have mass appeal. I suspect the next models, which will probably be a Sage 2 and an Elipsa 3 will be what you want, after they whet the appetite of regular readers. Hopefully they'll have a next iteration of the colour screens also. :D

carlosjobim 3y ago

There are other makers that have larger color e-ink displays, such as Boox.

AlotOfReading 3y ago

Color PDFs and comics almost always assume good, full gamut color reproduction. e-ink can't do that. It can only do a few pastel colors well. The typical books usage is much more in-line with the capabilities of the display. Highlighting is substantially improved with even a little color, as are interstitial art and cover icons.

carlosjobim 3y ago
The E-Ink Spectra 6 displays [1] released last year has full color gamut, thus beating any other display technology in an outdoors scenario. The problem is that they take something like 12 seconds to refresh and I haven't seen any consumer devices using them. In the near future I think spectra displays will be excellent for readers when they manage to get the refresh a bit more speedy, while ironically the B&W displays with color filters will be the E-Ink technology suited for tablets and phones in general. [1] https://youtu.be/U7V2EFAcbtU https://youtu.be/U7V2EFAcbtU
mitthrowaway2 3y ago
Will it be good enough for, say, graphs? A lot of scientific papers and news articles have illegible figures when reproduced in black and white, because you can't tell the lines apart.
- AlotOfReading 3y ago
  Depends on the graph and newspaper. The best case scenario is a desaturated version of old print newspapers. Their DPI was near this screen's DPI (200 vs 150) and it'll suffer from the same problem of losing low contrast details. You won't be reading rendering papers, but it'll probably help a basic line graph.
Brian_K_White 3y ago
Any color at all would be invaluable for diagrams, schematics, graphs/plots and other reference material where different subsystems, pipes/cables, datasets, etc are distinguished by color.

pxc 3y ago

> The main benefit of a color eReader is for (some) PDFs, comics, etc., all of which benefit hugely from a larger screen than the Libra's 7" display. I hoped Kobo's first color reader would be at least 8", and preferably 10.3" Same. I'm visually impaired, which means I use large print for my reflowable content. I'd love to read comics or PDFs of print magazines, but for that I'll need a display that's larger than what those are normally printed on! Afaict there are no decent vendors offering genuinely large color e-readers— just some GPL violators' whose devices run Android. If I can't get a super-magazine-sized e-ink display for fixed-layout content, the next best thing would be a very large one that I can put in landscape mode and fit to width, scrolling only vertically. That wouldn't be too bad, especially if refresh speed is okay-ish. For that, though, I'd still prefer something larger than my Clara 2E (which I love).

TillE 3y ago

I suspect the iPad will remain the best option for stuff like RPG books. It's relatively cheap, the screen is large, it's fast and responsive, etc. It's not pleasant for reading in a dark room, but otherwise it's close to the ideal.

mariusor 3y ago

Their 10' model is already over 350EUR in price, adding a colour screen to it, it would make it too expensive to have mass appeal. I suspect the next models, which will probably be a Sage 2 and an Elipsa 3 will be what you want, after they whet the appetite of regular readers. Hopefully they'll have a next iteration of the colour screens also. :D