While E Ink is certainly the clear leader in the e-paper market, some companies are developing what they hope will become next-gen e-paper displays. Bodle, based in Oxford, UK, is developing a technology it calls SRD, based on research that started in Oxford University a few years ago.
SRD, or Solid-State Reflective Displays, creates color using light interference inside an ultra-thin film. The film contains a phase-change material, the same one used in writable CD-R discs. When this material is switched between its amorphous and crystalline phases, the color is changed.
SRD displays do not require any pigments, dyes or liquids - and can reportedly achieve bright and vivid colors. Bodle says that its technology, compared to other reflective and e-paper displays, offers a wider color gamut, high brightness, lower power and a fast response time - enough to show videos. SRD displays can also achieve very high resolutions, over 1,000 PPI.
Bodle's VP of business development, Dr. Richard Holliday, updates us that while the techonology is still in a "laboratory phase", the company has already proven that SRD displays can achieve vibrant colors and fast switching. The company is now busy building its first full-scale prototype. The production process itself is simple and uses only solid-state films, which the company hopes will enable it to be cost competitive with other displays.