eInk screens lifespan

[NiMa]

**** FEEL FREE TO MOVE IF NEEDED

Hi,
I'm a little confused there in this subject, so let's ask my question:

Does e-Ink screens wear?

I searched all around the Web, came across some interesting links, but none of them showing an exact and certain answer, some of them were too old also, so can't tell if there was improvements in e-Ink after............
I read that you could "exercise" the pixels of your old e-Ink devices, and I also read that "exercising" them would degrade their lifespan quickly, that multiple refreshs would also degrade that.

So........ has e-Ink improved since 2004 in that terms? Do they wear? Or not?
Thanks for answering!

[rashkae]

Not as fast as the other not likely to be replaced components. (Battery and flash will probably degrade first, but everything will eventually succumb to entropy. I think expecting 5 year life of an e-ink reader is reasonable.. some people, of course do much better.)

[NiLuJe]

My oldest device is a K2i, nearly as old as my account here, and it's still kicking with no visible deterioration in performance in that respect.

TL;DR: You *really* shouldn't worry about it.

[NiMa]

Well, thanks for that answer. I was a little worried after I ran (forgetting my concern), before posting this thread, Star Wars on telnet via the vlasovsoft launcher. It worked, though!
I'm a little less worried now, I hope seeing more experiences like you to confirm my thoughts.

Regards

[geek1011]

My oldest device is a 7-year-old Mini, and I heavily use it for testing stuff (which arguably uses the screen more than normal reading). There hasn't been any noticeable changes in the screen yet.

[Quoth]

OLED wears the most due to phosphors ageing as they are more like electroluminescent dots than true LEDs. Some OLEDs have dye filters as well as phosphors!
The dyes on the colour filter of LCDs fade with time. You can get "burn in" (I've seen it on call centre screens) and a large screen where part gets the sun each day will be slightly faded.
The eInk seems only prone to mechanical damage even though technically it's like Steampunk as it's got moving parts.

The eInk screens certainly last more than ten years, so more than battery life, which can be up to ten years. Battery life is complex depending on temperature of storage and number of equivalent full cycles and to an extent the kind of cycles. Kindles have no real off, so need connected to a charger occasionally, maybe every month or two?

So dropping it, tapping too hard, pressing too hard, something falling on the screen or bending the ereader will crack the substrate, though some larger ones may have plastic backing.

Actual use doesn't seem to be an issue.

[NiMa]

Thanks for your clear answer. Thinking at it, my Glo HD's screen is broken, and annoyingly slow. I left it in my room for about 1 year after I lost the firmware on the SD card (at this time, I was not aware that a forum for that existed).
Then a month ago I recovered the SD image and imaged it to the internal SD of the Kobo. I opened it, and maybe I pressed to hard on the back, because when I turned it on, the screen had lines (oops!). The responsivity was good, though. Then, the screen began slowly to become more slow, and finally was no longer doing refreshes. It was now pure garbage.
In last resort, I tried removing the screen to see if I could do something, and I loosened the screws on the back of the Kobo. I turned it on. Magic! It was working, now! Hmm... kind of. The lines are now completely opaque and measures about 1.5 cm each. The responsivity is SLOOOOW: you have to count 6 seconds before your input is actually registered on the screen. Also, due to some screen problem, non completely refreshed items (like menus, font menus, drop-down lists, etc.) are impossible to read (faded out in the back of the screen in a thin, invisible white layer.
But otherwise... the contrast is still excellent. Actually, it is slightly better than on my Libra. The blacks are very clear (when it's refreshed) and sometimes, when I do multiple tasks continuously on the screen, it speeds up and goes back to a normal responsivity delay.

So my thinking then: eInk can be broken, but seem to work (in certain cases) after tinkering. Also, my Glo HD's 5 years old, and still displays blacks perfectly. Does not seem to be any fade of any type in that way.
So........... maybe we can agree that they don't wear?

[pdurrant]

The errors sound more like a problem in the controller or the connections or the electronics rather than in the screen itself.

[Deskisamess]

Once an e-ink screen is physically broken, it's a done deal. There is no fix or recovery.

Problems with the board or connections aren't the same thing.

[NiMa]

Here's a pic of my Glo HD's screen

[pdurrant]

That's a screen with a broken substrate. The tell-tale is the curve in the bottom right. It can't be fixed.

[NiMa]

OK, thanks for confirming. Do you have an idea on its slowness problem?

[pdurrant]

Does it matter? The cost of a replacement screen almost certainly is more than the Glow HD's second-hand value.

i.e. if you want one, but one on eBay.

[NiMa]

Oh, I was just wondering... actually I already got a Libra H20 7" working like a charm
It does not matter really, I was just wondering why it would be doing that.

[NiLuJe]

... because it's broken? .