Electronic paper (ePaper) is a new display technology that can mimick real paper in display clarity, thickness and flexibility. ePaper displays are thin, ultra-efficient and flexible.
E-Paper displays are used today in many products: electronic readers (such as the popular Amazon Kindle), mobile phones and more.
E-Paper features
- Low power
- When the image is not changing, no power needed at all (like flash memory...)
- Easy on the eye - Looking at such displays is comfortable - better than looking at LCD displays. It's great for long reading...
- It is possible to make them flexible
- Extremely thin
E-Paper technologies
There are quite a bit of e-paper technologies around:
- E Ink:Black and White e-paper, the first player around and the current leader in such displays. Used for e-readers and other gadgets.
- Sipix: Black and White e-paper made by AUO. It is currently being produced for e-reader products.
- Mirasol: MEMS based color displays made by Qualcomm. Small displays are being produced, and larger color ones for e-readers are expected soon.
- Liquavista: A european company that's commercializing a new color epaper display technology that aims to compete with E Ink
- Bridgestone: Another e-paper technology, being commercialized by Taiwan's Delta Electronics for e-readers. A color version is coming soon.
- Pixel Qi: A hybrid LCD/ePaper technology: you have one display that can can be switched between a full-color normal LCD and a black-and-white low power e-paper like display. This is being commercialized and hopefully we'll see devices within a few months.
E Ink
E Ink is currently the clear leader in e-paper displays. E Ink screens are made by E Ink Inc., based in the US and owned by Taiwan's PVI. E Ink displays are used by Amazon, Sony, Barnes & Noble and other companies.
E Ink displays are Electrophoretic, a science that was discovered way back in 1807,
and has to do with motion of particles under influence of electric
field.
Currently E Inks are only black and white. In the future we'll see color displays as well, hopefully within a couple of years.
How do E Ink displays work?
E Ink displays are made from tiny capsules. Each capsule includes two kinds of particles - black and white. Using electricity, we can choose whether the black or the white particles are on top - and thus create a black or white 'pixel'.
Where can I find e-paper displays?
The most popular application for E Ink today is an e-reader. Popular readers include:
Other products include:
We have a
complete list of e-paper products listed here.
