Mirasol vs. Bridgestone.

[Nexutix]

Any comments on e-ink displays of mirasol vs bridgestone displays?

I found some chinese videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvUUkHB-cAE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t0Geapt02g

[LDBoblo]

Those videos are not Chinese, and they're both rather old.

E-Ink is a company/brand name, not a technology. Bridgestone is developing EPDs, by all accounts I've heard. EPD is the same technology driving PVI/E-Ink's products, as well as AUO Sipix's and some others.

Mirasol is a MEMS-based IMOD display, and as far as I know is the only display of its type.

They are vastly different approaches to reflective color screens with some, but not all, of the same benefits. EPDs are rather limited in their refresh capabilities but can retain a residual image in the absence of power. Mirasol does not, as far as I know, retain an image in the complete absence of power (it requires a tiny voltage to maintain the mirror positions), but it is capable of high refresh rates.

Color EPDs and Mirasol have been demonstrated for a while, but neither are available in any real products yet. I don't expect anything real to come out this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if dates start sliding back through next year as well. They do seem to be actually on the way, but when is anyone's guess.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

Mirasol does not, as far as I know, retain an image in the complete absence of power (it requires a tiny voltage to maintain the mirror positions), but it is capable of high refresh rates.

As far as I can tell (and this comes from googling, not inside knowledge) the mirasol displays are bistable. Although it seems that maybe they are just "bistable-ish"-- possibly needing a much lower refresh rate than LCD, but not actually zero-power stable like EPDs. From the web site:

"One of the key advantages of the mirasol® display’s design is its bistable nature, which allows for near-zero power usage in situations where the display image is unchanged. IMOD elements, which make up the IMOD pixels, possess electro-mechanical memory called hysteresis. The hysteresis effect works somewhat like the pull top on an aluminum can. Once the reflective membrane has been pulled down, it requires less energy to hold it than was exerted in pulling it down. This bistability not only allows mirasol displays to replace the non-linearity of an active matrix device, it can also act as a real memory element. The bistability of mirasol displays comes from the inherent hysteresis derived from the technology’s electro-mechanical properties - the inherent imbalance between the linear restorative forces of the mechanical membrane and the non-linear forces of the applied electric field."

(And it isn't actually "mirrors" in the same way as in one of these.)

[zinj]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

Color EPDs and Mirasol have been demonstrated for a while, but neither are available in any real products yet.

Actually, Mirasol displays have been on the market for at least 2 years in the Acoustic Research bluetooth headset (albeit only monochrome). It's not bistable as it goes blank after a couple of seconds (I have one).