Technical / Research - Page 5

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.

When Amazon announced their new Kindle Paperwhite, they wouldn't say what kind of E Ink panel is used - just that it's got a higher resolution (XGA), better contrast, better touch capabilities and a faster refresh rate. Our friend Sriram Peruvemba, E Ink's marketing chief explains that the major advances in this new display is a better TFT and improved software.

The new TFT backplane allows them to achieve a higher resolution - 212 dpi (XGA), compared to the older generation TFT which allowed only 167 dpi (SVGA). The new software design also allows for faster refresh. Now grey-to-grey speed is 450 mSecs, compared to 600 mSecs using the older software (i.e. 25% faster).

There are reports that Amazon are going to announce new Kindle devices soon, and some rumors suggest that the new E Ink Kindle will sport a next generation E Ink panel. The new display will sport higher contrast and resolution compared to Pearl panels (used in current Kindles).

In fact, the new contrast is so good that Amazon refers to the new Kindle as "Paperwhite". Of course none of this is still official, we'll have to wait till September 6 for Amazon's press conference.

E Ink is showing an interesting prototype at IFA 2012 - a smartphone that has two displays, an LCD and an E Ink - one on each side. The E Ink will be used for reading and showing "persistant" data such as network status, battery level and information that the user needs for a long time (such as boarding pass information). This will not only conserve the battery but also free up space on the main (LCD or OLED) display.

The most interesting thing is that E Ink says that several vendors are considering this idea, with at least one vendor that plans to release such a phone in 2013. We can't wait!

Ynvisible (based in Portugal) is developing flexible transparent electrochromic displays (materials that change color when electricity is applied). The company is already producing some displays in low volume (with manual assembly), and were kind enough to send us a sample gift card showing off their displays.

The gift card

So first of all, the display is quite impressive. They use a material that changes from being transparent to being blue, and indeed when you press a small button on the card it displays words in blue (love in several languages). When off, it looks exactly like a normal piece of plastic - totally transparent and bendable (flexible).

Qualcomm revealed in their latest financial conference call that it scrapped Mirasol production plans. The company will no longer attempt to produce these panels, but will try to license the technology for other companies to produce. They will also limit their direct commercialization to "certain" devices - I'm not totally sure what this means.

That's sad news, as the technology is very interesting, and the prototypes shown at SID 2012 were very impressive (above you can see 1.5" 288x192 30Hz Mirasol display panel prototypes). The company did produce some 5.7" color panels (and three e-readers are shipping using those panels) Apparently Qualcomm didn't manage to overcome the low production yields. Mirasol production was planned since back in January 2011, but were later delayed several times. The original plan was to invest $1 billion in a Taiwan-based factory.

Fuji Xerox developed a new technology that enables color electrophoretic e-paper displays without using color filters. They call the new technology Independently Movalbe Color Particles (IMCP), and the idea is to use colored (Cyan, Magenta and Yellow) particle that each have a different electrophoresis threshold. Only the particles that are drawn to the front substrate can be seen. There are also white particles in between (they do not move) and so white can be displayed.

Fuji Xerox says that the new displays are brighter and have more vivid colors compared to color-filtered e-paper displays (such as E Ink's Triton panels). They have shown a 5" 600x800 (220 ppi) prototype featuring a contrast ratio of 10:1. The backplane is a-Si.