November 2012

Update: the contest is over, we have two winners with two great ideas!

Last week we posted about E Ink display persistency - and the fact that those displays can actually retain an image for years. Now it's your turn to try and think of applications for this feature. Besides making some nice B&W photo frames - what cool things can be done with a display that can stay persistent for such long times without a power source? For example gadgets that only need to change the display once a day...

Back in August 2011 E Ink sent me a nice gift - a picture frame with an E Ink "display". It's not really a display as you can't change the image - it's just like a printed photo, using a monochrome E Ink panel. Now it's been over a year since I received the frame, and when I look at it seems the image hasn't changed at all. We all know that E Ink displays are bi-stable - they do not require any energy to show a static display (the picture the frame has no batteries, of course) - but the displays are actually persistent for years.

E Ink says that if the display if sealed and protected properly - it simply will not deteriorate, unless exposed to extreme temperature (a strong magnetic or electric field should not effect the display). In fact, E Ink says that they have a display that was turned off in 2001 - and the image is still visible.

E Ink just shared this funny new video, comparing E Ink e-readers to tablets for reading applications. They discuss the usual E Ink advantages (lower power and good readability under direct light) - but they also say that your e-reader is better than your tablet for reading - because it does not distract you with emails, messages and videos. The motto is "E Ink is the best for focused reading, anything less is a distraction":

Maybe I'm not objective, but I agree with them on that one. While most people prefer a tablet over an e-reader because it can do much more, I personally prefer my Kindle (the new paperwhite one) to read. I love that it's low-power and low weight (I cannot understand how people can hold a 900 gram tablet for hours) and of course the E Ink display is great. I also think it's true that when you read, a device that is actually less capable will be better...

Epson announced a new controller-driver module for flexible E Ink-style displays based around Plastic Logic's OTFT arrays (shown in the video below). The new module (named S1D13541) supports E Ink displays 1 to 5 inches in size, and the maximum resolution is 480x854. It needs an external TFT gate driver.

The S1D13541 includes four display pipelines, which can be used in parallel to represent up to 16 levels of grey, 480 TFT source driver outputs, waveform memory, DC/DC boost circuit to generate "all required display voltages and a temperature sensor.

Japan Display unveiled two new reflective LCD prototype displays. Those new LCDs, targeted at e-paper applications are low-power (there's no backlight), visible under direct light and can offer fast-refreshes, high resolution and color.

JD showed two 7" panels. The first one offers a resolution of 768x1044 and a bright reflection of 40%. The color gamut is just 5% NTSC. This panel is ready for mass production soon. The second panel has a lower resolution (576x1024) but has a much better color gamut (36% NTSC) and will take longer to commercialize. Both panels consume only 3mW when showing a static image (the display retains the current image so a static image consumes less power).

E Ink announced it had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Trekstor in Germany. According to E Ink, Trekstor has infringed (and still does) on two patents:

• Electronically addressable microencapsulated ink (EP 1 231 500 B1)
• Electrophoretic displays and materials". (EP 1 010 036)

Trekstor are distributing two e-readers in Germany called Pyrus and 4Ink. The e-paper display in those e-readers are manufactured by a company named "Guangzhou OED Technologies" based in China.

Seiko Epson announced a new e-paper controller module, the S4E5B001B000A00. The module (which measures only 2.3x2.3 cm) includes the key electronics elements necessary for an E Ink EPD-based product such as Epson's high-performance EPD controller (S1D13522), a power management IC (PMIC), 4-Mbit flash memory for command/waveform storage, and an on-board 26-Mhz crystal oscillator.

The EPD controller (S1D13522) mounted on the module is an industry-proven multi-pipeline EPD controller that has already been widely adopted by various e-book manufacturers. It reduces CPU overheads for EPD applications by allowing multi-regional and concurrent display updates, picture-in--picture, rotation, transparency and hardware cursor functions to achieve the optimal display experience. Samples of the S4E5B001B000A00 are available from today, and production is expected to start in December 2012.

Project Vivit (a Japan-based company) unveiled a 6" color E Ink prototype that is fast enough to display video. They wouldn't disclose any more technical details, beside the fact that it uses a Seiko Epson SoC which enables the fast response time.

Researchers from the University of Tokyo developed a sort of e-paper display by using heat-sensitive ink on photochromic paper. Using lasers, the ink can be erased, and an ultraviolet projector overhead can be used to "print" new pixels. This is very slow but the laser is quite accurate (can erase a point of 0.0001 inch in size). The idea is that this can be used for collaboration - where on can draw on a paper and later others can add or erase stuff:

Researchers from the Novel Devices Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati developed a new e-paper technology based on plastic sheets coated with aluminum with pores that hide black ink behind them. To show a black pixel, the display pushes the ink through the pore and onto the front of the sheet.

The research already developed a first prototype - a 6" round display that features 150 ppi. The refresh rate is very fast - about 67 times a second. It has a very bright white background - due to the aluminum coating.