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E-Ink and E-paper News
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Learn about e-paper technology from companies such as Clearink, E-Ink, Mirasol, and Plastic Logic. We publish daily news to keep you informed.
Color E-Paper and E INK Kaleido have severe limitations
Good e-Reader has reviewed every single color e-reader and color smartphone currently available, aside from the Onyx Boox Poke 2 Color, since it was only available for a few hours before it was sold out. The non-uniform grey background color on ebooks and the darker screen, warranting the front-light to always be engaged are two of the big problems. Can this be solved or fixed? This is something E INK has to do on a screen and PCP level, they have to create a hardware switch, that can be controlled with software to turn the CFA on/off. This would solve all of the current problems, but E INK has confirmed they will not be making a revision to color e-paper or Kaleido at all in 2021.
TCL will release 2 new tablets TCL 10 TABMAX TCL 10 TABMID
Last week TCL unveiled the new NXTPAPER e-paper technology. It will feature a color monochrome display that has 25% higher contrast for better viewing and when compared to a typical LCD panel, is up to 36% thinner and 65% more power efficient than a typical LCD. The first products that will employ the e-paper is the TCL 10 TABMAX and TCL 10 TABMID. These two tablets will debut this fall and exclusivly rely on ambient light in order to display content and will not have a front-light or backlight.
TCL NXTPAPER wants to compete against E INK
TCL is the company responsible for making budget 4K televisions and all sorts of other devices, such as smartphones and tablets. They have just unveiled a new breed of screen technology called TCL NXTPAPER and they want to compete against E INK for readers eyes. The new TCL NXTPAPER technology is a low-power, reflective display that works without a backlight, but which displays color graphics at refresh rates high enough for video or other animations.
E INK is developing 2nd generation color e-paper
E INK has confirmed with Good e-Reader that they are developing a second generation model of their Print Color E-Paper or the better known marketing name of Kaleido. It will be launched sometime in 2021 and will be able to display more colors and the front-light doesn’t always need to be on to display proper color accuracy.
The screen size of 2nd generation colored e-paper will be further enlarged, and the scope of applications will also be expanded to include advertising billboards and ID cards in addition to current ones such as electronic shelf labels (ESLs) and e-book readers. This will pave the way for larger screen devices such as e-notes, that have larger screens.
E INK and TCL partner for digital signage production
E INK is the company responsible for e-paper found in almost every single e-reader and e-note currently available. The company derives 75% of their total revenue from the e-reader sector and they are looking to expand further into digital signage, which is a tremendous growth market. By 2025 it will be worth over $31.71 billion. E INK primarily makes its money producing the displays and then selling them to established signage vendors, who build their own shell and develop their own software. So it is good money for E INK to just make the screens. In order to ramp up production, E INK has just partnered with TCL, the company who made Blackberry phones and also televisions. Under the Agreement, TCL will manufacture 42-inch ePaper TFT backplanes using an 8.5 generation production line. This will be the first time large-size ePaper backplanes have been manufactured in an 8.5 generation facility, and it will be the largest generation factory in the world to manufacture ePaper TFT backplanes. This will not only help optimize the cost-effectiveness of the production, but will also help to increase efficiencies.
Color e-paper is back to running at full capacity
Over the course of the past three months a number of new e-readers and smartphones have come out, that has been been employing the E INK Kaleido screen tech. This has resulted in E INK being virtually sold out, which is why you haven’t really heard of any new devices being in the works. According to the E INK CEO, Johnson Lee, it looks like this situation has been resolved. Color e-paper production lines are now running at full capacity and another factory has been devoted towards manufacturing. This will result in a 10% increase in the number of screens that will be produced by the end of 2020. E INK has also disclosed to Good e-Reader that by the end of the year, color e-paper will account for 10% of its revenues.
