The Economist on the future of e-reader displays

nick101 · 12-12-2009, 04:39 AM

Interesting stuff on where e-reader display technology is/might be going

http://www.economist.com/sciencetech...ry_id=15048695

<hoping this isn't behind the paywall>

charleski · 12-12-2009, 08:26 AM

Sad.

Lots of the usual irrelevant guff about colour and video (yes, I know, shiny fluff sells), nothing about improving the borderline resolution that we have currently.

kindlekitten · 12-12-2009, 08:50 AM

or about it being a good or bad purchase which I thought the Economist was all about... advice for the thouroughly stuffy and overly wealthy

Canuck_in_Japan · 12-12-2009, 08:51 AM

How about fixing the annoying lag and flash that all e-readers have. I finally managed to get my hands on a Sony ereader the other day and yep, I didn't like it. Not near as nice as my Jetbook LCD screen

kindlekitten · 12-12-2009, 09:02 AM

that doesn't seem to be an issue with the Kindle

wallcraft · 12-12-2009, 01:47 PM

This is the best summary of the competing screen technologies that might make it into mainstream Readers I have seen. Most of this stuff is 1-2 years out at least and don't forget (as the article says):

Quote:

Now for a reality check: in the history of ingenious display technologies, only a handful have ever made it into mass production.

nick101 · 12-12-2009, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

or about it being a good or bad purchase which I thought the Economist was all about... advice for the thouroughly stuffy and overly wealthy

Not sure where that comes from: it's not a financial advice or consumer buying magazine; it's a news and current affairs magazine that runs regular technology surveys. The surveys focus on tech trends and ideas, not on product reviews and advice.

charleski · 12-13-2009, 05:33 AM

I think a large part of the Economist's readership are more worried about whether the stock is a good or bad purchase

.

LDBoblo · 12-13-2009, 07:40 AM

I do wonder a lot about these technologies. Mirasol may well be put into use in 2010 as they plan, but their literature tends to offer varying numbers for contrast/reflectance. They seem to boast 60% reflectance and 15:1 contrast in one place, then change that to 50% and 8:1 in other places.

Liquavista also claims to have improved contrast and brightness a bit over EPDs like Vizplex, though they don't really offer much current information about the state of the tech, and their site and videos are a bit lacking. On the other hand, there was a really interesting picture shown here. I wish they had a larger, higher quality picture, but even the small one shows quite an advantage next to e-ink (mostly in black state, but even white is about 10% better in the pic), even if it continues to fall noticeably short of paper.

Pixel Qi is going to be interesting and I will probably opt for some kind of device with it as long as the device is useful, but for a dedicated reader, it does not seem to resolve my primary problem with current EPD: Poor white-state reflectance and contrast. It does, however, resolve the speed issue, which is great. Since full operating systems now allow some control over the text anti-aliasing methods, it's possible that fonts can be tweaked to display better on Pixel Qi than on standard EPD-bearing hardware. That's one of the big questions I have about Pixel Qi's readability, and I look forward to trying it out in the future.

Yes it's certainly possible that these techs won't make it far, or will only see commercial products in a few years, but some of these techs already have fabs running and are nearly, if not already, prepared for production.

Of course, E-Ink and other EPDs could keep their hold on the market, and I just hope that if they do, they'll take care of their problems...brighter whites, much blacker blacks, higher resolutions, and quicker refreshes (even if not video speeds)

rhadin · 12-13-2009, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charleski

I think a large part of the Economist's readership are more worried about whether the stock is a good or bad purchase

.

I'm a long-time subscriber to The Economist and I must be missing something: I have yet to read/see an article that gives me advice about a stock. What I do read/see are articles that discuss current events and news in depth, something that magazines like Time and Newsweek did in the 1960s, but no longer do. I'm not sure where people get the idea that The Economist is a financial magazine unless it is from its name.

markbot · 12-13-2009, 11:54 AM

let's hope high quality color ebooks are around the corner. 2011? mirasol looks promising.

brecklundin · 12-13-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhadin

I'm a long-time subscriber to The Economist and I must be missing something: I have yet to read/see an article that gives me advice about a stock. What I do read/see are articles that discuss current events and news in depth, something that magazines like Time and Newsweek did in the 1960s, but no longer do. I'm not sure where people get the idea that The Economist is a financial magazine unless it is from its name.

I have to agree...that was an article from the "before time" when news pieces were not dumbed down for the "soundbite" sorts that we have today. It reminded not so much of the old Newsweek or Time, I just did not read them much, but of the old Byte Magazine where the tech articles really explained what was what, going to great lengths to NOT be biased.

I took away a lot of information from the article and sense it was a nice impartial presentation of the state of the display panel world today. Also there was a glimpse as to what might be just around the corner.

fugazied · 12-13-2009, 04:19 PM

LCDs also have a long way to go don't forget. They are trying to develop smaller crystals, tighter resolutions. Apparently when you view a super high resolution and a high refresh rate on a device, that eye strain problem doesn't occur. Also eventually there becomes a point when the resolution is high enough that it begins to feel like reading from a plain piece of paper.

When they reach that state they will be supurb for reading from. LCD will clearly be the victor because e-ink doesn't play videos, computer games, do color screen internet, 1080p movie playback. LCD will. Because of that the market will overwhelmingly buy an LCD device and also use that for e-books. Only the hardcore reading niche will stick with e-ink once those super high res screens come out.

12-12-2009, 04:39 AM	#1
nick101 Groupie Posts: 190 Karma: 1248 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Milton Keynes UK Device: Sony PRS-600 Touch, iPhone	The Economist on the future of e-reader displays Interesting stuff on where e-reader display technology is/might be going http://www.economist.com/sciencetech...ry_id=15048695 <hoping this isn't behind the paywall>

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12-12-2009, 08:26 AM	#2
charleski Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 1281258 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505	Sad. Lots of the usual irrelevant guff about colour and video (yes, I know, shiny fluff sells), nothing about improving the borderline resolution that we have currently.

12-12-2009, 08:50 AM	#3
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	or about it being a good or bad purchase which I thought the Economist was all about... advice for the thouroughly stuffy and overly wealthy

12-12-2009, 08:51 AM	#4
Canuck_in_Japan Wizard Posts: 1,475 Karma: 14328611 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: Aura, Aura H2O, Kindle PW3	How about fixing the annoying lag and flash that all e-readers have. I finally managed to get my hands on a Sony ereader the other day and yep, I didn't like it. Not near as nice as my Jetbook LCD screen

12-12-2009, 09:02 AM	#5
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	that doesn't seem to be an issue with the Kindle

12-13-2009, 05:33 AM	#8
charleski Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 1281258 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505	I think a large part of the Economist's readership are more worried about whether the stock is a good or bad purchase .

12-13-2009, 07:40 AM	#9
LDBoblo Wizard Posts: 1,385 Karma: 16056 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Asia Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Sony PRS-505	I do wonder a lot about these technologies. Mirasol may well be put into use in 2010 as they plan, but their literature tends to offer varying numbers for contrast/reflectance. They seem to boast 60% reflectance and 15:1 contrast in one place, then change that to 50% and 8:1 in other places. Liquavista also claims to have improved contrast and brightness a bit over EPDs like Vizplex, though they don't really offer much current information about the state of the tech, and their site and videos are a bit lacking. On the other hand, there was a really interesting picture shown here. I wish they had a larger, higher quality picture, but even the small one shows quite an advantage next to e-ink (mostly in black state, but even white is about 10% better in the pic), even if it continues to fall noticeably short of paper. Pixel Qi is going to be interesting and I will probably opt for some kind of device with it as long as the device is useful, but for a dedicated reader, it does not seem to resolve my primary problem with current EPD: Poor white-state reflectance and contrast. It does, however, resolve the speed issue, which is great. Since full operating systems now allow some control over the text anti-aliasing methods, it's possible that fonts can be tweaked to display better on Pixel Qi than on standard EPD-bearing hardware. That's one of the big questions I have about Pixel Qi's readability, and I look forward to trying it out in the future. Yes it's certainly possible that these techs won't make it far, or will only see commercial products in a few years, but some of these techs already have fabs running and are nearly, if not already, prepared for production. Of course, E-Ink and other EPDs could keep their hold on the market, and I just hope that if they do, they'll take care of their problems...brighter whites, much blacker blacks, higher resolutions, and quicker refreshes (even if not video speeds)

12-13-2009, 11:54 AM	#11
markbot Guru Posts: 612 Karma: 7511929 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New York, NY Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2	let's hope high quality color ebooks are around the corner. 2011? mirasol looks promising.

12-13-2009, 04:19 PM	#13
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	LCDs also have a long way to go don't forget. They are trying to develop smaller crystals, tighter resolutions. Apparently when you view a super high resolution and a high refresh rate on a device, that eye strain problem doesn't occur. Also eventually there becomes a point when the resolution is high enough that it begins to feel like reading from a plain piece of paper. When they reach that state they will be supurb for reading from. LCD will clearly be the victor because e-ink doesn't play videos, computer games, do color screen internet, 1080p movie playback. LCD will. Because of that the market will overwhelmingly buy an LCD device and also use that for e-books. Only the hardcore reading niche will stick with e-ink once those super high res screens come out.