..will we ever see liquavista ebook readers?

[underscore]

they were bought from amazon 2 years ago...

[HarryT]

This is not "News". Please use the forums correctly. Moved to "General Discussions".

[pdurrant]

We'll see liquavista ereaders if Amazon thinks it can make money from them and that they won't damage the Kindle brand.

I'm still hoping that we'll see some in the next couple of years, but I have no special info.

[markom]

Regretfully, I don't believe we'll see any new affordable e-paper i.e. reflective lcd 10-13 " tablet or monitor in the next 2-3 years, especially not from Amazon.

Hopefully there will be at least affordable 13" e-ink readers and monitors around in 2-3 years.

[barryem]

I have no problem with color ebook readers as long as they don't replace the e-ink readers we have. I read novels and short stories almost exclusively and color won't add anything for me but cost.

Barry

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by barryem

I have no problem with color ebook readers as long as they don't replace the e-ink readers we have. I read novels and short stories almost exclusively and color won't add anything for me but cost.

Barry

Amazon using liquavista may not be in a color ereader.
The tech also works in a high resolution/high contrast mode. They also have a dual layer implementation where a "low" resolution color layer overlays a high res b&w layer, suitable for magazines and comics.

http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/0...-kindle-plans/

The high res implementation was demonstrated ages ago so it's clear the issue is manufacturability and yield and not the underlying tech. It may be that, like other display technologies, Liquavista never becomes economically viable in terms of fitting into a marketable product.

It may be, though, that the Kindle Voyage is a precursor to a Liquavista ereader, getting the market used to a premium-priced "luxury" reader so that an ereader at > $200 isn't a total shock. In that scenario, we might see something this fall or next year. Pure speculation, though.

Odds are strong that the answer is "never".

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The high res implementation was demonstrated ages ago so it's clear the issue is manufacturability and yield and not the underlying tech.

I agree that this is the most likely reason, but we don't know for sure. It's conceivable that it may be a commercial decision, with Amazon not wanting to damage the lucrative market for LCD tablets.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I agree that this is the most likely reason, but we don't know for sure. It's conceivable that it may be a commercial decision, with Amazon not wanting to damage the lucrative market for LCD tablets.

Uh, if that were the case, why would they have bought Liquavista and kept investing in it? Amazon has no shortage of tax write-offs.

The tech is still under development and they are patenting methods of building products with it so they do want to use it. Besides, the tech isn't likely to be competitive for tablets; that is why Samsung sold it to Amazon in the first place. If it were suitable for tablets Samsung would be developing it themselves. It's not as if they were short of cash at the time.

The timeline shows Samsung buying Liquavista when eink was a growing business and selling it to Amazon, the biggest customer for eink displays, as soon as the ereader business stopped growing. That is a pretty big hint that it isn't competitive with LCD in color image quality. That Amazon bought it at all says they think they can use it for something other than tablets. Which, by the way, is showing signs of having peaked.

It's all reading tea leaves but the signs point two ways: a premium reading device or nothing at all, like mirasol or Canon's SED displays.

It's hard, competing economically against a mature moving target like LCD:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfa...mitter_display

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Uh, if that were the case, why would they have bought Liquavista and kept investing in it? Amazon has no shortage of tax write-offs.

That's why I'm agreeing with you that your suggestion is the most likely. All I was saying is that we lack sufficient information to be certain.

[HarryHutton]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Amazon using liquavista may not be in a color ereader.
The tech also works in a high resolution/high contrast mode. They also have a dual layer implementation where a "low" resolution color layer overlays a high res b&w layer, suitable for magazines and comics.

http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/0...-kindle-plans/

The high res implementation was demonstrated ages ago so it's clear the issue is manufacturability and yield and not the underlying tech. It may be that, like other display technologies, Liquavista never becomes economically viable in terms of fitting into a marketable product.

It may be, though, that the Kindle Voyage is a precursor to a Liquavista ereader, getting the market used to a premium-priced "luxury" reader so that an ereader at > $200 isn't a total shock. In that scenario, we might see something this fall or next year. Pure speculation, though.

Odds are strong that the answer is "never".

For me, I think the issue might be that the displays aren't good enough. The contrast looks poorer than E-Ink, and the colours look a bit washed out. Not convincing enough yet?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryHutton

For me, I think the issue might be that the displays aren't good enough. The contrast looks poorer than E-Ink, and the colours look a bit washed out. Not convincing enough yet?

Are you sure you're not thinking Mirasol?

Liquavista has better than eink contrast and saturation. It doesn't have the "pop" of modern LCD, which makes it unsuitable for video, but the demos look good enough for magazine display.

[HarryHutton]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Are you sure you're not thinking Mirasol?

Liquavista has better than eink contrast and saturation. It doesn't have the "pop" of modern LCD, which makes it unsuitable for video, but the demos look good enough for magazine display.

From the demo videos, it looks OK. But not amazing. At certain angles you see washout issues like this.



(from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6tzaIgZKs0 )

Would still love this display tech despite its flaws, but I think there might be potential to improve the above before launching on the market, so perhaps Amazon is investing and developing before showing their hand.

[pdurrant]

Bear in mind that video was taken five years ago. And actually, to my mind, shows an amazingly good range of viewing angles.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Bear in mind that video was taken five years ago. And actually, to my mind, shows an amazingly good range of viewing angles.

Lighting makes a difference. They are reflective displays, after all.
The contrast and saturation numbers I remember were higher than eink and mirasol.
Will only matter is anything actually ships, though.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Lighting makes a difference. They are reflective displays, after all.

Could such a display be frontlit? I'm guessing it could be?