E Ink and Hanvon have announced the first color e-ink e-book reader, scheduled for release in China in March. The new color paper will be capable of displaying thousands of colors and 16 levels of greyscale. As with old-fashioned black-and-white e-ink, it will only use power to change the display, not to maintain it.
The New York Times notes that Hanvon is the largest e-reader seller in China, with a 78% share of the market. In a country with as many potential customers as China, that’s a pretty good position to be in. The device will cost about $440, and be pitched at business use.
But the color e-ink is not without its drawbacks.
However, the new color E Ink display, while an important technological breakthrough, is not as sharp and colorful as LCD. Unlike an LCD screen, the colors are muted, as if one were looking at a faded color photograph. In addition, E Ink cannot handle full-motion video. At best, it can show simple animations.
This is why bigger e-reader companies such as Amazon are not using it yet—until it can compete in color saturation with LCD, it will not meet the full potential that a color display has to offer.
Still, someone had to be first to try color e-ink. If the technology is ever to reach maturity, it has to be used first.
