New E Ink technology development

Twice as fast and 20% brighter

10 May 2007 17:15 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

The E Ink Corporation has announced a major development in their electronic paper product line. The new technology, named "Vizplex Imaging Film" is a significant step for the pioneering company.

E Ink are claiming that Vizplex is a major improvement because the electronic ink in the imaging film switches twice as fast, greyscale levels are improved, the image is 20% brighter and offers generally improved image quality.

The new E Ink displays will come in varying sizes from 1.9-inch, 5-inch, 6-inch, 8-inch to 9.7inch, another improvement as their previous largest display was only 6 inches. This range of various sized displays would be suitable for use within mobile phones, MP3 players, PC accessories, smart handheld devices, signage, electronic dictionaries, e-books, and tablets.

E Ink currently produce the display for the Sony Reader, an electronic book, on sale in the States.

If you're really techie and want to know the science behind it, then here goes: "to create Vizplex, E Ink produces microencapsulated electronic ink and has it coated onto an ITO-coated plastic substrate in a fast, efficient roll-to-roll process. The resulting ink film is combined with a thin adhesive and a plastic release sheet to form the Vizplex imaging film. The film is then converted into individual sheets and packaged for shipment to the TFT display manufacturer".

For the rest of us who just skipped that last paragraph, this basically means that useable, affordable electronic books are a step closer.

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