Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) will co-develop large-size flexible e-paper with AU Optronics. They will also co-develop large-size flexible touch panels with Elan Microelectronics. In the future they also plan to develop e-paper panels that will be ultra-thin, touch enabled, flexible and transparent.
Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) plans to start shipping e-paper displays in the second half of 2010. These will be 6" panels, aimed for e-book readers. Interestingly, CPT says they got orders for TFT-LCD panels to be used in e-book readers, too.
Marvell said it has teamed up with E Ink to create an integrated application processor. E-readers based on the technology are expected to hit the market in the first quarter of 2010.
The first devices include the already announced enTourage Edge, a combination e-reader and netbook; the Alex reader from Spring Design, and an offering from Plastic Logic.
Marvell's platform is based on its new Armada family of processors, announced last month.
The company is also partnering with FirstPaper, which is backed by media giant Hearst Corp, for content and graphics technology.
Weili Dai, Marvell's co-founder and general manager of its consumer and computing business unit, estimated the entry level price point of a e-reader based on the Marvell platform at roughly $150 -- cheaper than devices currently on the market, which range upward from $199.
Bridgestone are developing their own e-paper technology, and are now showing a color touch screen flexible e-book reader. The whole reader is actually bendable!
The display is large (13.1"), with 4,096 colors, and a refresh rate of about 0.8 seconds. The reader also includes wireless (cellular) connectivity. Bridgestones will produce samples early next year.
Samsung is working towards color e-paper displays, and have unveiled a 10.1" prototype. It's still very premature, as the contrast ratio is 10:1, and the color gamut is 7% of the NTSC color gamut.
E Ink and Freescale say they will develop highly integrated embedded solutions for e-book readers. Their aim is to create cheaper solutions than what's available today, and also to 'spart innovation' for new product categories such as eNewspapers, tablet PCs, secondary laptop displays, eDictionaries and more.
The two companies will develop a System-On-a-Chip (SoC) solutions that integrate Freescale's i.MX processor with E Ink's Vizplex display controllers.
AUO says they will release a 6" flexible e-paper next year (samples, anyway, with volume production to start afterwards). They are also showing a 20" e-paper module, which they say is the world's largest e-paper which is "ready for production".Â
The 6" flexible e-paper is using Sipix's (owned by AUO) Microcup technology. It is made on a plastic substrate, and can be repeatedly bended. The curved radius reaches 100mm, it features 16 gray levels, 9:1 high contrast ratio and a reflectance of 33%. It consumes power only when the image is updated.
The 20" panel is very power efficient, requiring less thatn 2W. It also have 16 levels of gray.
Seiko Epson and E Ink announced a new joinly developed display controller IC, the S1D13522, which provides a high performance, space saving solution for E Ink's Vizplex-enabled electronic paper displays. The new IC is based on the same powerful engine as the first model, the S1D13521, but provides customers with a higher level of performance and additional features.
The new Epson display controller (code named ISIS) includes 2M bytes of embedded memory and features that greatly reduce the CPU overhead for EPD applications. Allowing multi-regional and concurrent display updates, the S1D13522 adds interface support for direct Touch/Pen drawing. In addition Picture-in-Picture, Rotation, Transparency, and Hardware Cursor functions further increase flexibility in delivering the optimal display experience.
The Advanced Sequencer Engine, Power Management, I2C Thermal Sensor, and optional Serial Flash Memory support make a variety of implementations possible. The new controller also adds interfaces for PMIC I/F and panel auto ID read. Combining all these unique features enables application developers to develop products more efficiently. The S1D13522 is the ideal choice for new EPD designs and design upgrades. Samples of the Epson S1D13522 are available now. Sample price is $20. Production quantities will be available in January 2010.
E Ink plans to offer an ISIS prototype kit that will enable engineers to rapidly prototype and develop next generation ePaper products. Details will be announced when kits are available.
PVI and Chi-Mei-Optoelectronics (CMO) will collaborate on e-paper prodcution. PVI will use CMO's 5G production lines, which will result in cheap e-paper products.
MAYA Design has developed a solar-powered interactive E Ink display to be rolled out as part of the new Center for Sustainable Landscapes in Pittsburgh.
