Manga on an eReader / tablet?

[SteveGrabowski0]

For all the manga readers here, what do you think of it on eReaders / tablets? Especially if you read them in raw Japanese. When I buy a manga off the kindle store is the quality decent and readable? Especially in Japanese. Does the text zoom well? This is especially important for reading kanji and furigana which can be tough to read when it's written small. Or is the quality no better than say jpeg scans that don't scale well when I magnify and can look kind of blurry? Or is text vector rendered so it scales nicely? Also do you find it worth paying for an eReader and does it make it easier to read than just reading it on a tablet? Or should I just stick with importing physical manga from Japan? Jeez it takes up so much room though.

[AlexOak]

Tachiyomi  is an android manga reader with plugins that give you access to other manga sites but it also has the support to use Komga which is a self hosted manga server/ reader for the stuff you own legally of course and in high quality too.

 

If you want something just for reading I recommend a fire tablet Amazon Official Site: Fire HD 10 Plus tablet, 10.1", 1080p Full HD when they are on sell. I bought this and somewhat don't have buyers remorse. Although there are somethings that would have been better(apps).

 

 

[kasugatei]

36 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Especially if you read them in raw Japanese.

I personally don’t read manga, however just by just checking Japanese Amazon there is a point that manga reading is ok. 
https://www.amazon.co.jp/Kindle-Paperwhite-防水機能搭載-Wi-Fi-8GB-電子書籍リーダー/dp/B07HD12H6W/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kindle&qid=1625099845&sprefix=kind&sr=8-1

 

also if it weren’t ok it would probably have huge amount of 1 star reviews. 
 

Edit: I forgot to add that I have several Japanese climbing guides on my Kindle and I can see and read small kanji on maps in those books without any issues so I don’t think that there will be issues with manga. 

[SteveGrabowski0]

16 minutes ago, Niksa said:

I personally don’t read manga, however just by just checking Japanese Amazon there is a point that manga reading is ok. 
https://www.amazon.co.jp/Kindle-Paperwhite-防水機能搭載-Wi-Fi-8GB-電子書籍リーダー/dp/B07HD12H6W/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kindle&qid=1625099845&sprefix=kind&sr=8-1

 

also if it weren’t ok it would probably have huge amount of 1 star reviews. 

Thank you, but I guess I was hoping to get the perspective of non native speakers. I know native speakers could read the crappiest scans with ease. For instance, native speakers and advanced non-natives can read Persona 4 Golden in JP fine on the low res small Vita screen, but for me as someone with an understanding below JLPT N3 level it was kind of hard for me to make out some of the kanji on it. But I can read the PC port alright at 1080p on a 24 inch screen. Might be kind of hard to replicate that on digital manga if the text is just raster that looks bad when zoomed in instead of vector text.

[kasugatei]

9 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Thank you, but I guess I was hoping to get the perspective of non native speakers.

I can assure you that I am not a native speaker xD

Just an European with business connections to Japan so I can speak and (somewhat) read Japanese

[Blue4130]

3 hours ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Thank you, but I guess I was hoping to get the perspective of non native speakers. I know native speakers could read the crappiest scans with ease. For instance, native speakers and advanced non-natives can read Persona 4 Golden in JP fine on the low res small Vita screen, but for me as someone with an understanding below JLPT N3 level it was kind of hard for me to make out some of the kanji on it. But I can read the PC port alright at 1080p on a 24 inch screen. Might be kind of hard to replicate that on digital manga if the text is just raster that looks bad when zoomed in instead of vector text.

Switching devices isn't going to turn rastered text into vector. If you are having problems, you will need to get a better source. 

[Arika]

As someone who has read manga on a e-reader and a normal tablet. the only thing that really matters is the resolution of the scan and the device.

 

I would suggest going as high resolution as you can on the device. A 1280x800 can be very hard to read on sometimes even with high DPI scans.

 

Fan translated manga can be hit or miss in regards to quality, if you're buying from somewhere like bookwalker (either the global site, for translated, or the japanese site for raws) then it really shouldn't matter. It just comes down to what you like better.

 

I do most of my reading on tachiyomi these days so i just use a Galaxy tab S2 8, good size and very high res.

[Biohazard777]

30 minutes ago, Arika S said:

As someone who has read manga on a e-reader and a normal tablet. the only thing that really matters is the resolution of the scan and the device.

True, resolution is very important, but which e-reader did you use (was it e-ink display and if so which resolution & size was it)?

 

4 hours ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

For all the manga readers here, what do you think of it on eReaders / tablets?

It all comes down to the screen, e-ink beats any other display technology when it comes to reading.

IMHO E-ink truly looks like ink on paper, words can't describe the sensation, you gotta try it yourself. Doesn't strain your eyes and the battery lasts forever.

 

I personally now use Onyx Boox Note Air 10.3" , 1872x1404px (227dpi), Android 10 (has access to Google Play) for all my reading, as well as note taking. I Don't read manga much but honestly everything in B&W or greyscale looks a lot better on it compared to say AMOLED on my phone or IPS on my monitor.

[Arika]

Just now, Biohazard777 said:

True, resolution is very important, but which e-reader did you use (was it e-ink display and if so which resolution did it have)?

I used an Onyx Boox Nova Pro. E-ink 1872x1404

[Biohazard777]

Just now, Arika S said:

I used an Onyx Boox Nova Pro. E-ink 1872x1404

Interesting. I do see how regular tablet can be much more versatile, but when it comes to reading I rarely hear people say they prefer a regular tablet or don't find the difference that big between screen tech. Welp, to each to their own I guess 

[SteveGrabowski0]

10 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

Switching devices isn't going to turn rastered text into vector. If you are having problems, you will need to get a better source. 

So JP manga text is typically rasterized and not vector? Crap.

[Bramimond]

It's doable, but it's not ideal. Manga isn't designed with such a device in mind. But there are web manga/comics/manhwa/manua with phones in mind, and reading those on my smartphone is a pleasant experience. For example Gu Daoist Master, which I can also recommend.

 

But normal Manga will also have really small text at points and that can be really hard to read (even in a language you know) without zooming in or having a bigger device. (I'm reading on my phone.) But a bigger device is quite unwieldy. I tried with a 10" tablet before and while reading was no problem, holding the thing got tiring fast.

 

I now read Manga on my 40" monitor and read web manua on my phone.

 

 

I guess it wouldn't be such a problem if my phone was fast enough to zoom in and out without slowing down, but it isn't. There are small delays that make the experience excruciating. Doherty Threshold and all that.