What is Electronic Ink?

E-ink is a new method and technology that revolutionizes information display. Like most traditional inks, electronic inks can be printed on many surfaces, from curved plastic, polyester film, paper to cloth. The difference from traditional paper is that the electronic ink changes color when it is powered on, and can display a changed image, that is, a display like a calculator or a mobile phone.

Electronic ink

E-ink is a new method and technology that revolutionizes information display. Like most traditional inks, electronic inks can be printed on many surfaces, from curved plastic, polyester film, paper to cloth. The difference from traditional paper is that the electronic ink changes color when it is powered on, and can display a changed image, that is, a display like a calculator or a mobile phone.

Chinese name

Electronic ink

Foreign name

electronic ink

Developer

E Ink

Field

Display technology

E-ink is Massachusetts

The first product of electronic ink was a large area Immedia display. Immedia displays can be used where text messages must be delivered to a large audience, such as retail stores, banks, trade shows, luncheons, etc. Immedia display has the reading ability of flexible electronic display like ink on paper, which makes it develop into a unique large display industry. Immedia display can be networked with other character information of the dissemination message chain, allowing the touch of a key to send all character information to be submitted Go online. The first Immedia display was displayed at the Marlborough JCPenny Department Store in Massachusetts on May 3, 1999 and has been tested by several large companies. Immedia said it was available in early 2000.

Today Immedia can only display white text on a blue background. The laboratory's hard work has demonstrated white text on black, white text on red, and white text on green. The next stage supports the color of any two-color combination, and full-color capabilities are also being developed.

Electronic ink has the same properties as the printing inks in use today. With the same printing process, electronic ink can be printed on paper. Even with the same equipment, electronic ink can be used to produce electronic displays in places where traditional ink can never print.

Compared with other display technologies, electronic ink has the great advantage of low power consumption. A display produced with electronic ink can hold the image for several weeks, does not require additional power input, and requires only a small amount of power to change the displayed image. Other display technologies require a constant power supply to maintain an image. Immedia displays consume only 0.1 watts of power, which means that 100 watts of light can supply 1,000 Immedia displays.

Electronic ink has many advantages, including legibility, flexibility, ease of cheap manufacturing, and low power consumption. Compared with other display technologies, e-ink has better reflectance and contrast. They look like ink on paper and are a medium that people feel comfortable reading and handling. In bright light, including direct sunlight, other display materials feel a little faint and difficult to read. In contrast, electronic ink-based displays are really easy to see and read.

Because electronic ink is soft, it can be used where the original display technology must be used where rigid, flat, and flat surfaces cannot be used. E-ink can be used on paper to produce flexible books and newspapers. It can also be printed on cloth, or on a weird surface similar to the non-planar surface of mobile phones and other appliances.

Finally, e-ink, unlike other display processes, can hold images for weeks without consuming any additional power. With other display technologies, once the image can stay in one place, no additional power input is required.

In the past few years, great progress has been made in the electronic submission of books, newspapers and other literature. Their applications range from APPL's Newton to ubiquitous handheld computers, which run with pointcast programs. To date, none of these technologies can be used as a substitute for paper because people lack convenience and lack the comfort of a page. However, using electronic ink has all the good properties of a single page of printing paper, maintaining the paper's lightness, feel, foldability, contrast, and legibility. People will continuously receive the information printed on the paper, and the paper will typeset itself.

According to today's development level, electronic ink can change colors 1 to 10 times in 1 second, which can almost meet the needs of animation. To achieve video speed, electronic ink must be changed 60 times or more in 1 second. E Ink's scientists are pioneering this progress as part of ongoing research and development efforts.

E-ink is a new material produced by the integration of chemistry, physics and electronics. Making microcapsules itself involves relatively simple chemistry and can be compared to salad dishes! Microcapsules are called a colloidal material after they are made. This material is a small solid particle that assumes the physical properties of a liquid. The microcapsules then suspend in the liquid "carrier medium" like traditional ink, however it will adhere to any surface where ordinary ink can be used. And can use existing

The first generation of e-ink products will use large-area characters in retail stores, drug stores, banks and the same stores that contact customers. Compared with flat-panel displays, electronic ink has greater advantages, good reading ability, more flexible design, low power consumption and low manufacturing price. E-ink can be printed on a variety of surfaces, including paper and fiber. Due to its flexibility, e-ink has opened up new markets for curved display. For example: more electronic devices are designed with handheld devices, and electronic ink can be cheaply and easily printed on devices with user interfaces. You can imagine a coffee pot, when the temperature of the coffee is lower than your favorite temperature, the interface changes color to warn you, or when the TV remote control battery is low, it will turn red. In the future, paper printed with electronic ink can typeset itself, so single-sheet paper can be used as a large information display.

The market for this product is huge. Not only electronic ink has the ability to replace thousands of printing papers with character displays in warehouses until newspapers. It also has the potential to be used where display has never been possible before. As electronics has entered everyday life, the key is to be able to communicate with users. The electronic ink-based display can really print to electrical appliances and appliances, so it is an ideal communication medium.