Quote:
Originally Posted by Dava
It's too sad that no one are building the Low power LCD-screens anymore. The main reason I've not upgraded my Palm m500 for a modern E-bookreader is the lack of backlit-ability on the E-ink screens.
The B/W LCD on the Palm m500 are very good for e-book-reading, it's reflexive and sharp. The main problem is the low res. 160x160 and the small screen 3,8 inch.
I imagine that we will see the LCDs comeback soon.
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Before the mad rush to high quality backlit TFT screens, the reflective LCD did achieve quality that was at least on a par to the current e-ink screens.
Low power reflective LCD screens show a little more viewing angle sensitivity, so they are slightly less 'paper like', but on the other hand they have contrast ratios that are typically better than even the current 'Pearl' generation of e-ink (100:1 or better)
In the process of 'perfecting' full color backlit active matrix TFT LCD screens, it seems to have been forgotten that ultra low power high contrast reflective monochrome LCD screens would be a VERY good match for devices like E-Book Readers.
With low cost ultra low power LCD's we could see basic E-Book readers in the $49 range.
Such LCD screens would inexpensive to manufacture, but because they would compete with the costly e-ink, they would sell at premium prices compared to other similar LCD offerings.
So frankly, I am surprised that the LCD manufactures haven't caught on to this, with the recent popularity and high profit margins of e-ink devices.
Sooner or later, someone will wake up and figure out that reflective LCDs can easily compete on contrast and power IF you slow down the response time only slightly AND STILL BE AS FAST OR
FASTER THAN E-INK.
This is contra intuitive though, since the manufactures of LCD devices have spent the last decade figuring how to reduce the response times (which are now in the low millisecond range).
They are obviously working on it. The LCD screen on the Aluratek Libre has great contrast, and is a lot faster and more responsive than e-ink, they just need to improve the battery life a bit, and I think we might start to see a lot more LCD devices.