Seiko Epson produces hi-res E Ink display

[Alexander Turcic]

We cannot deny that we wish it was our hands wrapped tightly around this panel. According to Tech-On, Epson Seiko borrowed E Ink's e-paper technoloy applied with their own proprietary TFT design to produce a 6.7-inch e-paper terminal panel with a resolution of 1200 x 1600 pixels. More specs:

• Terminal measures 180x120mm (B6 size)
• Thickness: 3mm
• Weight: 57g
• Contrast ratio: 8:1
• Reflectivity: 43%
• Redrawing time: 0.7s
• Battery: one CR1220 button cell battery (1'400 screen redraws)

Alas, there is no information yet if, and if yes, when this display unit will enter the market.

[Mike Kostousov]

Amazing.... So fine resolution!
It will be so cool to add something like bluetooth, and connect such display to mobile phone, or pda. So, pda or mobile extracts and prepare pages and sends them to remote e-ink display...

[NatCh]

1,400 "pages" on a button cell. That's the bit that impresses me -- talk about power management!

[yvanleterrible]

Can someone translate B6 and compare it to A4?

[tirsales]

DIN B6 = 176 x 125 mm = 6,93 inch x 4,92 inch ~ 0.022 m*m
DIN A4 = 297 x 210 mm = 11,69 inch x 8,27 inch ~ 0,063 m*m

A4 is roughly 2.8 times larges than B6 (overall space)
B6 has ~60% length and width of A4.

Though a japanese B6 has 128 mm × 182 mm = 5,04 inch x 7,17 inch
While the given size 180 x 120 = 7,09 x 4,72

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_size
And: http://www.pats-pets.de/cm-inch.htm (german, but should be fairly self-explanatory, you have to "delete" all thre fields in order to calc a new value, (1st button: Calculate, 2nd button: delete)

[drkool]

I kind of fail to understand how higher resolution will help. I mean this is just 6.7" I would think that the size of screen would matter more then the resolution (when compared to the existing screen in the market..)

[JAcheson]

That should be more than enough resolution to display a full page PDF with, though of course the text would be about half size.

Maybe the next generation will be the charm?

[JAcheson]

Originally Posted by drkool

I kind of fail to understand how higher resolution will help. I mean this is just 6.7" I would think that the size of screen would matter more then the resolution (when compared to the existing screen in the market..)

Based on my experience, you need around 1000 pixels of screen height to display a letter sized PDF legibly.

My home PC has a 19" Trinitron CRT monitor running at 1600x1200, and it can display a completely legible letter sized page with the long edge running along the 1200 pixel axis. Size-wise, the PDF is probably 8 or 9 inches tall.

So this will be smaller, but even higher in resolution, and much more readable than a monitor. I look forward to seeing one of these in a store.

[NatCh]

Some comparisons to current 6" displays (somebody else can crunch the numbers on the 8" ):

Resolution is 231 ppi to the old 167 ppi or 138% -- 38% increase
Height is 6.93" to the old 4.875" or 142% -- 42% increase
Width is 4.93" to the old 3.625" or 136% -- 36% increase

Looking at it in landscape would make a Letter sized PDF 6.93" wide, or 82% of its "intended" width, and 4.93" high, or 45% of its "intended" height. Not bad at all: crop the margins and you're golden.

[wallcraft]

I think it is the "terminal", i.e. the entire device, which is B6, not the screen.

[hidari]

I know Mobilread.com has a plethora of Sony and Cybook readers, but I for one am a PDA man. i prefer the smaller screen and size of the device. This looks like more of my style. I do like the specs on it so far. I hope it hits the market soon.

hidari

Originally Posted by wallcraft

I think it is the "terminal", i.e. the entire device, which is B6, not the screen.

[NatCh]

Ach, I think you're right, hidari, this other picture shows the mini USB port and the button cell battery, gives some perspective: I think it is a small, very high-rez device. That's gotta be one tiny gal in the first picture.

[Goshzilla]

Originally Posted by NatCh

1,400 "pages" on a button cell. That's the bit that impresses me -- talk about power management!

Probably because there isn't alot of hardware built in. Once they add in a real cpu, wi-fi, wacom screen, ram, OS, and memory card slots the power consumption will go way up.

If anything I this demonstration unit does a good job showing how efficient e-ink screens are at power consumption.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by NatCh

Ach, I think you're right, hidari, this other picture shows the mini USB port and the button cell battery, gives some perspective: I think it is a small, very high-rez device. That's gotta be one tiny gal in the first picture.

Dang fisheye lenses! I was sure this unit was bigger than the Sony. Sure looked like it.

Originally Posted by Goshzilla

Probably because there isn't alot of hardware built in. Once they add in a real cpu, wi-fi, wacom screen, ram, OS, and memory card slots the power consumption will go way up.

If anything I this demonstration unit does a good job showing how efficient e-ink screens are at power consumption.

Actually I think the efficiency come more from a different computing management. The Sony, when in waiting mode, still uses power. Proof is that even if you don't use it, you still have to recharge every 3 weeks, and it has nothing to do with the screen.

Speculation: If a device were to use flash ROM (if they exist), you could go by without always rebooting, so the unit could go to sleep after every page turn. That would be a fantastic way to go. I'm looking forward to the day when they stop using traditional CPUs. Flash memory is the way to go.

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Speculation: If a device were to use flash ROM (if they exist), you could go by without always rebooting, so the unit could go to sleep after every page turn. That would be a fantastic way to go. I'm looking forward to the day when they stop using traditional CPUs. Flash memory is the way to go.

It's like the newer Windows Mobile 6.0 devices that use Flash memory to store programs and user data. This way they don't have to be powered when turned off without losing data.