We just announced yesterday that Samsung was working on a new AMOLED Color display for the Samsung Galaxy Tad and other devices, now comes news that LG is showing off two different prototypes at FPD International in Japan.
The first model revealed was fully color e-ink around 9.7 inches and has a resolution of 800×600. The second model is also 9.7 inches and only features a non-color e-ink resolution of 1200×1200 and has as small strip of color on the bottom, around 200×600. You can compare this to the Barnes and Noble Nook, where the top half of the screen is e-ink and the bottom LCD Color/Touchscreen. Both screens display around 4,096 different colors in their resolution.
Remember, with color e-Ink or regular e-ink screens, they do not have a light source, like LCD screens do. They rely on ambient light, which are beneficial as you get no glare from direct sunlight. Color e-Ink tends to look a bit dull and has low contrast in comparison to LCD colors.
LG has not disclosed when these models might go on sale, or what companies might utilize this technology in future devices. We can surmise that the E-Reader Wars might heat up next year, when we see more Color e-Ink models debut. Speaking of Color e-Ink, check out the new Hanvon e-Reader coming out soon, one of the first pure color e-ink e-readers to come out.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
