March 2012

LG Display announced today that it has started to produce 6" E Ink panels on a plastic substrate for a Chinese based ODM, which will release its e-reader product next month in Europe. The panel features XGA (1024x768) resolution and is only 0.7 mm thick and weighs just 14 grams - half the weight of a glass based E Ink panel.

The display is bendable, but it's not clear whether the actual device will offer a bendable screen, it may just be curved. Another big advantage of this display is that it's unbreakable. We'll have to wait till the actual product is announced to know more details. Here's a video released in October showing LG's curved plastic based E Ink panel:

According to Samsung LCD Netherlands R&D Center (SNRC)’s Johan Feenstra, Samsung is set to start producing Electrowetting displays in 2013. The new panels will features color and fast refresh rates. According to Samsung, these new panels will be much more efficient than E Ink, too. Samsung is currently focusing on 9.7" prototypes.

Here's a chart provided by Samsung showing how much more efficient the new technology is compared to E Ink: