E Ink display
Contents |
[edit] E Ink Display Specifications
Updated for E Ink Vizplex imaging film with a screen contrast of 7:1. The newer E Ink Pearl display increases contrast to 10:1 while the latest E Ink Carta can reach 15:1. See also E Ink Triton for the color display and E Ink Mobius for a flexible display.
[edit] Optical
| Vizplex | Pearl | Carta | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White State Reflectivity: | 40% (typical) | 70% (minimum) | 74% |
| Dark State Reflectivity | 24% (maximum) | 19% | |
| Contrast Ratio: | 7:1 (typical) | 10:1 (minimum) | 15:1 |
| Viewing Angle: | 180° | near 180° | near 180° |
| Reflective | 40.7% (minimum) | 44% | |
| Grayscale Capability: | 4-bit (16 gray levels) | 4-bit, 16 gray levels | 4-bit |
| Image Update Time: | 740 ms (grayscale mode) 260 ms (1-bit mode) |
600 ms (grayscale) 120 ms (1 bit) |
450 ms (grayscale) 120 ms (1 bit) |
| Resolution | 200 ppi max | 200 ppi plus | 300 ppi plus |
In actual practice the grayscale capability is up to the controller hardware and can range from 4 levels to 16 levels in currently shipped devices. The black and white, single bit mode, is called the A2 mode. It is much faster as shown above.
[edit] Mechanical / Dimensional for 6" Display
| Pixel Count: | 800 x 600 (SVGA) 167 ppi |
| Pixel Size: | rectangular, 151 x 153 micron |
| Active Area: | 122.4 x 90.6 mm (4.8" x 3.6") 152.3 mm (6 inches) diagonal |
| Display Thickness: | 1.25 mm |
| Display Weight: | 35 g |
[edit] Other display sizes
- 13.3" (271 x 203 mm, 10.67" x 8.0") 1600 x 1200 pixels, 150 ppi and 2200 x 1650, 207 ppi (Carta)
- 10.2" (207 x 155 mm, 8.15" x 6.1") 1280 x 1024 pixels, 158 ppi, for example: iRex Digital Reader
- 9.7" (203 x 139.5 mm, 8.0" x 5.5") 1200 x 825 pixels, 150 ppi; 1600 x 1200, 200 ppi; and 2400 x 1650, 300 ppi
- Some examples include:
- The Boox NoteS uses 9.7" screen 150 dpi Carta
- The Kindle DX uses 150 dpi, later model had Pearl screen
- The Hanvon WISEReader E920 uses 200 dpi Pearl
- Some examples include:
- 8.0" (162.6 x 121.9 mm, 6.4" x 4.8") 1024 x 768, 160 ppi and 1600 × 1200, 250 ppi (Pearl) and 1920 x 1440, 300 ppi (Carta)
- 6.8" (137.2 x 104.1 mm, 5.4" x 4.1") 1440 × 1080, 265 ppi
- 6.0" (122.4 x 90.6 mm, 4.8" x 3.6") 800 x 600, 167 ppi and 1024 x 768, 213 ppi (Pearl) and 1448 x 1072, 300ppi (Carta)
- 5.0" (101.5 x 76.1 mm, 4.0" x 3.0") 800 x 600, 200 ppi
Available sizes range from 2" to 13.3" diagonal.
[edit] Environmental
| Operating Temperature Range: | 0 — 50 C (32 — 122 F) |
| Storage Temperature Range: | -27 — 70 C (-17 — 158 F) |
[edit] Electrical
| Supply Voltage: | 2.7—3.3 V DC |
| Power Consumption: | Active update peak: 1800 mW Active update typical: 750 mW Standby typical: 1 mW |
[edit] E Ink controllers
The current controllers
- Apollo is the original controller and is still popular and used on many readers.
- IRex builds their own custom controller offering 16 levels of Grayscale.
- Metronome controller currently used on the PRS505
- Epson controller available in late 2008 with improved features. Used on Sony PRS700, Amazon Kindle 2, Kindle DX, Hanlin V5, and others. Newer controllers are also available that can be used for grayscale or color screens.
- EPD controller is integrated into some Freescale processors.
Here is a discussion of interfacing to these controllers for Linux applications.
[edit] Notes on earlier E Ink devices.
The oldest display technology had 4 level gray scale and slower update times of 1000 ms for grayscale and 500 ms for 1-bit mode. Towards the end (late 2007) they increased the grayscale level to 8 using 3 bits. These were primarily 6" devices with 167 ppi, 800 x 600 pixels. They also had less reflectivity. This causes these devices to appear less white (light grey background) and have less contrast. The specifications are listed below:
| White State Reflectivity: | 37% (typical) |
| Contrast Ratio: | 8:1 (typical) |
| Viewing Angle: | 170 degree |
| Grayscale Capability: | 2-bit (4 gray levels) |
| Image Update Time: | 1000 ms (grayscale mode) 500 ms (1-bit mode) |
EBook readers using this screen include the Sony Librie and the Hanlin V8. The iRex iLiad, on the other hand, uses a custom display controller that achieves 16 levels of grayscale. They also used an 8.1" display featuring a 1024 x 768 pixel display.
