Almost twenty years have passed since the first e-paper devices. Since then, somewhat quietly to be honest, the technology has constantly improved, even moving from black and white to colour. And now?
E Ink has just revealed interesting details about its new color e-paper panels, Spectra 6: and the impression is that of an increasingly closer showdown with "traditional" LCD screens.
Here we are with colors
Color e-paper has been around for a while, but early versions were limited in color gamut. For this reason they were used above all for static images and signage.
Advances now allow e-paper to have more and more colors: the new Kaleido 3 and Gallery 3 panels were now capable of showing 4.096 and 50.000 different shades respectively. The new Spectra 6 just presented will dethrone even these specifications.
So what's stopping an e-paper invasion? So far the refreshing: beautiful images, but they take 10 to 20 seconds to update. This, however, does not make them useless, on the contrary: they will not yet be ready for e-readers, but they are ripe for another task.
Will e-papers revolutionize signage?
Static signage doesn't care how long it takes to update an image, as it doesn't happen frequently. For this reason, expect a farewell to old posters and posters (one of the last bastions keeping the still open printing shops afloat).
E-paper street screens will show us large images of meters, with the quality of a screen and the opportunity to no longer waste paper for printing. Add "attackers" to the professions that will no longer exist in 2040, or rather sooner.
Definitely a nice sight, waiting for the next advances to bring e-paper into homes too, with screens that consume much less (also tiring the eyes less).
