H.264 clip running on standard E Ink panel

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Who needs video on eink? I mean, seriously: color would be cool, better contrast is always nice, semi-rugged (read: unbreakable) shouldn't be too far off, but video? Just get a tablet.

Who needs video, eh? By that logic, who needs e-ink when we have paper?
Colour would be nice too.
Semi-rugged won't happen. (Just look at iPhone.)
We use these devices instead of OLED display devices such as current tablet devices due to lower power use and the clarity of a non-backlit display, not because we're desperate to never see so much as a frame of video! Oh, and to read books. Reading books is good

As for the demo shown: why quarter size video?..

[The Terminator]

I think what we really need is more durable E-readers like having: water proof,scratch proof and drop proof, they make cell phones like that so why not readers?

Colour(color) would be cool but really not that needed unless you read allot of mags on it.

[vbkun]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Who needs video on eink? I mean, seriously: color would be cool, better contrast is always nice, semi-rugged (read: unbreakable) shouldn't be too far off, but video? Just get a tablet.

Well, if they get eink color, with good color definition (of course that won't show up in next weeks, but washed colors is a start) they can expand the whole eink market beyond readers. Publicity indoor, graphic designers would love to have angle-variation-color-prof display to work at, people who spend their entire work time in front of a computer (I'm sure that this is alsoa eye-straining task), if we start to think beyond books I bet there are a lot more applications to a color eink display that can play videos, and i can see even myself moving to a lower refresh rate to release my eyes from lcd (and save loads and loads on pre-printing everything to check colors).

Again, it's not there yet but u need to learn 1+1 before analytical mathematics :P.

[bminata]

Should be good for those Charlie Chaplin movies

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by THE TERMINATOR

I think what we really need is more durable E-readers like having: water proof,scratch proof and drop proof, they make cell phones like that so why not readers?

How much more would you be willing to pay for one? Durability costs.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by vbkun

Well, if they get eink color, with good color definition (of course that won't show up in next weeks, but washed colors is a start)

The color eInk I'm aware of is based on designs eInk first announced back in 2006. It's 12 bit color. For many applications, that will simply not be adequate.

they can expand the whole eink market beyond readers. Publicity indoor, graphic designers would love to have angle-variation-color-prof display to work at,

Not based on eInk's color scheme, they wouldn't. You need accurate color. (I've been a designer in the past, and keep my hand in with occasional side projects. Color eInk would not do here.)

people who spend their entire work time in front of a computer (I'm sure that this is also a eye-straining task),

Oddly, most folks who report eyestrain trying to read ebooks on LCD screens do not report it for normal use, like browsing MR.

I don't consider myself representative, since I've spent the majority of the day staring at a computer monitor since well before LCD screens became the norm, and have had no problems. My standard ebook viewer is a PDA with an LCD screen.

if we start to think beyond books I bet there are a lot more applications to a color eink display that can play videos, and i can see even myself moving to a lower refresh rate to release my eyes from lcd (and save loads and loads on pre-printing everything to check colors).

Good luck on the latter. I really don't see color eInk achieving the color required. And you still need to do test prints for any designs that will be printed. Ink on paper is different from colors on a screen, and the second is only an approximate guide to how the first will look.

Again, it's not there yet but u need to learn 1+1 before analytical mathematics :P.

The question is whether it ever will be there.
______
Dennis

[pholy]

It will be a standard component, pretty much no matter what. There are an assortment of video controllers out there for mobile devices, and the question is which got used. Bookeen is too small to use anything other than "off the rack" hardware.

Don't forget that a Xilinx Spartan-n Field Programmable Gate Array is a standard component, off the rack, and still fairly low power. Then it's just a Simple Matter Of Programming snort: An excellent device for prototyping stuff, building one to thousands...

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by pholy

Don't forget that a Xilinx Spartan-n Field Programmable Gate Array is a standard component, off the rack, and still fairly low power. Then it's just a Simple Matter Of Programming snort: An excellent device for prototyping stuff, building one to thousands...

I was just reading an article on EETimes where Xilinx CTO Ivo Bolsens was talking about FPGAs as integral parts of an SoC strategy.

Of course, "Simple" in Simple Matter Of Programming is relative.

But yeah, off the rack, though I don't see Bookeen using it as a video controller.
______
Dennis

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Who needs video, eh?

... on eink, is what I said. I don't read books on my TV set, and I don't want to watch moving pictures in my books.

Semi-rugged won't happen. (Just look at iPhone.)

Oh, it will. Pocketbook has a few models in their lineup, they just can't get the panels in significant numbers yet. They are aiming at the educational market, amongst other things, where a glass panel really won't do.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

How much more would you be willing to pay for one? Durability costs.

Really? I would have more thought it a matter of getting the design right in the first place. Use WLAN/UMTS only and an inductive charger and you pretty much have a sealed-off waterproof case. Add one of the new "plastic" eink screens once they become available in numbers and there you are. Not exactly rocket science. But, yeah, I'd pay a premium for such a reader.

[MrPLD]

Quite impressive to see what they've done with the eInk display to get the video, quite impressive indeed.

[beachwanderer]

Not something I'd need on my reader. But nevertheless very impressive, that's certainly true.

Nice to see Bookeen still at work and trying to get PR. Good for them.

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

As for the demo shown: why quarter size video?..

It's actually displaying a "feature" of E Ink: Partial screen refresh. Only the quarter needs to be updated (which I assume requires less power), while the rest of the picture can remain stable.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

It will be a standard component, pretty much no matter what. ... Bookeen is too small to use anything other than "off the rack" hardware.

Sony used Field Programmable Gate Array as graphics chip in their production model PRS-500.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Who needs video on eink? ...

I imagine it might be useful for educational applications.