E Ink’s New High-Resolution Color E-Paper Might Usher in an Era of Foldable E-Readers

We ’ve had einsteinium - lecturer and e - notation devices featuring coloration electronic newspaper screens for a few age now , but E Ink is finally treat some of the large drawback of the technology withKaleido 3 , foretell in the first place this calendar month , and E Ink Gallery 3 , announced yesterday . In particular , we ’re looking at boosts both to colouring material and resolving power .

When we wenthands on with the first few devicesto feature E Ink ’s first contemporaries people of color electronic theme display technology , we were both blown aside by an einsteinium - reader that could display color images , and also a bit disappointed at what we saw . Kaleido , as vitamin E Ink calls its color e - paper contrive for consumer devices , was limit to just 4,096 colors ( the screen on your smartphone , laptop , or lozenge can display million of ghost ) and very much reliant on a bright source of light for those colour not to look dark and muddled . Our experience was ostensibly mirror by troupe like Amazon and Kobo , who have yet to follow color Es Ink displays for their popular einsteinium - readers .

E Ink has quickly repeat its Kaleido engineering science over the past couple of years , free update version that ameliorate color vividness and carrying into action . These includeKaleido 3 , announced just a few weeks ago , which has better responsiveness and refresh rates , allowing the screens to play video and animations without atrocious ghosting , plus a well front visible light for improved colour reproduction when learn in the dark .. That puddle Kaleido 3 an exciting option for pad and other media consumption devices , but it ’s still limited in both closure and just 4,096 colors .

Gif:YouTube - E Ink

That ’s where E Ink Gallery 3 concur more hope . Like the early e - reader , it boast comparatively dull refresh rates , learn up to a second - and - a - half to redraw an entire page in full quality color modality , or just half a second in a colouring material style with dilute image quality . But the swap - off might just be worth it , as E Ink Gallery 3 can reproduce over 50,000 colors using a “ four atom ink system : cyan , Battle of Magenta , yellow and lily-white . ” That ’s still no where near as close to the people of colour faithfulness of even a cheap LCD panel , but it ’s a Brobdingnagian melioration over Kaleido . E Ink Gallery 3 also advance persona declaration to 300 DPI for both color and smuggled and white message , where as Kaleido still limits color imagery to 150 DPI . In the years of Retina Display technical school , this is very noticeable .

There ’s no specifics as to when we ’ll see e - readers or pen - compatible einsteinium - note devices sport E Ink ’s novel Gallery 3 screen tech ( hopefully later this yr ) , but in gain to boasting about its improved specs , the fellowship also demonstrated the flexibleness of the display through a couple of stumpy prototype .

Like the OLED displays that make equipment like theSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 possible , E Ink ’s electronic paper exhibit are flexible and durable as well , which means we could also eventually see foldable e - readers or e - bank bill that are just as easy to travel . Of course , there would feature screen well-nigh twice the size , to accommodate the larger layouts of magazines and newspaper — two formats that do n’t reflow well and are hard to read on equipment like the Amazon Kindle . Again , there ’s no timeline for when we ’ll actually see devices like this released , but it ’s a future that E Ink is clear heavily adorn in and wants to see happen .

Image: E Ink