You can get better colors on the Kobo Libra Colour



The Kobo Libra Colour doesn't have any color setting, which is very unfortunate. However an update activated an option in the developer hidden menu to switch between various color profiles. There are a few to choose from. It's not perfect but it does help a lot to obtain more pleasing colors.

1/Activate developer mode
On the Libra main screen, type in the search field :
devmodeon
And hit enter. Nothing seems to happen, it's ok.
If you want to deactivate later the developer mode, you will have to search devmodeoff.


2/ Find the color profile setting
Just go to the MORE tab. There, go to SETTINGS
and then DEVICE INFORMATION. Then go to DEVELOPER OPTIONS and swipe to the second page.
Locate the CFA MODE line, touch it and you can choose a profile by touching it. Then close the settings and go to a book to see the difference. You don’t need to restart.


3/ What is a color profile ?
These color profiles will try to translate your document’s colors to the very limited color range the device can actually display. It will either crop saturated colors and loose shades... or compress the color range and make it look muted to preserve shades... Or a bit of both.
There is no miracle, the display can only show a very limited range of colors.

4/ What is the best profile ?
The base profile is DEFAULT. It preserves a lot of subtle shades but is extremely dull to the point of turning color pictures to merely grey with a subtle touch of color. This is rather ugly and disappointing. You can do better. Try the G2 profile.


This is probably the best option we have now. It will slightly pump up the colors without crushing shades too much. Yes the display will still look dull, just a bit better.

5/ Try other profiles.
S4, S7, S9 are more saturated profiles. They will give you much brighter colors but will really crush a lot of shades. Here are some examples. Take a look at the water lilies in the bottom of the cover. Some details are lost … but the overall color will be more enjoyable.




6/ Choose what you like
Some people will tell you about color accuracy. And will try to make you choose dull colors in the name of this accuracy.
This is bullshit.
These displays are not designed for accuracy at all. If you want accurate colors, get a good tablet. You cannot get any precise color on these devices.
Just choose a color profile you like but pay attention to not loose too many details.

7/ Kobo should do better !
- These color profiles need optimization, I have seen much better profiles on Boox and PocketBook Kaleido 3 e-readers.


- Some basic color settings should be directly integrated in the reader, you shouldn’t have to activate a hidden settings page and dig so deep in its menus.