Flexible - Page 6

AUO is showing a new prototype that integrates a flexible e-paper display with a flexible PV and battery. They call this an "unplugged flexible e-paper display". The display is 6" in size and offers 800x600 resolution, and is based on organic TFTs.

The PV battery is based on amorphous silicon and weights just 10 grams. With 1.5AM (air mass) solar light, it generates 1W or more of electricity (it offers conversion efficiency of about 3.6% or higher).

We just found this video of a new flexible (curved) E Ink display from LG. The title of the video says that the E Ink panel uses a plastic substrate, but unfortunately we do not have any more information yet:

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is showing new large (100x24cm) flexible e-paper based on Cholesteric LCD. It's shaped like a scroll - printed on what seems to be a red/gold fabric.

According to reports, this display is very power efficient and doesn't seem pixelated at all. The monochrome display itself is showing some Chinese characters (translated as 'establish country 100 years', apparently, referring to the overthrow of the Ch'ing dynasty in 1911). It seems that this is a segmented display and not a matrix display. It's a shame that we do not have any technical info on this display yet.

Delta Electronics is showing their e-paper roadmap for 2011-2014. The company is ready to mass produce color e-paper panels - up to 21" in size. These panels have been showed earlier this month. The company will improve the color count from 4096 to 16.7M by next year, and will also improve the panel's reflectivity and writing method (which will make them faster). By 2012 the company will be able to make 32" e-paper panels.

The more interesting news is that the company has start sample production of flexible e-paper displays. by 2012 they will start 'semi-production' of 10" panels - and mass production will start in 2014.

Polymer Vision is showing a new flexible/bendable E Ink prototype. The display offer 800x600 resolution:

The company says that you can bend this display over 25,000 times (6mm radius). We do not know if they're any closer to commercializing this. The company went bankrupt in 2009 and was later bought and now they seem back into flexible displays, and apparently still working towards a an e-reader...

Sony is showing a new OTFT driven E Ink prototype. The 13.3" panel offers 1200x1600 (150ppi) resolution, 10:1 contrast ratio, 16 shades of gray and can be bent to a curvature radius of at least 5mm. Indeed had a cool demo showing how the panel bends. This panel is monochrome (they also had a color 13.3" flexible e-paper prototype on show).

Sony uses Peri-Xanthenoxanthene (PXX) for the semiconductor layer of the organic TFT (this is the same OTFT used in Sony's OLED prototype unveiled in 2010).

Sony developed a 13.3" flexible color e-paper prototype (based on E Ink's EPD). The panel is only 150?m thick and weights 20g. The display features 800x1200 (75ppi) resolution,13% NSTC color gamut, 10% reflectance and 10:1 contrast ratio.

The prototype is made on a plastic substrate. Sony says that the key to high color gamut and reflectance was to attach a TFT substrate to an E Ink front plate with high precision (0.35?m), which reduced the margin between sub-pixels and increasing the aperture ratio of pixels. This is quite an achievement compared to the monochrome flexible prototype shown in September 2010.

E Ink released a couple of very interesting videos. The first shows a SURF (segmented) E Ink display printed on cloth. E Ink are obviously thinking about wearable displays here:

The second video shows an E Ink display on a Tyvex cloth - which is a very durable cloth (used as insulation on houses and for shipping envelopes):

Canada's Human Media Lab is showing a new flexible E Ink display prototype called Snaplet. This device is a wrist-mounted bracelet that has a touch display and shape sensing: when you open it up it automatically opens a notepad applications, and when you take it and curve it next to your ear it answers a phone call... pretty neat:

It's still pretty bulky of course, but this might be an interesting form factor for a phone. And it somewhat reminds us of the OLED bracelet that Universal Display and LG are developing for the US army:

E Ink has shipped over 20 million flexible SURF (segmented) displays - into applications ranging from wrist watches to smart cards to mobile phones to indoor signs. The company has won the 2011 FLEXI award from the FlexTech Alliance. The FLEXI Awards recognize significant accomplishments in R&D, innovative product development, and leadership in education within the flexible, printed electronics and displays industries.

E Ink's active-matrix flexible displays aren't commercialized yet - but the company is working with over a dozen companies towards that goal.