Philips and E Ink demo e-paper prototype
Published: 14 May 2003 08:52 BST
Start-up E Ink and Dutch firm Philips will showcase a working prototype of electronic paper at a trade show in the US this week
The engineering samples have been developed using components likely to be in the shipping model, said the statement from E Ink, based in Cambridge, Masschusetts. In addition, the panels will feature a pixel resolution higher than anything previously shown.
The devices have been developed for an unnamed customer and feature custom-designed components from Philips.
"This is the first time E Ink and Philips have integrated such custom components into a fully functional display," said Jim Veninger, a general manager in Philips' display division.
The prototypes are being shown in a book-like, dual-screen case designed by Philips, with a display that features a resolution at 160 pixels per inch.
This is significantly higher than anything demonstrated previously, according to E Ink. The two companies have been working together since early 2001 and expect e-paper products to go on sale in 2004.
The e-paper reader will be displayed at the Society for Information Display Exposition and Symposium in Baltimore this week.
Coincidentally, Japanese firm Matsushita announced last week that they will launch an e-book in Asia at the end of the year.
Like e-paper, the screen will be monochrome, with images and text displayed with a bluish tinge. But it will be based on modified low-power LCD technology, rather than on electronic paper, according to Matsushita. It is claimed to be able to last six months on two AA-sized cells.
However, the Sigma Book -- Matsushita's name for its product -- bears a striking similarity to the E Ink-Philips device on display this week.
Electronic ink is based on a microcapsule: an electrically sensitive white chip that floats in a ball full of black dye. The chip rises or falls in the dye depending on an electrical charge.
Many microcapsules are sandwiched between a piece of steel foil and a piece of clear plastic, and, unlike LCDs, they don't need to be backlit for an image to be visible.
Displays using the electronic ink technology tend to consume less power than LCDs. Unlike LCDs, they don't require a continuous supply of power to render images: Once the microcapsules are electrically charged, they can hold the image without more power. News.com's Richard Shim contributed to this article.
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