i3 - July/August 2018 - 11

By Murray Slovick

Tech

A T EC H TO WATC H

Color eReader Tech Close to Prime Time

 E 

lectronic paper (e-paper) displays mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper. Unlike conventional
backlit flat-panel displays that are virtually unreadable
in bright sunlight, electronic paper displays reflect light like
paper making them more comfortable to read and providing a
wider viewing angle. An ideal e-paper display can be read in
direct sunlight without the image fading.

Electrophoretic, or electronic ink, is the
technology behind e-readers. In its U.S.
Consumer Technology Sales and
Forecasts report, CTA projects 2018
e-reader sales of 5.36 million units valued at $395 million.
The optical component of film used
in e-reader displays is made up of millions of tiny microcapsules, about the
diameter of a human hair. Each microcapsule contains positively charged
white particles and negatively charged
black particles suspended in a clear
fluid. When a positive or negative electric field is applied, corresponding particles move to the top of the
microcapsule where they become visible to the viewer. This makes the surface appear white or black at that spot.
The particles lay suspended even
when the electric field is removed.
When the electric field is reversed, the
particles exchange places. This means
that the display is consuming power
only when something changes.

New E-Paper Developments

Courtesy of CLEARink

E Ink Holdings, (E Ink) includes new
additions to its Advanced Color ePaper
(ACeP for short) technology along with

traditional e-reader applications that include flexible
display solutions.
ACeP is a "full color"
reflective display at every
pixel, without the use of a
color filter. The technology
was shown in a 32- and
13.3-inch diagonal, with
13.3-inch slated for commercial availability later this
year. ACeP achieves all
eight primary colors,
using only colored
pigments. It can
also display
more than
32,000 different
colors and has a
resolution of
1600x2500 pixels
and 150 pixels per
inch (PPI). ACeP
maintains the low-power
and paper-like readability
under all lighting conditions of regular e-paper.
The initial application for
ACeP is digital signage,
with e-readers to follow.

The optical component of film used
in e-reader displays is made up of
millions of tiny microcapsules, about
the diameter of a human hair.

C TA . t e c h / i 3

CLEARink Displays focuses on 1.32inch displays for wearables and 9.7inch screens for e-readers. The
company has increased the resolution
of its color screens to 200 PPI due to a
new color filter design. CLEARink is
partnering with a leading tablet maker
to supply displays in 2019 that feature up to 50 percent larger form
factors. The company's ePaper 2.0
uses a monochrome display with a
color filter over the top to produce
colors. It has no frontlight or backlight, and the screens can be produced in flexible form.
Professor Guofu Zhou's team
from the Electronic Paper Display
Institute, South China Academy of
Advanced Optoelectronics, South
China Normal University (SCNU)
recently demonstrated color
video electronic paper displays. Since the team
invented and stabilized a
spacer technology for
SCNU e-paper last year,
he says it has made
important modifications
in the pixel structure,
which is now optimized in
both size and shape, increasing the display pixel aperture
to more than 80 percent and the
contrast ratio to over 10:1, making
the display brighter. The team also
has improved response time to
three milliseconds, rivaling LCD.
These features enable the display to
show dynamic videos up to 100
frames per second.
Using a new 2.7-inch e-paper
display, the SCNU team also demonstrated a real-time clock prototype. SCNU team member and
Professor Alex Henzen, says, "This
clock could work for years with a
single coin battery and it can show
high contrast images. This is a big
step for e-paper."
JULY/AUGUST 2018

11


http://www.cta.tech/SalesandForecasts http://www.cta.tech/SalesandForecasts http://www.cta.tech/SalesandForecasts http://www.CTA.tech

i3 - July/August 2018

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