|
Under just those constraints, sure, it's just expensive. The difference between CRT, AMOLED, LED- which are purely emissive- and e-ink, Mirasol, SiPix- which is purely reflective- is that all LCDs are transflective to a degree (around 33% ish). There are expensive proprietary LCDs out now which enhance this quality for precisely the characteristics you describe. Obviously they're on mobile devices rather than TVs which are intended for indoor use.
The problem is that you pay a huge premium for those proprietary (typically modified substrates, modified polarizer, tighter tolerances on the crystal layer, etc.) elements that only a small sector of the market wants that exceeds even the cost of current e-ink fabrication. Any engineering/manufacturing choice is the product of cost/feature ratio where e-ink just edges in (if it's battery life was worse than LCDs or if the form factor demanded twice the weight and volume... it's doubtful the purported eyestrain advantage would be enough to garner its adoption - put simply, eyestrain alone is not dispositive; cost, form, battery life, durability, etc. are all factored) and expensive transflective-focused LCD is edged out. However, based on your "currently accessible" constraint, sure, you can buy a $2000 LCD ereader with the qualities you mention.
Now if you're willing to either: 1) Expand the definition of "accessible" to "working tech available to OEMs and in prototype" OR 2) Defer "currently" by a few weeks, then 3Qi is a contender, of course. The real innovation of 3Qi isn't necessarily a new LCD feature but a cost effective way of getting it.
|