E Ink unveils displays for phones and handhelds

By Planet eBook Editor
June 6, 2002

E Ink has announced the development of world's thinnest active-matrix displays and recently demonstrated the technology at the Society for Information Display Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, in Boston, Massachusetts. The company has shown two prototype displays, one (1.6 inch diagonal, 80 ppi) for small devices like cell phones, the other (240x160 pixel, 96ppi) for slightly larger handheld devices like PDAs and eBook readers.

The E Ink displays work by electrically charged microsocapsules that change appearance depending on the electric charge they receive. An additional benefit of this is that the display only needs to draw on power when the display needs to be updated, meaning devices that used the E Ink display would consume less power.

The prototypes are around 90% thinner than typical LCD screens but, because built on steel foil, are less fragile than typical LCD screens built on glass. As a result the displays may soon offer device designers greater design flexibility, with greater potential for rugged, low-power consuming displays, which could be placed on curved surfaces or be bendable.

"These displays represent an ideal solution. They offer not only the great ink-on-paper look of electronic ink, but begin to take on the form and utility of paper with ultra-thin, flexible structures and ultra-low power," said Dr. Dan Button, vice president of Business Development at E Ink.

"The beauty of this technology is that it is compatible with existing display production technology, cutting years off time-to-market," said Dr. Michael McCreary, vice president of Research and Development at E Ink.

Last year E Ink unveiled a prototype NIST eBook 2001 Conference of an eBook reading device, with the basic specifications as follows:

  • Costs $300
  • 1 cm thick
  • 7" diagonal screen
  • 9 ounces
  • Powered by 2 AA batteries
  • Includes memory card slot
  • Syncs with PC via USB or parallel port