It took so long for electronic ink screens to finally hit the market we feel a bit silly getting impatient for the next-generation, but the
Kindle has been on the market for a year and a half now,
Sony Reader models for twice that long, and still we're dealing with the same crummy 7:1 contrast ratio, 16 shade grayscale, and .74 second refresh rate. E Ink's Sriram Peruvemba, however, is finally showing off next-generation models of the sort parent company PVI
told us were coming, the first an improvement on existing screens that offers a 12:1 contrast ratio and a refresh rate fast enough for simple animations. Also shown is a larger, (slightly) flexible model rugged enough to take a meaty fist square in the face without blinking a single pixel. This version Peruvemba sees playing a major role in digital textbooks in the future. Unfortunately we still have a bit of time to wait for either, with the boosted contrast ratio model entering production later this year and the flexible one sometime in early 2011. Add another six months or so for devices using the things to make it to retail and hopes for a brighter, next-gen Kindle shipping by the holidays start to look a bit dim.
posted April 21st 2010 9:56AM
Good idea, have an interview at Borders. No wait, in the library.
I shat bricks when I saw that animation.
C'mon, people, it's animated paper! This is Harry Potter stuff!
@cherryboom
Not so dumb.
Current e-ink screens have a thin glass layer. If it cracks, bye bye reader. And from what I've heard, they break very easily.
Flexible screens are really hard to damage. I've seen a few demo videos with people hitting the things with a shoe, and the display not even getting slightly damaged. A huge plus in a portable device. Less need to make a rigid enough casing to support and protect the screen means the whole thing can be thinner and sleeker. And cheaper.
It could very well be that the latest manufacturing techniques have removed the need of the glass layer, so this could just be a happy coincidence. But either way, think flexible as in damage resistant, not flexible as in roll up and put in your pocket.
They need to put anti-reflective layer on these. After boasting about how great it is in sunlight it was difficult for the cameraman to get an angle to see the animation due to the reflection of the lights on the ceiling.
OOH, sheet music. If a sheet music/ereader outlet exists, I need to know.