E Ink Triton

See E Ink Kaleido for the latest color version. This is the predecessor E Ink technology and provides high-contrast, sunlight readable, low-power e-paper displays that have the ability to reproduce thousands of colors.

Products

Hanvon is the first company expected to offer devices using this screen. They will release a 9.7-inch color touch screen in 2011 in China, starting at about $440. This will feature an 800 x 600 pixel (1600 x 1200 dots) display. The jetBook Color will be offered at the end of 2011 for school use. This unit was upgraded in late 2012 to offer the Titan 2 technology (see more below). There is a eTextbook version and a regular Color 2. The PocketBook Color Lux, released in 2014 is an 8" Model that also includes a front light which provides more control of the light source.

Overview

In addition to 16 levels of monochrome grayscale, Triton is capable of displaying thousands of colors. For image-rich information applications showing charts, graphs, maps, photos, comics and advertising, color displays made with Triton Imaging Film enable ultra low power and high mobility devices with a paper-like experience. And just like E Ink's monochrome ePaper products, Triton's crisp text and detailed color graphics are fully viewable in direct sunlight. The Triton 2 display is an incremental improvement in performance over the original Triton, likely based on the technology from E Ink Carta.

Both E Ink Triton as well as E Ink Pearl, are both 20% faster than previous generations of E Ink Imaging Film. Whether turning a page, selecting a menu, taking notes, or viewing an animation, Triton's update performance will satisfy today's user-interface product needs. This expands the ePaper experience and display more dynamic content for signage, advertising, or browsing the Internet

The Epson controller S1D13524 is a high-performance EPD controller with a built-in color processor that enables seamless integration of color e-paper displays into a variety of devices.

Specifications

• Display Type: Reflective electrophoretic
• Imaging Component: E Ink Triton Imaging Film
• Colors: Black, White, 15 level Grayscale, Color (RGB)
• Contrast Ratio: 10:1 minimum, Triton 2 is 12:1 minimum.
• White State: 70 minimum
• Dark State: 24 maximum
• Bit Depth: 4096 colors plus 4 bit CR bias
• Reflective: 40% minimum, Triton 2 is 40.7% min.
• Viewing Angle: Near 180 degrees
• Image Update time: 120ms - 980ms
• update modes: Color, Text, Pen, Animation
• Drive method: Active Matrix TFT
• Display sizes: 2 to 12 inches, Triton 2: 1.44 to 13.3 in
• Display Thickness: 1.2 mm
• Resolution: Capabilities exceed 200 DPI, Triton 2 exceeds 250 DPI (125 ppi)
• Aspect Ratio: Typically 4:3
• Environmental
  • Operating range: 0-50° Celsius
  • Storage Range: -25 to 70° Celsius
  • Service Life: 50K hours.

How it works

An RGB (Red, Green, Blue) and clear filter overlays the normal E Ink display. These 4 filter elements are used to display the color information by filtering the grayscale information beneath them. Thus each color has a 4 bit depth with 16 variations. The total color spectrum is 3 colors x 4 bits which equals 4096 possible colors plus full black and full white and 14 other grayscales available via the clear filter. The effect of the clear filter entry can brighten or dim the color without changing the color itself.

A full color pixel represents 4 E Ink pixels which would reduce the full resolution by 2x in each direction but the controller is capable of subpixel-dithering to improve the apparent resolution.

Triton display magnified 400x

Many people are confused about the subpixel-dithering. Please reference the image at the left. Note that there are 4 color boxes representing a pixel. On a 9.7" screen this has 600 pixels across the screen and 800 pixels down the screen. However darkening a single subpixel will turn that subpixel to black no matter what color it is supposed to be thus, you can see that black lines could be at a resolution of four times the color resolution (1200 x 1600). However this is not the case for white. To get white you need all three colors turned on full and the white subpixel will improve the contrast making the screen whiter. If you are using two subpixels as shown in the horizontal black line for black then the remaining two subpixels cannot produce a while area beside above it.

Note that the production controller is designed to not permit a full black from any of the color subpixels even if turned down completely. Instead the controller interprets a full black on the white subpixel to force the entire pixel (all four subpixels) to full black while a similar white subpixel set to full white will force the entire pixel to full white. However anti-aliasing can still be used on pixels that touch the white or black pixel to set single subpixel to smooth the edges for a diagonal line. For an illustration of the use of anti-aliasing see the article on fonts. The reason for this special handling for black is to make text appear at a higher resolution to make reading easier.

Variations

This technology represents the highest dpi yet for an E Ink screen. Removing the color filter layer still leaves a full 200dpi and higher display. For example a 6" with 213 dpi can achieve a 1024 x 768 pixel display with outstanding contrast and unparalleled resolution for larger devices while continuing the 16 level grayscale. The 9.7" devices can use the full resolution already shown as Hanvon WISEreader E920 with a 1600 x 1200 pixel screen. This is the capability included in some E Ink Pearl screens with a new Epson controller.

TV HD size screen

32" Display Module EC312TT2

• Size(inch): 31.2
• Resolution(HxV): 1280 x 720 standard HD
• Active Area(mm): 691.20 x 388.80
• Outline Dimensions(mm):697.2 x 402.8
• Dpi: 47
• E Ink Film: Triton
• Refresh Time: 980ms
• Backplane: Glass
• Total Thickness: 1.35mm
• Total Weight: 800g
• Grey Level: 16
• Front Light: N
• Surface Treatment: Hard Coat

Also available in monochrome version with 2560 x 1440 94ppi. Both of these module can be stacked to provide larger displays.

For more information

• http://www.eink.com/display_products_triton.html
• E Ink for technology
• E Ink display for general specifications
• http://www.eink.com/color-technology.html for other E Ink color technologies which, in addition to Triton include E Ink Spectra and E Ink Prism.