Colour E-Ink hitting the market by the end of the year?

m-reader · 08-12-2010, 06:02 AM

Quote:

E Ink Holdings, the company behind the power-sipping screens contained within Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Readers, is keeping to its schedule for the biggest overhaul of its display technology yet. Color panels are reportedly now sampling out to device vendors and China-based Hanvon has already answered the call -- it promises to deliver color E Ink readers by the end of this year. Two varieties of touchscreens are also being prepared: the first is a capacitive panel to sate the kids' need to flick and swipe everywhere, while the second will include a pen-friendly digitizer that should make annotations a doddle (or should that be a doodle?). Better response times and reflectivity are also being touted, though the big question is obviously when this good stuff will make its way into mainstream devices like the Kindle. If you believe Jeff Bezos, that won't be any time soon.

Highlights are mine ...

Wordcrasher · 08-12-2010, 07:07 AM

Wow! I can't wait !

SkyDream · 08-12-2010, 09:47 AM

We'll see what it means when devices are available....whenever this will be...end of 2011 ?

ppw · 08-12-2010, 11:07 AM

Whichever company adopting color e-ink and touch now must be out of his mind. Be it Amazon or Barnes Noble. Amazon tried hard to distinguish Kindle from IPad. If kindle adds color and touch, Kindle and Ipad will be in the same device category.

I think color e-ink will not come from a major company in the near future unless they can compete with IPad in the same category.

GA Russell · 08-12-2010, 11:28 AM

I guess it all comes down to retail price. But maybe it won't be long before the Kindle 3 doesn't seem like such a big deal after all.

Dark123 · 08-12-2010, 11:33 AM

It looks great, I can read Comics on there

Problems will be; battery life, eye-strain?, and of course, price

bhartman36 · 08-12-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I guess it all comes down to retail price. But maybe it won't be long before the Kindle 3 doesn't seem like such a big deal after all.

I would be amazed if a color e-ink screen could be done economically, at this point. If a color e-ink device ends up being in the range of $600 (and that would be impressive), then comparisons to the iPad become unavoidable. And at that price point, the comparison becomes valid, which isn't a good thing for the e-book maker, because however colorful it is (and how good the colors will be is still an open question) e-ink technology is still fundamentally different from LCD technology, and an e-ink screen will never be able to do what you can do on a tablet (be it iPad, or any other tablet).

That's why I think Bezos is more right than not, when he talks about color e-ink screens being some years away. It only really makes sense to make a color e-ink reader when you can make a good one, cheaply.

simplyparticular · 08-12-2010, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppw

Whichever company adopting color e-ink and touch now must be out of his mind.

What about Sony? They might justify their premium prices, if they can offer a color, dedicated reader for less than iPad, but with some tablet features. And then they'll get their butts handed to them when the Android tablets are more polished.

And most people here seem to think Sony's crazy

jswinden · 08-12-2010, 12:06 PM

I think Pearl is the third generation of grayscale e-Ink screens to be used in production models. Pearl finally does e-Ink grayscale correctly. I assume that the same will be true for color e-Ink screens in that it will take until about the third generation before they are really good. As Bezos said, that could take years. That photo of the first generation e-Ink screen looked washed out, so they have a long ways to go as far as improving the quality.

If you ever enlarge a portion of text from a color screen, say this forum page, you will notice that the text is not grayscale. It is mostly grays, but there are a lot of color pixels mixed in as well. Too me this is distracting as sometimes a too vibrant pixel grabs my attention and makes reading a pain. I think if you want to read books then grayscale is the way to go.

Over · 08-12-2010, 12:19 PM

It DOESN'T look great. Yet, we'll have to wait one more year to get it. So I'm not raising my hopes for a decent colour e-ink (or equivalent) technology yet.

Why it doesn't look great? No bright colours and it even looks like the colour pallette will be limited.

HarryT · 08-12-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppw

Whichever company adopting color e-ink and touch now must be out of his mind. Be it Amazon or Barnes Noble. Amazon tried hard to distinguish Kindle from IPad. If kindle adds color and touch, Kindle and Ipad will be in the same device category.

No, they won't. One of the main uses of the iPad is for playing video. Colour eInk will not be doing that for many years to come.

The arena in which colour eInk will be extremely attractive is for such things as magazines. Once it's available, I can foresee a boom in the market for large-screen readers aimed primarily at the magazine-reading audience.

m-reader · 08-12-2010, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The arena in which colour eInk will be extremely attractive is for such things as magazines. Once it's available, I can foresee a boom in the market for large-screen readers aimed primarily at the magazine-reading audience.

Once the Qualcomm boffins figure out how to mass-produce Mirasol screens, this problem will be solved (including video playback).

m-reader · 08-12-2010, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eBookNewbie123

It looks great, I can read Comics on there

Problems will be; battery life, eye-strain?, and of course, price

Battery life and eye strain shouldn't be a problem, as:
1) Battery life - screen is bi-stable same as the b/w version
2) Eye strain - screen is not backlit

However, I agree with you on the third point. There probably will be a significant amount of strain placed on your wallet

lacymarie7575 · 08-12-2010, 02:18 PM

How exciting!! Cant wait for what the future holds!!

boswd · 08-12-2010, 02:27 PM

NOW this is the game changer e-ink readers is waiting for and to get excited for.

It's going to be the race to see who get's one out first, Kindle, Nook or Sony. This is waht I'm talking about, not creating 560 replies because the Kindle came out with a wi fi edition and everyone thinks they revolutionized the game.

Until this hits the market all the tweaking Kindle, the nook and Sony do is basically not much in enhancements.

touch screen color navigation in e ink now we're talking

08-12-2010, 12:06 PM	#9
jswinden Nameless Being	I think Pearl is the third generation of grayscale e-Ink screens to be used in production models. Pearl finally does e-Ink grayscale correctly. I assume that the same will be true for color e-Ink screens in that it will take until about the third generation before they are really good. As Bezos said, that could take years. That photo of the first generation e-Ink screen looked washed out, so they have a long ways to go as far as improving the quality. If you ever enlarge a portion of text from a color screen, say this forum page, you will notice that the text is not grayscale. It is mostly grays, but there are a lot of color pixels mixed in as well. Too me this is distracting as sometimes a too vibrant pixel grabs my attention and makes reading a pain. I think if you want to read books then grayscale is the way to go. Last edited by jswinden; 08-12-2010 at 12:09 PM.

08-12-2010, 02:27 PM	#15
boswd Banned Posts: 2,391 Karma: 1001781 Join Date: May 2010 Device: The Nook, Nook color and Droid X	NOW this is the game changer e-ink readers is waiting for and to get excited for. It's going to be the race to see who get's one out first, Kindle, Nook or Sony. This is waht I'm talking about, not creating 560 replies because the Kindle came out with a wi fi edition and everyone thinks they revolutionized the game. Until this hits the market all the tweaking Kindle, the nook and Sony do is basically not much in enhancements. touch screen color navigation in e ink now we're talking Last edited by boswd; 08-12-2010 at 09:32 PM.

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08-12-2010, 07:07 AM	#2
Wordcrasher Addict Posts: 253 Karma: 1246 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vicenza, Italy Device: Kindle Fire 2015, Kindle Paperwhite	Wow! I can't wait !

08-12-2010, 09:47 AM	#3
SkyDream Wizard Posts: 1,377 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Europe Device: PRS-650, iPod touch 4G, iPad 3	We'll see what it means when devices are available....whenever this will be...end of 2011 ?

08-12-2010, 11:07 AM	#4
ppw Connoisseur Posts: 92 Karma: 499180 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kindle 3 wifi, Kindle DXG, iPad 3	Whichever company adopting color e-ink and touch now must be out of his mind. Be it Amazon or Barnes Noble. Amazon tried hard to distinguish Kindle from IPad. If kindle adds color and touch, Kindle and Ipad will be in the same device category. I think color e-ink will not come from a major company in the near future unless they can compete with IPad in the same category.

08-12-2010, 11:28 AM	#5
GA Russell Montreal wins Grey Cup! Posts: 7,583 Karma: 31484197 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	I guess it all comes down to retail price. But maybe it won't be long before the Kindle 3 doesn't seem like such a big deal after all.

08-12-2010, 11:33 AM	#6
Dark123 Zealot Posts: 112 Karma: 105 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle 3 WiFi	It looks great, I can read Comics on there Problems will be; battery life, eye-strain?, and of course, price

08-12-2010, 12:19 PM	#10
Over Wizard Posts: 1,462 Karma: 6061516 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Cascais, Portugal Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2", OnePlus 6	It DOESN'T look great. Yet, we'll have to wait one more year to get it. So I'm not raising my hopes for a decent colour e-ink (or equivalent) technology yet. Why it doesn't look great? No bright colours and it even looks like the colour pallette will be limited.

08-12-2010, 02:18 PM	#14
lacymarie7575 reading about reading ;-> Posts: 44 Karma: 30 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Houston Device: Sony PRS-600, BB	How exciting!! Cant wait for what the future holds!!

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