Pixel Qi's 3Qi hybrid e-paper not in May, maybe in next two months

[Alexander Turcic]

Things have been relatively quiet on Pixel Qi's 3Qi e-paper technology which we thought to arrive this month. If you believe uncorroborated early reports, 3Qi will not only be cheaper to produce than E Ink panels but also come with full color and video capability. The Wired magazine has now thankfully come through and stirred the pot a bit, reporting that Pixel Qi "plans to have samples of its display out within the next two months" with the first commercial displays to follow "later this year."

Pixel Qi’s displays called 3Qi will operate in three settings: a full-color, bright, conventional LCD mode; a very low-power, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode; and a low-power, basic color transflective mode. The screens are initially expected to be available in 10.5-inch and 7.5-inch screen sizes.

If successful, the 3Qi displays could effectively bridge the high-speed, full-color benefits of traditional LCDs and the low-power, reader-friendly qualities of electronic ink displays. The market for electronic ink is currently led by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based E Ink, whose extremely low power, sunlight-readable electrophoretic displays are used in the majority of e-book readers today, including the successful Amazon.com Kindle and Kindle 2. However, despite the readability of E Ink’s screens, the displays take a second or two to refresh, making them unsuitable for video or animation. Also, they are currently only available in monochrome.

Unlike E Ink, 3Qi is still based on traditional LCD technology, which is why it's cheaper to produce - you can use existing LCD production lines. Unfortunately, only time will tell how well 3Qi performs in comparison to E Ink - in particular in regard to low-power usage and readability.

Link: Pixel Qi Promises Cheap, Readable, Low-Power Displays (Wired)

[Hadrien]

Pixel Qi never said that production would start this month: they always mentioned this summer. They're supposed to do a full presentation of the product this month though.

Anyone with a XO-1 is already familiar with the technology: the 3Qi is an evolution of the dual-mode screen available in the XO-1. The main difference for the e-ink mode will be the contrast: it's not as good as a Vizplex (e-ink) device on the XO-1, but should be as good or better on the 3Qi. Readability in the sunlight with the XO-1 is already excellent, it should be even better with the 3Qi.

[Hadrien]

Mary Lou Jepsen will be a keynote speaker at the Annual SID Display Week on May 31. We'll probably get more information during this event.

[Alexander Turcic]

Hadrien, where does it say in the article above anything about production?
They said in April that samples would arrive "next month."

[Hadrien]

On their homepage:

The screens will be available for mini-laptops and ebook readers in high volume mass production in mid-2009.

And:

We have partnership agreements with some of the world's largest manufacturers to create our screens. Additionally, we have some even larger customers lining up to use our innovative new screens. These will be sampling in Spring 2009 and mass-production-ready in Summer 2009.

Unlike e-ink screens, it doesn't require new factories/production units: that's why they can reach mass-production so quickly.

[Alexander Turcic]

Thanks for quoting their homepage (which they keep updating and adjusting, I am sure), but it isn't what I referred to. At the Interactive Displays 2009 conference in April they told visitors that the samples were due May.

In fact, it's also what Mary Lou Jepsen said on their company blog:

Yesterday I spoke at the Interactive Displays conference in San Jose, CA and announced that samples of our screens are due at the end of May/early June.

Now we hear that they may have samples ready within the next two months.

Hadrien, you said:

The main difference for the e-ink mode will be the contrast: it's not as good as a Vizplex (e-ink) device on the XO-1, but should be as good or better on the 3Qi. Readability in the sunlight with the XO-1 is already excellent, it should be even better with the 3Qi.

How do you know that contrast of the 3Qi should be as good or better than E Ink? Have you seen any prototypes?

Originally Posted by Hadrien

Unlike e-ink screens, it doesn't require new factories/production units: that's why they can reach mass-production so quickly.

The same thing was also true for HD DVD versus Bluray. Bluray required new lines, HD DVD didn't. Nonetheless, see today who is still in the game and who isn't.

[yvanleterrible]

That would be the ultimate picture book.

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

How do you know that contrast of the 3Qi should be as good or better than E Ink? Have you seen any prototypes?

Not of the 3Qi but I have a XO-1: I'm testing FBReader and ePub support on it for the OLPC.
I'm quoting what Mary Lou Jepsen said about the 3Qi in several presentations and interviews

The same thing was also true for HD DVD versus Bluray. Bluray required new lines, HD DVD didn't. Nonetheless, see today who is still in the game and who isn't.

That's not a very good analogy. HD DVD vs Bluray was a format war. The one with the best licensing deals and the ability to sell enough players won the war. In this case, it's a technology war. Color, price, power usage, contrast, resolution will be the most important aspects.
We won't see e-ink on a netbook anytime soon, while we already have a dual-mode screen on the market (XO-1). If the 3Qi can be integrated in netbooks, tablets and smartphones very quickly, it'll create a whole new market for e-books and digital reading in general.

[TadW]

Originally Posted by Hadrien

In this case, it's a technology war. Color, price, power usage, contrast, resolution will be the most important aspects.

Bluray and HDDVD was about licensing, but also about technology. Anyways, if Pixel Qi does have a technological leap in displays for e-books, great. But I will believe in the capabilities (and especially price estimates - we all remember the price debacle of the XO, don't we? ) only when I see them in stores.

Has Pixel Qi shown any working prototypes of their upcoming screens?

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by TadW

Has Pixel Qi shown any working prototypes of their upcoming screens?

I don't think so. But I guess we'll see soon. Fingers crossed.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

I don't think so. But I guess we'll see soon. Fingers crossed.

too bad they don't make 5" screen LCD

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

That would be the ultimate picture book.

You're right! If the cost is low enough and they are fairly durable, they would be a great asset to an elementary classroom. We are usually cramped for space and this would help reduce the need for a big class library. If the picture in that article is a representation of what the company will produce, I can see even more classroom applications.

Kaz

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by kazbates

You're right! If the cost is low enough and they are fairly durable, they would be a great asset to an elementary classroom. We are usually cramped for space and this would help reduce the need for a big class library. If the picture in that article is a representation of what the company will produce, I can see even more classroom applications.

Kaz

The picture embedded with this post is of a prototype for the XO-2.

[CTH]

It seems pretty nice.

From what I can remember so is e-ink a cheaper technolgoy than LCD, it is just that there already is alot of manufacturing plants for LCD that makes it cheaper today. I dont have a source on it beacuse it was such a long time ago I read it I might be wrong and things might have changed...

[AJ Starr]

Originally Posted by Hadrien

The picture embedded with this post is of a prototype for the XO-2.

If you read to the very bottom of the article it says:

"Photo: Mockup of an OLPC Tablet/The OLPC Foundation"

I too would love this type of hybrid.