E Paper -- Engadget

e-paper posts

Bridgestone set to make major push into e-paper business

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 1st 2009 at 5:09PM

Bridgestone's already showed off some fairly impressive e-paper displays, and gone into mass production with displays for inventory tags and whatnot, but it now looks like the company is now set to make its biggest push into the market yet. According to Tech-On, Bridgestone will be announcing details of its plans in July or August, but it appears that the announcement will concern e-paper displays for e-book readers, at least one of which will be A4 in size. That particular screen was making the rounds of exhibitions back in April, and makes use of the company's proprietary "electron powder and granular material" which, among other things, lets the screen rewrite in just 0.8 seconds. Of course, there's no word on any actual devices using the e-paper just yet, but we're hoping that'll be among the details announced in the next month or so.

Samsung shows off video-capable e-paper prototype

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 9th 2009 at 3:22PM

E-paper displays capable of playing video aren't exactly a completely new development, but Samsung seems to be particularly proud of its latest prototype, which makes use of some new, slightly mysterious technology to let you switch between e-paper and video modes. That's apparently possible in part thanks to an active matrix panel that uses "a kind of cholesteric liquid crystal" which, oddly enough, has so far been primarily used in displays on flash drives. Given that history, the 10.2-inch panel itself is expectedly a little lackluster when it comes to the core specs, with it packing a mere 320 x 240 resolution, 64 colors, and a response time of 25 ms "or less." Of course, it is still just a prototype, and Samsung seems confident that it'll be able to make the necessary improvements before it tuns into an actual product.

LG Display showcases 11.5-inch flexible e-paper

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 4th 2009 at 11:52PM

We're still years away from commercialized color variants, but LG Display is proving that bigger ain't really a thang. In fact, it recently showcased an 11.5-inch sheet of flexible e-paper at SID 2009, which could obviously be used in the Kindle XXL. Sadly, few (and by few, we mean none) details were given regarding an eventual launch date, but hey, at least it's around, right?

[Via OLED-Display]

Electrofluidic display tech improves color e-ink, makes you sound smarter

by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 30th 2009 at 1:47AM

The race to develop a mass-market color e-ink display is at fever pitch, and there's a new challenger on the scene: electrofluidic display, or EFD. Developed at the University of Cincinnati in partnership with a handful of private companies, the new tech apparently blows everything else out of the water -- according to professor Jason Heikenfeld, EFD has superior brightness, color saturation, and video speed, all in a 15-micron thick panel that can eventually be used in rollable displays. No word on when we'll see any products, but the partnership is spinning off a new company called Gamma Dynamics to commercialize the tech, so hopefully it'll be soon.

[Thanks, Wendy]

Read - University of Cincinnati press release
Read - EFD paper in Nature

Bridgestone's 13-inch color e-paper display handles pen input, has the future written all over it

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 17th 2009 at 11:08AM

While it'll always be difficult to accept innovative technology from a company that makes our tires, there's just no faulting Bridgestone's work in the e-paper space, or their latest color entry, above. The 13-inch display, based on "QR-LPD" tech, has what looks to be great color depth, along with snappy 0.8 second screen refreshes (great for this screen size) and actual Wacom-based pen input. There's video of it in action after the break, and if we didn't know better we'd think they were putting a Sharpie to a perfectly good display. Unfortunately, the image does look a little dim at the moment, so hopefully that's something Bridgestone can improve upon as they approach commercialization -- whenever that might be.

Continue reading Bridgestone's 13-inch color e-paper display handles pen input, has the future written all over it

Ricoh develops brighter, lighter, color e-paper

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Mar 30th 2009 at 3:19PM

It's been a few minutes since we've heard any news regarding color e-paper, and now Ricoh has announced that they've taken a tip from their copier business to create a technology that displays hues fifty percent brighter than those currently available, retaining the graphics even when power is turned off. Unlike other technologies, which use layers of red, green, and blue light separated by sheets of glass, this new iteration uses layered electrochromic compounds that turn cyan, magenta, and yellow variously when electricity is applied -- and if that weren't enough, the company's gone and altered the molecular structure of the compounds to retain their color even when electricity is removed. Rather than using glass, the layers are separated by some sort of clear insulation, resulting in a lighter device and a brighter appearance. The company is looking to bring this to market within the next five years. [Warning: read link requires subscription.]

Fujitsu tests e-newspapers at Japanese cafe

by Darren Murph, posted Feb 9th 2009 at 2:14PM

We've already seen restaurants with touch-sensitive tables and 3D menus, so it's just natural for Fujitsu to explore the possibility of installing e-newspapers into popular cafes. The outfit is working with SoftBank and Mainichi Newspapers in order to test the feasibility of placing e-readers in certain eateries, which would allow patrons to check up on the day's latest headlines while waiting for their coffee and eggs. As expected, the companies are closely monitoring whether the idea would promote sales and boost customer satisfaction, and unless they do something horribly wrong, we can't see this not having those effects. In order to make ends meet, the terminals will flash advertisements if the reader sits for an extended period of time, though they should shy away once a customer starts fiddling. If you're eager to check things out, hop a flight to Japan and have a sit at Termina Kinshicho Fujiya Restaurant before February 13th.

Giant e-paper display spotted, ogled at Taiwanese book show

by Ross Miller, posted Feb 6th 2009 at 12:53PM

Now showing at a Taiwanese book expo: two gorgeous e-paper displays, one in black-and-white and one in color. The approximately 24-inch readers were created by Delta Electronics (no relation to the airliner) and are being used by a local newspaper publisher to survey attendees and gauge interest in their future use. Our friends at Engadget Chinese tell us the color one is less contrasty than its monochrome partner, but beyond that, details are scarce and no one at the booth could provide any specs. One thing's for certain: they're a helluva lot crisper than those 28-inch e-paper billboards popping up around Tokyo. Hit up the read link for more pics.

E-paper signs being tested in Tokyo for disaster prevention

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jan 27th 2009 at 3:38AM

While we're still waiting for our electronic broadsheet (hell, we'll settle for a tabloid) it looks like folks in Toshima will be seeing quite a bit of the e-paper as they hit the streets of this Tokyo ward. In a test conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the signage has been installed in the proximity of the Toshima Life and Industry Plaza, where a wireless network was established to provide updates in case of an emergency. There are currently two signs: one in the lobby of the post office measures over three meters across and sports 240 x 768 resolution (the paper has 4mm pixels), and holds down power consumption at about 24W. Stationed at the Higashi-Ikebukuro bus stop, the second sign is 60 x 40 centimeters with 144 x 96 resolution, and power consumption here is about 9W. The test will run until January 29th, after which point the city will have to rely upon its usual civil defense repertoire -- which is believed to include the vigilant eye of Honda's 49-foot ASIMO.

Plastic Logic e-reader not coming until early 2010

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 25th 2009 at 7:57PM

If you've been waiting (and waiting) for Plastic Logic's ultra-durable e-reader, you'll have to stick with recycled paper for another dozen months or so. According to a company representative at the outfit's CES kiosk, the device is now scheduled for an "early 2010" release, and as expected, final pricing has yet to be determined. Though, Mr. Joe (seriously, that's his first name) did admit that it would be "competitively priced for rapid adoption" and that the company would be pushing hard to get this into corporations / enterprises. Don't believe us? The full five minute interview is there in the read link.

[Thanks, credo]

HP and ASU demo bendable, unbreakable electronic displays

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 8th 2008 at 10:30AM

Well, what do you know? Nearly four years after Arizona State University opened its very own flexible display center comes this, a prototype device that's purportedly easy to manufactur, easy on the environment and practically as strong as Thor. HP and ASU have teamed up to demonstrate the fresh e-displays, which are constructed almost entirely of plastic and consume far less power than traditional computer monitors. The "unbreakable displays" were crafted using self-aligned imprint lithography (SAIL) technology invented in HP Labs, and while we'd love to see this in a pliable laptop at CES 2009, we suspect it'll be a few years yet before these slither out to the commercial realm.

Update: HP Labs pinged us with this tidbit on the image above. "This image from the Flexible Display Center at ASU represents what the flexible display, a paper-like computer display made entirely of plastic, could look like in the future."

Pixel Qi conjuring up black magic technology for 40-hour laptops

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 29th 2008 at 3:40PM

Sure, you can go out and get yourself a laptop right now that'll go 12.5-hours strong, but what if your portable computer could nearly outlast your Aigo A215? While L's mythical quad core lappie came close in theory, Mary Lou Jepsen's (the former CTO at OLPC) startup is hoping to eventually create a machine that can last between 20 and 40-hours between charges. Pixel Qi is being pretty closelipped right now (and understandably so) about what exactly it has going on, but we get the idea the secret sauce is in a highly efficient display that will require far less power than traditional LCDs. The best part? We could see one of these longevous notebooks in the pipeline as early as 2H 2009, so we'd probably start stocking up on Red Bull right about now.

Soken shows off mostly ugly wall of e-ink in Japan

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 5th 2008 at 1:05AM

Thus far, we've seen OLED rule the FDP International floor in Japan, but now we've got one more emerging display technology showing off its merits: e-ink. Soken Chemical & Engineering Company demonstrated a wall of 30- x 30-centimeter e-ink paper displays in order to showcase just what the technology was capable of. Quite honestly, we're still struggling to see just what that is. Practicality aside, it's still pretty fascinating to think that all of the colors you see above are being emitted from ultrathin displays, though the choice of pattern is questionable at best.

Kent Displays develops "paper thin" electronic skin for mobiles

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 29th 2008 at 9:50AM

You probably didn't know it, but if you've purchased anything with an unconventional display in the last few years, the screen itself may have been sourced from Kent, Ohio. Kent Displays is about to break out of its own shadow with two new technologies that could be rolling off of the production line next year. First up is a simple monochrome electronic writing tablet that consists of a pressure sensitive display (think next-generation Post-it note), while the second is a particularly impressive color changing electronic skin. In essence, the latter (dubbed eGo) requires no power at all to maintain any color already rendered on the surface, meaning that ladies can instantly make their phone match their outfit without sucking the life from their mobile. For those keenly interested, hit the read link for the full background along with a video of the production facility.

[Thanks, Tod]

Samsung & LG HDTV prototypes battle for supremacy

by Richard Lawler, posted Oct 15th 2008 at 4:04PM

Samsung and LG are locked in a tight race for "best HDTV you won't be buying this year or next" this week at the International Meeting on Information Display 2008, trading shots with OLEDs, LCDs and more. Samsung brought along an upgraded version of its true 240Hz 15-inch Blue Phase LCD panel with improved image quality, some fresh carbon nanotube-based color electronic paper, plus slimmed-down versions of its 40- and 50-inch LCDs. Then it got busy with the OLEDs, dropping in a 14-inch HD display, 31-inch 1080p display and 5-inch VGA panel, to which LG could only respond with the above 19-inch OLED powered by amorphous silicon TFT. More stills of the carnage exist beyond the read link, but in the battle of display tech streeting in 2011 at the earliest, we just hope LG is holding back a few surprises for CES.

[Via OLED-Display, thanks Erik]