Colour E-Ink hitting the market by the end of the year?

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I think Pearl is the third generation of grayscale e-Ink screens to be used in production models. Pearl finally does e-Ink grayscale correctly. I assume that the same will be true for color e-Ink screens in that it will take until about the third generation before they are really good. As Bezos said, that could take years. That photo of the first generation e-Ink screen looked washed out, so they have a long ways to go as far as improving the quality.

If you ever enlarge a portion of text from a color screen, say this forum page, you will notice that the text is not grayscale. It is mostly grays, but there are a lot of color pixels mixed in as well. Too me this is distracting as sometimes a too vibrant pixel grabs my attention and makes reading a pain. I think if you want to read books then grayscale is the way to go.

I think that's a solid take on the issue. Color EPD panels have to be far more complex and also have to leverage the info learned from mono/greyscale panels. Until they get true white, and color MUST have at minimum white particles of around a 5600k color level before they can really be white as well as true blacks can they get good color accuracy. Remember the only reason color printers work is because paper can be had at extremely high white levels. There is no white toner/ink in any of the photo printers, at least that I am aware of. White is one of those bug-bears of image reproductions. So is black, anyone remember the "greenish-blacks" of some early ink based or even color laser printers? That was because they didn't really have a true black yet.

I just sense it's more than being able to activate the particles needed to create the colors, it's the lack of of the white and very possibly true blacks as well though I suspect blacks are OK these days. It's the difference between the blacks and whites that help give the color the "pop" we expect when thinking of color.

Then there is the issue of the other primary colors needed as well as the potential for the particles becoming contaminated from bumping into each other until they are all the same shade of beige...

This is why I sense that either the PixelQi or a variation of that panel, heck, even a revival of the old transflective LCD/TFT panels would be winners right now as a bridge to when EPD type color panels evolve into a durable and reasonable solution. It's not like there are not color EPD panels that could not be put into production right now. The problem is, they don't seem to offer a viable image for those books which need color to be effective. Add to that they likely must be at least a 12" panel and it's a daunting task to create a really viable commercial panel. Again, who knows what some kid is working on for a science project somewhere...

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

I *want* color e-ink... But I want at least 256-color with solid contrast. So when the first-gen color e-ink arrives I will *not* be an early-adopter.

Derek

I agree but for me I need true full spectrum color in the references I plan to use. This is why I am going to be going with an LCD/TFT panel until a reasonable EPD type panel is out there.

I think today there mfg's have an advantage and won't need to run through the same color levels evolution of days gone by...there is already plenty of experience with color laser printers (not that different than how EPD panels work really) so the ability to produce all colors should follow the first gen panels fairly quickly. But as I mentioned in my last post...it's all about the white they can produce and that those white particles remain white over time...of course the other color particles used need to behave the same way.

I almost wonder if someone is not working on a generic completely clear particle that responds to voltages and/or backlight to change the color it displays. Of course that is a way out there idea I am sure, with no toe-hold in reality.

[BVLarson]

Magazines are the target, as has been said. But more than color, I'm looking forward to mass-production cheap ($50 a unit) and super-thin, lightweight flexible screens. Those are both coming soon, and should be more critical to the market than color (for a book reader, anyway).
-BVL