Developing 2nd generation color e-ink for e-book readers

e Ink is a medium that electrically rewrites the displayed contents while maintaining the visibility and portability of the paper medium. The advantage is that the power consumption and snow burden are small. E Ink Corporation, which develops such e-inks, has developed e-ink Gallery 4100, a color e-ink for new e-book readers.

e Ink Corporation is a company that developed an electrophoresis method in which charged white and black particles are enclosed in microcapsules containing fluid, and a voltage is applied to collect specific colored particles on the display side. By adopting this method for e-ink, it has achieved display quality comparable to that of copy paper printed from newspapers and laser printers, and realized low power consumption and reduced eye strain.

In addition, in 2016, it released ACeP (Advanced Color ePaper), which can view not only black and white but also other colors while maintaining various colors and low power consumption. In addition to the conventional electrophoresis method, ACeP expresses color by embedding color pigments on all pixel elements. There is no deterioration in image quality and can maintain paper-like visibility under various lighting. ACeP was sold as an e-ink for digital signage because it needed a thick and heavy glass filter.

However, in 2019, eInk Corporation announced a color e-ink for a device called E Ink Kaleido, which has a different structure from ACeP. (PocketBook International) Kaleido is installed in PocketBook Color, an e-book reader. E Ink Corporation, which received Kaleido’s success, is concentrating on developing e-inks used in consumer products, such as announcing Kaleido 2 for non-glass-based filters.

According to the report, e Ink Corporation developed the second generation ACeP called e Ink Gallery 4100. The second-generation ACeP does not use a glass-based filter, the color layer is adhered to the e-ink thin film, and the e-ink body weight and thickness are minimized. In addition, it can display more than 40,000 different colors, improves page update speed, and reduces traces left on the previous screen.

The newly announced second-generation ACeP will be sold not to digital signage, but to e-book reader development companies that require a high-resolution alternative to Kaleido2. The Gallery 4100 development kit has already been sent to all major e-book reader developers, and the first commercial device is likely to be released in 2022. The e-book reader says future hardware will have two options available: Gallery 4100 and Kaleido 2. Related information can be found here .