2000 AD Online Forum
General Chat => Books & Comics => : user2000 19 August, 2020, 07:58:33 PM
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Not sure if this is the right place... anyway:
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/judge-dredd-2000-ad-more-books
Thought I would treat the little people in my house to these complete stories as they like reading them in one book like these rather than week to week in the old progs.
Unfortunately the files offered are so badly compressed that reading them is going to be sore on the eyes. The colours are ruined by the banding introduced by the small filesizes and the fonts and speech balloon are jagged and hard to read. It's all very off putting.
Just to check - I usually buy the physical trades from the shop (I'm a sucker for all the old Treasury material) and it looks a hell of a lot better than this - so if I buy digital files do they all look as bad as the ones on offer in this Humble Bundle?
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Should say this mostly relates to the CBZ files on offer - the PDF's are generally much better, although some have an even smaller filesize than the equivalent CBZ.
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Just to check - I usually buy the physical trades from the shop (I'm a sucker for all the old Treasury material) and it looks a hell of a lot better than this - so if I buy digital files do they all look as bad as the ones on offer in this Humble Bundle?
How are you reading them? What device and software?
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Just to check - I usually buy the physical trades from the shop (I'm a sucker for all the old Treasury material) and it looks a hell of a lot better than this - so if I buy digital files do they all look as bad as the ones on offer in this Humble Bundle?
How are you reading them? What device and software?
Tried a few options, results are the same.
Cover on Windows
Perfect Viewer on Android
I use Chunky on iPad - and its the 12.9" model so shows it up real bad.
The PDF's are mostly better, but some are not - the Zenith Vol.3 is 100MB on CBZ - jaggies all round, whereas the PDF is 13MB and is a blur fest.
Brink vol.1 is especially bad on CBZ, jaggies and colour banding whereas the PDF is OK.
That's only the ones I've looked at - Kingdom is the same - a 25MB filesize for the CBZ is not going to cut it for 148 pages - it looks awful.
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Just grabbed this and the cbzs seem ok to me - I only had a quick skim through Brink and Zenith mind will take a more comprehensive look over lunch. I'm using an Samsung Android tablet running Comicat as a reader - in case that's important.
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Okay yeah having stared at a few more of these I have to concur, the resolution on some of these files is terrible. Guess I'll have to grab the pdfs and see if those are better. Compared to other Humble Bundles I've bought recently this is a really poor show from Tharg. This could turn away new readers if they come away thinking this is the standard they can expect for digital comics from 2000AD/Rebellion.
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I’ve prodded a PTB and the information has been relayed to Humble Bundle. Hopefully they will update the files.
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That's good to hear. I seem to remember one of the manga bundles had similar compression issues and was eventually fixed. Nearly bought this yesterday the moment I saw the thrill-mail but I guess I'll wait and see.
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There is some great content on there. Fingers crossed they sort the file sizes out.
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If I had a Euro for every 99 Cents I've spent on Humble Bundle 'Tier 1' deals, I'd be a wealthy man indeed.
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I bought it but have received nothing! Unless I'm doing something very wrong, no content sent! :'(
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They don't send you the content you should now have access to download it. You should be able to access your purchases via the Icon in the top right of the toolbar next to the search box.
Here's hoping they upgrade the cbrs.
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Ah no I see what it was - they had emailed me a link to the downloads but my mail settings wouldn't let it through. Go me! Cool that you can't delete posts from here that make you seem a but silly.
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Ha! Or a bit even! Dearie me.
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Tharg's not big on boarders ret-conning posts...
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The most interesting bit about that is that (as Rebellion don't release sales figures) it says
3,981 BUNDLES SOLD
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Nice numbers, but as I said before there is some top quality content in the package.
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It’ll be interesting to see the final numbers on this. The last Image one did about 15k, but that’s a bigger name. IDW’s have done something like 5–12k. Incal etc. did 13k. Although the real key is whether this then results in additional sales. Judging by the number of Image Humble Bundles, it’s working for them, or they wouldn’t keep doing it. IDW seems to often use HB as a way to wring out the last cash from dead licenses (Doctor Who; pre-reboot Transformers). Humanoids: no idea, but they did two in quick succession.
Mind you, the most important thing with this one will be to fix the files. Sad that the first proper 2000 AD HB has cruddy repro in some of the files.
It’s also interesting to see people coming to some of these who don’t know digital comics. The same happened with Humanoids and the recent Humble Bundle, to the point it seems HB should explain:
1. These bundles are separate from the subscription (a point obfuscated by the subscription banner at the top of the screen)
2. The comic won’t be sent to you—you’ll get a downloads link
3. These are digital comics (you’d be surprised how many assume they’re getting a bunch of books for $1)
4. The books will require you to have software (a point included only at the bottom of the page, under a read more sign, in a disused lavatory, etc.)
Another gripe I’ve been seeing surrounds the selection of Psi-Files 2 rather than 1. Honestly, that is a bit of an odd one, given the Death crossover with Dredd CFs that are included. Still, for under 12 quid, it’s hard to complain too much about a slew of Kingdom, all of Halo Jones and Zenith, and a ton of other great content. I hope it does well for Rebellion and its chosen charity.
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Also: ‘Best of Tharg's Future Shock’? Seriously?
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Huh, the files we sent have been checked and are fine - is it JUST the cbz files that are at issue here? If so, could someone redownload and have a look at them again for me?
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Zombo book 1 seems to be one of the worst looking (although it isn't the only volume affected). Just grabbed the cbz again on this PC and the aliasing on the text is very visible on this large monitor (using CDisplayex as a reader). It's apparent on the credits page as well as in the actual comic pages where the text is somewhat jagged, as are the speech ballons and the line art. The pdf of the same book looks fine.
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Ipad 12.9’ - chunky - the B&W stuff in the 40 years collection is atrociously reproduced. Embarrassing - to the degree I’d not recommend it to non-tooth readers.
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Bad digital quality seems to plague Humble Bundles. They did some manga bundles from Kodansha that were absolutely atrocious in both resolution and file size. Fortunately while the CBZs were messed up, the ePub filed were fine and could de salvaged with some unzipping and rezipping. Sadly, no such luck with the problem 2000 AD offerings.
I’ve never seen this problem with Image or IDW bundles. Though there was a Dynamite one with some issues. I honestly have no idea who’s responsible for these quality control issues. And why they sometimes don’t seem to care. Especially when we digital readers KNOW these files look fine elsewhere.
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AFAWK the files we supplied are fine, we're looking into these issues and are in discussion with HB about possible causes.
If you can see particularly egregious examples, please post them on this thread and I'll pass them along.
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Some of the lettering in the Brink CBZ is nearly unreadable, very aliased. That's on a 12.9 iPad.
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Some of the lettering in the Brink CBZ is nearly unreadable, very aliased. That's on a 12.9 iPad.
Could you possibly post examples, Robes? Or email them to press@2000AD.com - thanks!
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Some of the lettering in the Brink CBZ is nearly unreadable, very aliased. That's on a 12.9 iPad.
Could you possibly post examples, Robes? Or email them to press@2000AD.com - thanks!
Okay, so here is a side by side comparison of the first page of Brink.
The first image is the Humble Bundle CBZ file.
The second image is the Humble Bundle PDF File.
And the 3rd image is the CBZ of Prog 1978 from the 2000 AD eShop I bought 3 years ago.
I don't have the eShop version of the Brink collection, but I can not imagine its significantly different from the Prog version.
This image is full resolution, uncompressed. Hosted off site on ImageShack because its a PNG file 15 megabyte size. Linked so it doesn't stretch the Forum boundaries to hell. I hope this helps illustrate the problem.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1447/C3FKHs.png
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Some of the lettering in the Brink CBZ is nearly unreadable, very aliased. That's on a 12.9 iPad.
Could you possibly post examples, Robes? Or email them to press@2000AD.com - thanks!
I tried to send a couple of examples over but I did get a mail undeliverable back. One might have got through.
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Some of the lettering in the Brink CBZ is nearly unreadable, very aliased. That's on a 12.9 iPad.
Could you possibly post examples, Robes? Or email them to press@2000AD.com - thanks!
Okay, so here is a side by side comparison of the first page of Brink.
The first image is the Humble Bundle CBZ file.
The second image is the Humble Bundle PDF File.
And the 3rd image is the CBZ of Prog 1978 from the 2000 AD eShop I bought 3 years ago.
I don't have the eShop version of the Brink collection, but I can not imagine its significantly different from the Prog version.
This image is full resolution, uncompressed. Hosted off site on ImageShack because its a PNG file 15 megabyte size. Linked so it doesn't stretch the Forum boundaries to hell. I hope this helps illustrate the problem.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1447/C3FKHs.png
This is exactly what I'm talking about in my OP.
Some of the filesizes are crazy. There are definitely some PDF's that are worse than the CBZ files. I already mentioned Zenith - washed out on the PDF and jaggies on the much larger CBZ.
If it helps here is a list from the download page of the file sizes - a quick copy and paste, it aint pretty but I've tried to tidy it up a bit:
Aquila
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
44.3 MB md5
PDF
89.6 MB md5
Zenith Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
104.2 MB md5
PDF
17.8 MB md5
Judge Dredd Case Files 02
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
324.6 MB md5
PDF
35.3 MB md5
Judge Dredd Case Files 01
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
307.3 MB md5
PDF
33.7 MB md5
Zenith Book 2
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
82.2 MB md5
PDF
22.7 MB md5
Zenith Book 4
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
45.1 MB md5
PDF
116.1 MB md5
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 5
IDW Publishing
CBZ
332.8 MB md5
EPUB
423.6 MB md5
PDF
45.4 MB md5
Judge Dredd Case Files 04
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
324.2 MB md5
PDF
50.3 MB md5
Zombo Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
27.9 MB md5
PDF
96.9 MB md5
Brink Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
27.3 MB md5
PDF
54.5 MB md5
Brink Book 2
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
25 MB md5
PDF
47.2 MB md5
Brink Book 3
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
29.8 MB md5
PDF
56.6 MB md5
Sláine: Warrior’s Dawn
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
234.5 MB md5
PDF
27.2 MB md5
Bec & Kawl
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
35.1 MB md5
PDF
63.6 MB md5
Age of the Wolf
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
31.6 MB md5
PDF
78.7 MB md5
Defoe 1666
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
63.1 MB md5
PDF
69.7 MB md5
Judge Anderson: Psi Files 2
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
84.6 MB md5
PDF
138.2 MB md5
Absalom Book 3
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
30.2 MB md5
PDF
35.7 MB md5
Absalom Book 2
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
27.9 MB md5
PDF
49.4 MB md5
Absalom Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
21.5 MB md5
PDF
37.7 MB md5
Judge Dredd Case Files 03
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
216.7 MB md5
PDF
23 MB md5
Zenith Book 3
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
102.5 MB md5
PDF
13.3 MB md5
Kingdom Book 4
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
46.1 MB md5
PDF
74 MB md5
Kingdom Book 3
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
49 MB md5
PDF
87.8 MB md5
Kingdom Book 2
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
40.4 MB md5
PDF
57.6 MB md5
Kingdom Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
41.3 MB md5
PDF
28.2 MB md5
2000 AD's Greatest: Celebrating 40 Years
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
51.5 MB md5
PDF
45.1 MB md5
Brass Sun
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
47.3 MB md5
PDF
131.8 MB md5
Mazeworld
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
52.1 MB md5
PDF
101.7 MB md5
Halo Jones Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
23.3 MB md5
PDF
44.5 MB md5
Halo Jones Book 3
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
33.7 MB md5
PDF
59.7 MB md5
Halo Jones Book 2
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
23 MB md5
PDF
40.5 MB md5
Scarlet Traces Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
49.2 MB md5
PDF
88.2 MB md5
Best of Tharg's Future Shock
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
155.8 MB md5
PDF
19.1 MB md5
Shakara Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
41.7 MB md5
PDF
76.2 MB md5
Counterfeit Girl
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
31 MB md5
PDF
54.9 MB md5
Sláine: Book of Invasions 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
40.3 MB md5
PDF
63.3 MB md5
Zombo Book 2
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
37 MB md5
PDF
97.1 MB md5
Hope Book 1
Rebellion Interactive
CBZ
66.2 MB md5
PDF
45.4 MB md5
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Humble responded to my support request. Any thoughts I can pass on?
We appreciate you including that screenshot for reference. While I am able to confirm based on the information you have provided so far that the CBZ files are affected, would you be able to provide additional details including which titles you have noticed in this bundle that are of lower quality, and if the low quality is present throughout the entire file or just in isolated locations within the comic?
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How hard can it be to just put the same files that you can buy from the 2000AD store into the bundle?
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From the bigger image posted by that other dude, it's humble CBZ on the left, shop CBZ on the right:
(https://i.imgur.com/z6Rt8pQ.png)
Looks like a shitty compression algorithm. Maybe it was by Ofquol.
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The Kingdom books appear to have been updated, they are better now but still poor quality unfortunately.
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The CBZ files from the 2000 AD shop have been sent to Humble Bundle and they have uploaded them. Thanks to everyone who has helped so far. HB have said they do not apply any further compression to the files so, if distortion is still occurring, please let us know on this thread - with examples - so that we can get to the bottom of this. Cheers!
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Looked through a couple and they seem good quality now :thumbsup:
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Ok good news. Think I will get this now.
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Excellent work on getting these files fixed, I will direct my offspring to some tougher and tough action first I think!
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Looks like a shitty compression algorithm. Maybe it was by Ofquol.
Haven't you heard? It was muties apparently
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Awesome news about the files getting fixed. I just checked the Brink file, and yup its 3 times the OG filesize and looking sharp!