E Ink announces next generation display platform

[dougf4]

Press release; Rodney Chan, DIGITIMES [Friday 2 July 2010]

E Ink Corporation, the leading developer and marketer of electronic paper display technology, has announced the release of its next generation display technology, Pearl. With Pearl, E Ink expands the capabilities of reflective displays. With the whitest reflective displays in the industry, and a contrast ratio now approximately 50% greater than today's products, text on Pearl "pops" from the page, enabling a reading experience most similar to reading text on printed paper, the company claimed.

"As the electronic reading market continues to expand, there are more opportunities for expansion not only in the e-book space, but also for e-newspapers, e-magazines and e-textbooks," according to Felix Ho, chairman of E Ink. "E Ink Pearl enables further adoption with a next generation product that is a more lightweight and eco-friendly product than ordinary paper, with less eye strain and longer battery life than an LCD."

The E Ink Pearl design builds on the current generation of Vizplex designs, which is used in millions of e-book reader devices today. Due to a two-pigment system, the current E Ink products in the market have demonstrated long life and high reliability, enabling a whole new class of consumer products.

Entire article here: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100702PR206.html

[ardeegee]

Great-- now there's the iPad and the Eink Pearl.

[OrcaBlue]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Great-- now there's the iPad and the Eink Pearl.

One company uses the term in their product name does not make them own it. I think the original term should be "animal copyrighted". The right to use it should belong to the animal that the name is originally attached to.

[L.J. Sellers]

How soon will consumers see the technology in devices? Is it worth waiting to buy a new e-reader until Pearl is widely used?
L.J.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by OrcaBlue

One company uses the term in their product name does not make them own it.

It isn't about copyright-- it is about what you think of when you hear the name. When I hear about the pearl as in "ball of secretions from an invertebrate" does it make me think of feminine hygiene products? No. But when it is in the format "[Brand Name] Pearl" -- it does.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

How soon will consumers see the technology in devices? Is it worth waiting to buy a new e-reader until Pearl is widely used?
L.J.

It would appear that the new "Graphite" Kindle DX is using it, given that they claim 50% better contrast with it.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

How soon will consumers see the technology in devices? Is it worth waiting to buy a new e-reader until Pearl is widely used?
L.J.

I believe the new Kindle DX is using this display.

Edit: what harry said :d

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

How soon will consumers see the technology in devices?

It is already in the Graphite DX, and the Kindle 3 (Bloomberg: new Kindle in August) must be using Pearl.

All new device designs will undoubtedly use Pearl. Last time round, all existing devices switched to Vizplex within about 6 months. However, volumes were much lower then. This time it will depend on how quickly the screen manufacturers phase out Vizplex for Pearl. Based on the press release, it seems likely that existing Vizplex-compatible display controllers will continue to work with Pearl.

[HarryT]

I wonder if this might perhaps be why we've not seen any other 9.7" displays - because eInk were working on this new screen?

[avlad]

I wondered after Amazon has released the DX, why Sony hasn't launched a 9.7" device. I hope this new technology to be the answer.
Sony 9" + eink pearl + native pdf = ideal ebook reader

[Frankr]

As soon as I can get my hand on a 6 - 7 inch e-ink pearl device I'm buying it.
It must also be less then 300 grams, less then 300 dollars, read lots of formats,waste little space for buttons, and accept sd card expansion. I do not care for wireless access. Either touch screen or not does not matter, as long as the screen is very readable.

[neilmarr]

***Is it worth waiting to buy a new e-reader until ...***

If you wait for the latest technology, LJ, you'll never buy anything ... except, perhaps, a buggy whip. Best wishes. Neil

[astra]

I am looking forward to seeing any new gen. ebook readers from Sony with this type of screen.

[stargazertony]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

How soon will consumers see the technology in devices? Is it worth waiting to buy a new e-reader until Pearl is widely used?
L.J.

IMHO no. There will always be new technology. If you keep on waiting, what you will always do is just - wait. One has to answer the question, are you a reading fan or are you a technology fan? Not saying they are mutually exclusive or you can't be both but sometimes I get idea that there are more on this forum who are technology junkies rather than readers.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by stargazertony

IMHO no. There will always be new technology. If you keep on waiting, what you will always do is just - wait. One has to answer the question, are you a reading fan or are you a technology fan? Not saying they are mutually exclusive or you can't be both but sometimes I get idea that there are more on this forum who are technology junkies rather than readers.

I don't think it's a question of always waiting. It's a question of when the technology will be good enough to get involved.

For some people, the threshold of "good enough" is a little bit higher than what current devices offer. The pending evolutionary step in EPDs may be enough for some folks who are less concerned about speed and functionality but want better readability than what current EPDs offer.

However, we don't know if the bump in contrast is going to be a particularly noticeable thing in the real world. It will be at least a few days, possibly longer, before we see any decent comparisons.

I have my doubts about it, and still find the resolution a little limited. I'm also waiting for better SoC-based hardware solutions and superior reading software. I may have to wait years for a decent ebook reader. However, not everyone will be as uptight. Certainly many people are quite satisfied with the current state of things, which I find puzzling. Some others will think it's almost there, and a proper nudge with the screen readability may just be the excuse they need.