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By David Rothman

image Tired of the low contrast between the text and background on your Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader?

A University of Cincinnati professor has invented an e-paper display tech with a much brighter background—reflecting 55 percent of ambient light, far more than the current 35-40 percent of E Ink.

Prof. Jason Heikenfeld says the display might eventually be almost as bright as white paper. What’s more, the refresh rate is higher than E Ink’s.

As summed up by MIT’s Technology Review: “Each hexagonal pixel in a new e-paper design has a reservoir in the center containing carbon black ink that spreads out when a voltage is applied.” Here’s the link to the video showing how the technology works.

From the Review:

image The researchers plan to develop products through the startup Gamma Dynamics. Flexible pocket e-reader maker Polymer Vision of Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and pigments supplier Sun Chemical of Cincinnati are already partnering to commercialize the technology. "This technology has the potential to beat all electronic-paper technologies out there on a combination of an extremely high reflectivity; a high, video-capable switching speed; and a thin stack," says Edzer Huitema, chief technology officer at Polymer Vision [associated with the currently delayed Readius e-reader]…

Many other e-paper technologies are now emerging from corporate research labs and startups. Qualcomm’s MEMS-based pixels are now seen in cell-phone displays. Microsoft Research has made telescopic pixels that reflect or block light using a pair of mirrors. Fujitsu is making an e-reader based on Kent, OH’s Kent Display‘s low-power LCD-like technology. University of Toronto spinoff Opalux, meanwhile, is making prototype color displays with photonic crystal pixels

Related: Stephen Windwalker’s reply to Joshua Tallent’s display post, where Steve says he did not neglect the possibility of Amazon using non-E Ink displays.

(Nature Photonics and Technology Review, with thanks to Garson O’Toole.)

 
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