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Colour e-ink displays on way to e-readers and e-notebooks

by Mark Tyson on 20 December 2019, 12:11

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Mono e-ink displays are quite commonplace now. These low power persistent displays have found a natural home in e-reader devices but have been making their way into other interesting gadgets. However, e-ink and colour don't seem to have mixed, which holds back the display's potential.

Now the E Ink company hopes to expand the colour e-ink market with a new technology dubbed 'Print-Color E Ink'. The new tech means that colour e-ink displays can be similarly fast and as responsive as their mono brethren. Moreover, the 'Print-Color E Ink' panels are thinner and lighter than previous glass colour filter electronic paper while offering a better optical quality.

The attractions of this eye-health-friendly display will be first marketed to reading, education, and professional use applications. Taiwan's CTimes says these screens will first feature in products such as e-readers or e-paper notebooks aimed at these markets.

As well as 'Print-Color E Ink', E Ink develops and markets Advanced Colour ePaper (AceP) - a high-quality and fully-reflective colour e-paper display. This allows for a richer colour experience that maintains low power consumption and sunlight readability. AceP is targeted at digital signage and retail markets and is currently available in 13.3-inch demo kit form with a bundled Raspberry Pi 3. There must be something about the more saturated and vibrant looking AceP that makes it unsuitable for the kinds of applications 'Print-Color E Ink' will be used for - perhaps power consumption, response times, and/or panel thickness/weight.

Back with Print-Color E Ink, and it was demonstrated on a couple of devices at the Wacom Connected Event in Japan last month (see video above). A report and video from the event say that it will be in mass production by Q2 2020 and be shipping in products by Q3 2020.

Source: CTimes via Liliputing.



HEXUS Forums :: 10 Comments

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Interesting …. though for me, probably only up to a point.

When I think about my e-reader usage, at least these days, it's almost entirely for things (like novels) that are monochrome anyway. Maybe I could be encouraged into e-magazines, but to be honest, I prefer print copies of the few I get.

So …. cost?

Given that I don't really need colour, it would have to be at no more that a modest extra cost, for me to be interested. Also, I use an e-reader for books etc because it is much more comfortable to read that an active display, so a colour e-reader absolutely must not be at the cost of reduced comfort of reading monochrome.

If that proves to be the case, and as/when prices reach more or less parity …. these probably are the death knell for mono e-readers.
Saracen999
…..
If that proves to be the case, and as/when prices reach more or less parity …. these probably are the death knell for mono e-readers.

I would say the colour displays will be at a premium and b&w e-ink displays will be here for budget models for a while yet


It is interesting though
Saracen999
Interesting …. though for me, probably only up to a point.

When I think about my e-reader usage, at least these days, it's almost entirely for things (like novels) that are monochrome anyway. Maybe I could be encouraged into e-magazines, but to be honest, I prefer print copies of the few I get.

So …. cost?

Given that I don't really need colour, it would have to be at no more that a modest extra cost, for me to be interested. Also, I use an e-reader for books etc because it is much more comfortable to read that an active display, so a colour e-reader absolutely must not be at the cost of reduced comfort of reading monochrome.

If that proves to be the case, and as/when prices reach more or less parity …. these probably are the death knell for mono e-readers.

Sort of agree with you, cost will be the main factor for me assuming all else is roughly equal. I'd pay a modest premium but not a dramatic one over the cost of a greyscale e-reader.

For me, I already read a lot of book on an e-reader, and while glossy magazines and comics are nice, those that I get are essentially disposable so it would be convenient for me to have them on an e-reader rather than cluttering up my house, or heading for the recycling bin.
rabidmunkee
I would say the colour displays will be at a premium and b&w e-ink displays will be here for budget models for a while yet


It is interesting though
For a while yet, certainly. Probably quite a while. But consider thecintroduction of colour TVs …. it pretty much finished off B&W ones, though it took a while and no doubt there's a few holdouts to this day.
Salazaar
Sort of agree with you, cost will be the main factor for me assuming all else is roughly equal. I'd pay a modest premium but not a dramatic one over the cost of a greyscale e-reader.

For me, I already read a lot of book on an e-reader, and while glossy magazines and comics are nice, those that I get are essentially disposable so it would be convenient for me to have them on an e-reader rather than cluttering up my house, or heading for the recycling bin.
The disposability point is one I take. For me, I like magazines for when I don't have the inclination towards e-devices. I don't get many, but when I do, it's nearly always for something specific. And, these days, I usually keep them. I have some going back several decades.

Not many, all told, though. Unlike books. I've enough of them to open a small library.