Color Comes to E Ink Screens

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

I worry about the contrast as well...last thing that I think anyone would want to see are washed out dull screen colors.

I guess depends on the tech for the given panel. Most significantly if they use a true black in the color's used. A true white matters as well. But like you say a black produced only via color "mixing" will likely be a poor result, but I feel if it uses a true black to augment the likely needed mixed black needed to fill in the whole cell/pixel then it likely would be fine and nothing our eyes would differentiate.

Still, it's all new and we'll see...but this a nice move forward...

I expect that they will use a true black, since I don't think you can mix other colours to produce black. However, if they introduce new coloured pixels among the black ones, then the latter will cover less area than before, and so, the "black" will look washed out. I suppose they could replace the "white" side with the colours, so that the black will be as dark as it is now, but then the "white" will be a darker grey, and the contrast will suffer again.

As you say, we'll have to wait and see, but it's fun to guess.

[JeremyR]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

Rather dismissive to overlook reference and other non-fiction books which require color? The reader announce is an ~10" reader which, while not ideal for those books, it's a huge leap over a 6" panel. We need 11"-12" panels to really make it reasonable and w/o scaling or layout issues.

While true, just how many books on the bestsellers list are reference and non-fiction books that require color?

The main reason color e-ink is ever going to be used is for reading comic books.

There is an academic market, but it's got to be fairly niche.

[hidari]

Color on Eink....Now I can read Great Expectations in Purple and Pink... and Read Manga in Color that is Always published in Black and White...

actually... for charts and photos would be good otherwise... love it as it...e ink that is..

Will it truthfully be eink .... My mate who is an Organic Chemist says it ain't easy to make color ink.... but... ..

[Xanthe]

Color readers are inevitable.

Movies started out in B&W and then moved to color.

Film cameras started out in B&W and then moved to color.

Television started out in B&W and then moved to color.

Computer monitors started out in B&W and then moved to color.

As viewing technologies evolve and improve, the switch to color seems to always follow.

[DMcCunney]

I was wondering when this would happen. eInk announced a prototype 12 bit color eInk screen back in December 2006, with volume production to begin in 2007. It never appeared, which led me to believe that either eInk had problems moving from prototype to mass production, costs were higher than OEMs wanted to pay, or results didn't meet expectations.

Judging by the description of the Hanvon effort, it sounds like what they are using, and the last was the case. I'll reserve judgment until I see an actual device using this, but it sounds like the color simply wouldn't be good enough for my purposes. If I'm reading stuff that requires color at all, it requires something approximating accurate reproduction, with bright and vibrant colors. I don't need video or animation, but do need to see color art that looks like the original, and not a washed out copy. I heard the comments from Sony's Steve Haber as NY press events I attended for MobileRead, and I concur with his feelings.

Given that Hanvon produces mainly for the Chinese market, I expect this will do well for them. I don't expect a lot of penetration over here.
______
Dennis

[Rebo]

According to the article, the color is like a faded photo and the video play back is very slow. The price is $440, only $60 cheaper than iPad. It doesn’t look like the technology is ready for prime time. Pixel Qi seems to be a better choice since it retains color quality display of LCD but offers the option to turn off the backlit for reading in sunlight. Based on the rumors on pricing of the Notion Ink Adams; the price difference for a 10” LCD vs. Pixel Qi screen is only $50. Color e-ink might be lighter and uses less power but if it is more expensive and the color is not vibrant, it will not compete well with Pixel Qi or even LCD.

[carld]

Originally Posted by ricsmania

Can't wait to see this tech in netbook screens and phones.

It's currently much too slow for computer screens. Maybe some future version of this tech or something like it will work, but not this.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Rebo

According to the article, the color is like a faded photo and the video play back is very slow. The price is $440, only $60 cheaper than iPad. It doesn’t look like the technology is ready for prime time. Pixel Qi seems to be a better choice since it retains color quality display of LCD but offers the option to turn off the backlit for reading in sunlight. Based on the rumors on pricing of the Notion Ink Adams; the price difference for a 10” LCD vs. Pixel Qi screen is only $50. Color e-ink might be lighter and uses less power but if it is more expensive and the color is not vibrant, it will not compete well with Pixel Qi or even LCD.

If you want to watch video, you don't use eInk. Screen refresh simply isn't fast enough, and can't be. You won't see smooth motion: at best you'll get a slide show of still pictures.

If you don't mind the washed out color, a color eInk display is fine for static content, like books. The question will be what sort of color the book uses, and whether a color eInk display will reproduce it well enough to be acceptable. For most of the color stuff I would want to view, it wouldn't be.

If the price can be gotten low enough to simply substitute a color eInk display for the current mono screens, and the black and white content doesn't suffer as a result, this might be a next step for eInk based readers: color is there if the material uses it, and if not it's the same display the reader is already used to and appreciates. But those are very big ifs.
______
Dennis

[EowynCarter]

Mmm, i'm not thrilled by colors screen.
I'll rather have a faster refresh.

[Nahgem]

Originally Posted by markuskane

Now add a touchscreen, and I'm sold.

Originally Posted by New York Times

Hanvon’s first product using a 9.68-inch color touch screen will be available this March..

I was getting really close to dropping money on a tablet because I want a comic reader that's more portable than my laptop. However, if people are actually starting to sell colored eInk devices, I'm definitely willing to wait and see where the market goes. While this is above my price range, it's pretty much exactly what I want in a comic reader. I hope it makes it over here, because I'd like to at least be able to play with it.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

While true, just how many books on the bestsellers list are reference and non-fiction books that require color?

The main reason color e-ink is ever going to be used is for reading comic books.

There is an academic market, but it's got to be fairly niche.

wow...your utter lack of understanding here is, well shocking to say the least. You are saying that the ONLY types of books are novels on the bestseller list, comic books and the academic market. And the ONLY bestseller type books need to be serviced?

I spend several grand a year on reference books ALL of which require color, I mean ALL. Along with requiring accurate color on top of it. Believe it or not MILLIONS of these books are sold annually. And when I was able to travel I often needed to lug around 200-300lbs of reference books. And again I am far from unique in that regard.

[charleski]

It will be positioned as a business product

That was the kiss-of-death for Plastic logic, wasn't it?. Apple may be able to sell $500 products to consumers, but I don't think Hanvon will.

If you need accurate colour, then you need print, it's hard enough to get accuracy on a desktop LCD in a carefully controlled environment.

[athlonkmf]

Originally Posted by charleski

It will be positioned as a business product

That was the kiss-of-death for Plastic logic, wasn't it?. Apple may be able to sell $500 products to consumers, but I don't think Hanvon will.

" It will be positioned as a business product " translate to "you'll paying way too much for way too little"

Apple's 500 dollar is a hell of a price for what you'll be getting. At least no competitor can come close. hard and softwarewise.

[hal2814]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

While true, just how many books on the bestsellers list are reference and non-fiction books that require color?

The main reason color e-ink is ever going to be used is for reading comic books.

There is an academic market, but it's got to be fairly niche.

Personally, I think there will be more people reading magazines with color eBook readers than comic books. Even if novels don't require color, there are plenty of other areas where color would be welcomed and useful. Technical manuals immediately come to mind. The better programming manuals I've read makes good use of color.

There are over 14,000,000 students in colleges and universities in the United States alone. I wouldn't call the post-secondary textbook market a niche. It'll just be hard to break into for an eBook reader due to reluctance on the part of the textbook publishers. I think the publishers will eventually find that they lose less money to piracy than they do to the used textbook market.

[oggelbe2007]

Sadly, maybe they should just stick a fork in the quest for color e-ink for awhile until the right material/process comes along. Cheap android tablets will probably eat this thing in the market.