Future of Display Technology

The Future of Display Technology

Many consider the 1960s as a tumultuous decade, defined mostly by the political and social upheaval was taking place in America. Overlooked by many are the ideas that were birthed from this generation, from the personal computer to a man landing on the moon by the close of the decade. Little did a group of scientists working for Xerox, led by Nick Sheridon, know that they had discovered the future of display technology in their lab during the early 60s. In 1989, nearly thirty years later, the need for electronic paper was realized by when consumers of personal computers would turn to printing to read more comfortably (Genuth). Sheridon decided that an electronic paper that resembled real paper was needed for a paperless work environment and thus, electronic paper was born.

What exactly is electronic paper? It is a type of display technology that resembles the appearance of ordinary paper and ink. Electronic paper displays (EPDs) reflect light similar to ordinary paper, making it easily readable in bright lights. EPDs require a back panel, often made by a separate company, such as the pane used on e-readers that hold the EPD. The e-paper technology comes from companies like E-Ink, a leader in electronic paper display technology, while the backplane comes from a separate company like Polymer Vision (E-Paper Central). E-Ink, the dominant leader of the electronic paper development, utilizes the most widely used form of e-paper in their displays. This type of display, called electrophoretic technology, is a “proprietary material that is made into a film for incorporation into a paper-like display” (Heikenfeld). The ink used on the displays varies by the company that makes it so their own scientific method to create the ink used in their unique products. E-Ink’s website explains that, “the principal components of electronic ink are millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. In one stage, the microcapsules contain positively charged white particles with negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid.” A negative electric field is then applied, causing the white particles to move to the top of the capsule and visible to the reader.

Producing these displays is relatively inexpensive and incredibly easy, making EPDs widely available for future applications. The ink is simply printed onto a sheet of plastic film that is laminated to a layer of circuitry that forms a pattern of pixels, controlled by a display driver (Heikenfeld). The ink can be printed onto a range of materials like glass, plastic and fabric; E-Ink claims that they will have the ability to print electronic ink on almost any surface to make a display within the coming years.
This technology opens doors in many different areas but especially for business environments, advertisements and public boards. Along with a handful of other companies, Fujitsu is breaking through to the future of electronic paper displays. The company’s displays are as easy to use as paper and equally as thin and flexible. Fujitsu’s description of the display states that the technology “uses a substrate-based electronic film that can be rewritten numerous times while using minimal power.” Fujitsu’s electronic paper requires no power except to change display. Establishments that use a lot of power and are areas of public use, such as bus and train stations or airport terminals, could utilize EPDs in the future to display real-time information without eating massive of energy. Since the EPDs are versatile, lightweight, easily changed, and extremely energy efficient, these displays would also be perfect for advertisements in public areas. Fujitsu says that their EPDs will open new ways to design and locate ads to be seen on “public installations such as hanging advertisements in trains and electronic signboards on curved walls.” Fujitsu claims that its electronic paper enables highly effective announcements and product advertisements, since the content displayed can be changed according to the time of day or other conditions. These displays would also be incredibly useful in retail settings for signage and displays; retail businesses could retire simple paper signs and instead use EPDs that could change at intervals, flash text and show animation. This would provide new advertising and marketing strategies that could change the face of advertisements forever.

Also keeping advertising uses in mind, E-Ink partnered with Lucent Technologies so that organic transistors can be utilized in the EPDs. The transistors can be printed to a page and provide the power necessary to switch E-Ink chips from one color to the next (Heikenfeld). Companies are already utilizing this new wave of advertising technology and thus far it’s captivated consumers. This novel technology is ideal for catching the attention of the customers considering that “70-80% of consumer choices are made almost instantaneously because of shelf appeal” (Casatelli). A study from the Stockholm School of Economics tested electronic displays with several in-store experiments where observations, questionnaires, customer eye-tracking, sales data and verbal date were collected. The results showed that EPD displays increase purchases as well as influence customer associations and intentions. According to Casatelli, the study reported a “64% increase in customers picking up the specific products in their shopping baskets” and that “EPDs are able to grab the customer’s conscious and unconscious attentions and…were most effective for “selection-products’; i.e. when customers are faced with multiple choices in terms of brand and product varieties.” Advertising and displays of the future will yield more persuasive powers with consumers and be even more effective in promoting products and services.

Presently, the most dominant use of electronic paper and ink is for e-readers like the Amazon Kindle. Because of its paper-like appearance, changeability, low power consumption, high-contrast and requires no backlight, EPDs are ideal for reading text without hurting the eyes. Compared to other similar products like the iPad, e-readers can last for weeks without needing a charge rather than hours. This is because the “display media is bistable…it can maintain an image when the power is turned off, and the reflective screen requires no backlight,” (Heikenfeld). Presently, the e-reader is driving the EPD market. According to Jason Heikenfeld, E-Ink controls over 90% of the e-paper market. This comes as no surprise while the company is putting out new technologies that are capable of displaying thousands of color and sixteen levels of monochrome, as in their latest Triton display. This feature will provide a new dimension for displaying charts, maps, graphs, pictures, advertising and reading. Triton Imaging Film will continue to use “ultra low power and high mobility devices with a paper-like experience,” fully readable in bright sunlight. However, E-Ink has partnered with companies like Epson, Texas Instruments and Marvell to create future opportunities for applications of EPDs. These companies are “working towards enabling E-Ink’s newest generation of e-paper displays with solutions like dedicated discrete e-paper controllers and display power management integrated circuits” (Heikenfeld). Future generations may very well witness the dawn of a new way to see and interact with the world.

With any new technology, there is bound to be a few kinks; with EPDs, certain flaws must be worked out before making it applicable in all contexts. As with a regular book, external light is needed with many of the e-readers and EPDs in low-light conditions. Additionally, the electrophoretic technology most electronic paper is made from doesn’t display color images well. Attempts to add color to EPDs have run into problems with brightness and readability. The white reflectance of electrophoretic pixels is about 40 percent, according to Heikenfeld, compared to 80 percent for a sheet of paper. Adding layers of color reduces the brightness even more and switching speed is impaired. Electrophoretic pixels switch slowly because the ink is thick; the voltage is applied to the pixel and must spread across the entire thickness. LCDs, on the other hand, use a different substance for their displays that is much faster and better equipped to view videos. Liquid crystal gives LCD screens seen in iPads brilliant colors and full video capabilities but consume the majority of the device’s power and are heavier because of the required housing for a battery.

One company has come up with an innovative solution to some of EPD problems. Pixel Qi out of San Bruno, California invented a multimode display that combines reflective and transmissive liquid crystal technologies to give the user the “best of both worlds.” The product is called 3Qi and seems to answer the solution for EPD brightness problems while continuing to use very little power, unlike liquid crystal displays. According to Pixel Qi’s website, the 3Qi has three different settings: standard color LCD, black-and-white e-paper and a limited color e-paper mode. To use a laptop with 3Qi display in the bright sunshine, one would manually switch to the e-paper mode to rely on reflected light; in the dark, one would switch to the LCD mode that has a backlight. Switching to the standard, monochrome e-paper mode would conserve battery and allow for long-term use, giving individuals freedom from frequent charging. The company claims that the versatility and low-power usage makes up for the loss of maximum brightness and color and report that many consumers are intrigued by this novel technology. Pixel Qi is setting new standards for future EPD displays because they “design all layers of the LCD…the liquid crystal mode and material, the optical films, the driving scheme and the backlight. [They] thus create innovative screens and with new and extraordinary performance that can ramp into high-volume mass production quickly, with high yields” (Pixel Qi). The 3Qi and other Pixel Qi displays have full color, quality images that have the capacity for video, and high screen brightness with the ability to change to a more reflective, power-saving mode in sunlight. If this display was installed in iPads, the energy the screen consumed would be drastically reduced and would also cut the weight of the iPad in half; less battery and housing weight would be necessary to power over ten hours of battery life.

Electronic paper will not eliminate the need for paper or printed products, but they will alter the scape of many work, education and advertising environments. Offices can go mostly paperwork and will have more access to ways to communicate, plan, advertise and progress. Students will be able to download required texts for their courses, have constant access to their work and have the ability to display their work in new ways. Advertisers will find new ways of reaching their audiences and attracting their attention with the range of applications electronic paper and ink has. From flashing price tags to walls printed with moving ink, electronic paper displays have begun to be noticed as the wave of future displays and are here to stay.


Works Cited
Casatelli, Linda. "Ink-In-Motion Displays Captivate Customers." E-Paper Central: electronic paper news, information, and analysis. E-Paper Central, 09/07/2009. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://www.epapercentral.com/ink-in-motion-displays-captivate-shoppers.htm>.
"Fujitsu: Activity Highlights 2005." Fujitsu Group. Fujitsu, 2005. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/ECO/rep2006/2006report11-12-e.pdf>.
Genuth, Iddo. "The Future of Electronic Paper." The Future of Things. The Future Of Things, 15/10/2007. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://thefutureofthings.com/articles/1000/the-future-of-electronic-paper.html>.
Heikenfeld, Jason. "Electronic Display of the Future." IEEE Spectrum, Inside Technology. IEEE Spectrum, 03/2010. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-electronic-display-of-the-future/0>.
"Pixel Qi: Low power, sunlight readable displays." Pixel Qi. Pixel Qi, 12/09/2011. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://www.pixelqi.com/>.