Project on "Electronic Paper" (Wikipedia Source)

 Electronic Paper
By :- Wikipedia

Electronic paper and e-paper, also sometimes electronic ink or e-ink, are display devices that mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper.^[1] Unlike conventional backlit flat panel displays that emit light, electronic paper displays reflect light like paper. This may make them more comfortable to read, and provide a wider viewing angle than most light-emitting displays. The contrast ratio in electronic displays available as of 2008 approaches newspaper, and newly (2008) developed displays are slightly better.^[2] An ideal e-paper display can be read in direct sunlight without the image appearing to fade.

Many electronic paper technologies hold static text and images indefinitely without electricity. Flexible electronic paper uses plastic substrates and plastic electronics for the display backplane. There is ongoing competition among manufacturers to provide full-color ability.

Gyricon

Electronic paper was first developed in the 1970s by Nick Sheridon at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center.^[5] The first electronic paper, called Gyricon, consisted of polyethylene spheres between 75 and 106 micrometers across. Each sphere is a janus particle composed of negatively charged black plastic on one side and positively charged white plastic on the other (each bead is thus a dipole).^[6] The spheres are embedded in a transparent silicone sheet, with each sphere suspended in a bubble of oil so that they can rotate freely. The polarity of the voltage applied to each pair of electrodes then determines whether the white or black side is face-up, thus giving the pixel a white or black appearance.

Electrophoretic

Electrophoretic displays are considered prime examples of the electronic paper category, because of their paper-like appearance and low power consumption.

Examples of commercial electrophoretic displays include the high-resolution active matrix displays used in the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony Librie, Sony Reader, Kobo eReader and iRex iLiad e-readers. These displays are constructed from an electrophoretic imaging film manufactured by E Ink Corporation. A mobile phone that used the technology is the Motorola Fone.

displays include Liquavista,^[22] ITRI,^[23] and ADT.^[24][25]

Electrofluidic

Electrofluidic displays are a variation of an electrowetting display. Electrofluidic displays place an aqueous pigment dispersion inside a tiny reservoir. The reservoir comprises <5-10% of the viewable pixel area and therefore the pigment is substantially hidden from view.^[26] Voltage is used to electromechanically pull the pigment out of the reservoir and spread it as a film directly behind the viewing substrate. As a result, the display takes on color and brightness similar to that of conventional pigments printed on paper. When voltage is removed liquid surface tension causes the pigment dispersion to rapidly recoil into the reservoir.

Applications[edit]

Several companies are simultaneously developing electronic paper and ink. While the technologies used by each company provide many of the same features, each has its own distinct technological advantages. All electronic paper technologies face the following general challenges:

·         A method for encapsulation

·         An ink or active material to fill the encapsulation

·         Electronics to activate the ink

Electronic ink can be applied to flexible or rigid materials. For flexible displays, the base requires a thin, flexible material tough enough to withstand considerable wear, such as extremely thin plastic. The method of how the inks are encapsulated and then applied to the substrate is what distinguishes each company from others. These processes are complex and are carefully guarded industry secrets. Nevertheless, making electronic paper is less complex and costly than LCDs.

E-book readers[edit]

In 2004 Sony released the Librié in Japan, the first e-book reader with an electronic paper E Ink display. In September 2006, Sony released the PRS-500 Sony Reader e-book reader in the USA. On October 2, 2007, Sony announced the PRS-505, an updated version of the Reader. In November 2008, Sony released the PRS-700BC, which incorporated a backlight and a touchscreen.

Newspapers[edit]

In February 2006, the Flemish daily De Tijd distributed an electronic version of the paper to select subscribers in a limited marketing study, using a pre-release version of the iRex iLiad. This was the first recorded application of electronic ink to newspaper publishing.

The French daily Les Échos announced the official launch of an electronic version of the paper on a subscription basis, in September 2007. Two offers were available, combining a one-year subscription and a reading device. The offer included either a light (176g) reading device (adapted for Les Echos by Ganaxa) or the iRex iLiad. Two different processing platforms were used to deliver readable information of the daily, one based on the newly developed GPP electronic ink platform from Ganaxa, and the other one developed internally by Les Echos.

Electronic shelf labels

E-Paper based electronic shelf labels (ESL) are used to digitally display the prices of goods at retail stores. Electronic paper based labels are updated via two-way infrared or radio technology.

Digital signage

Because of its energy-saving properties, electronic paper has proved a technology suited to digital signage applications.

How electronic paper will work?

Millions of tiny ink capsules. ... Capsules filled with negatively and positively charged particles color the surface of an EPD when an electric charge is applied (source: E Ink). In the most basic incarnation of an e-paper screen, the particles inside an e ink capsule will be either black or white.

What is meant by e paper?

E-paper (sometimes called radio paper or just electronic paper) is a portable, reusable storage and display medium that looks like paper but can be repeatedly written on (refreshed) - by electronic means - thousands or millions of times.

What is E paper technology?

Electronic paper. ... Electronic paper and e-paper are display devices that mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper. Unlike conventional backlit flat panel displays that emit light, electronic paper displays reflect light like paper.

E-paper (sometimes called radio paper or just electronic paper) is a portable, reusable storage and display medium that looks like paper but can be repeatedly written on (refreshed) - by electronic means - thousands or millions of times. E-paper will be used for applications such as e-books, electronic newspapers, portable signs, and foldable, rollable displays. Information to be displayed is downloaded through a connection to a computer or a cell phone, or created with mechanical tools such as an electronic "pencil". There are a number of different technologies being developed: Xerox, in partnership with 3M, has created an e-paper called Gyricon that is expected to be marketed in the not-distant future and Lucent, in partnership with a company called E Ink, is working on a device (also called E Ink) that is expected to be available within the next few years. Both of these technologies enable a black (or other color) and white display; Philips is working on a type of e-paper that will be full-color, but say that the product is at least 10-15 years away.

The Gyricon version consists of a single sheet of transparent plastic, containing millions of tiny bichromal (two color) beads in oil-filled pockets. Text and images are displayed through a rotation of the beads that occurs in response to an electrical impulse: a full rotation displays as black or white, and a partial rotation displays as gray shades. Like traditional paper, Gyricon has - and needs - no lighting component.

Lucent's E Ink device uses electronic ink and combines thin, plastic, flexible transistors with polymer LEDs (light-emitting diodes) to create what are called smart pixels. The process involved - which is not dissimilar to traditional printing processes - uses silicon rubber stamps to actually print tiny (as small as those for the Pentium III processor) computer circuits onto the surface. E Ink uses electronic ink for display: a liquid plastic substance consisting of millions of tiny capsules filled with light and dark dyes that change color - charged dye particles move either up or down within the capsules - when exposed to an electric charge. According to Paul Drzaic, the director of display technologies, prototypes of the device have been running on watch batteries. The E Ink technology has been used for retail signs.

Neither the Lucent/E Ink version nor the Gyricon version require a constant power source; the initial charge creates the display, which then remains fixed until another charge is applied to change it. Low power demand is an important consideration for a technology that is intended to - at least partially - supplant a power-independent, standalone application like paper. The challenge involved in creating viable e-paper is to develop a material that has the desirable characteristics of traditional paper in addition to its own intrinsic benefits (such as being automatically refreshable). Like traditional paper, e-paper must be lightweight, flexible, glare-free, and affordable, if it is to gain consumer approval. Developers of both the competing e-papers claim to have accomplished most of these qualities in their products. The first e-paper products will be Gyricon-based: portable, reusable pricing signs for stores that can be changed instantly through a computer link; the first Gyricon-based electronic newspaper is expected to be available within the next 3 years.

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