At the recent SID 2008 event in Los Angeles, attended by IDTechEx, more companies than in previous years were demonstrating e-paper displays. These displays are non emissive, making them easily readable in sunlight, and low power, as they usually only need power to change the image.
More companies go colour
One of the biggest developments we saw this year was the widespread move to colour versions of e-paper displays, with more companies than before showing working samples, such as Samsung below.
Taiwanese PVI showed their 9.7 inch conformal e-paper display with a plastic backplane, pictured below.
Faster Switching
E-ink demonstrated the new driver for their front plane e-paper displays which has been developed by Epson. This enables a much faster display update rate - a problem with e-paper technologies, and allowing it to be used in new markets. First applications have not yet been announced.
Click on the link below to view a video of the display updating at real-time speed.
PolymerVision first to commercialize flexible e-paper displays
However, it is PolymerVision in Europe who will be first to launch a flexible e-paper device, which they will do this year but would not commit to an exact date. At the event the company also exhibited a new prototype - a colour rollable display. This achieves a roll radius of only 6mm. The 65,000 colour display has a resolution of 127 ppi, and the monochome version has a resolution of 254 ppi. The link below shows a video of the colour display being rolled.
