[Summary]
In April 1997, researchers at the MIT Media Lab (MIT: Massachusetts
Institute of Technology) founded the company E Ink to develop an
electronic ink technology. Very briefly (and not so well) explained,
the technology was the following one: caught between two sheets of
flexible plastic, millions of micro-capsules, each of them containing
black and white particles, are in suspension in a clear fluid. A
positive or negative electric field indicates the desired group of
particles on the surface, to view, modify or delete data. The first
screen using this technology was available as a prototype in July 2002,
and marketed in 2004. Other screens followed for various ebook readers
(Librié, Sony Reader, Cybook, Kindle, Nook, etc.), as well as
prototypes of flexible displays announcing the forthcoming electronic
paper.
***
In April 1997, researchers at the MIT Media Lab (MIT: Massachusetts
Institute of Technology) founded the company E Ink to develop an
electronic ink technology.
The first screen using this technology was available as a prototype in
July 2002, and marketed in 2004. Other screens followed for various
ebook readers (Librié, Sony Reader, Cybook, Kindle, Nook, etc.), as
well as prototypes of flexible displays announcing the forthcoming
electronic paper.
As explained on the company's website: "Electronic ink is a proprietary
material that is processed into a film for integration into electronic
displays. Although revolutionary in concept, electronic ink is a
straightforward fusion of chemistry, physics and electronics to create
this new material. The principal components of electronic ink are
millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. In
one incarnation, each microcapsule contains positively charged white
particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear
fluid. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles
move to the top of the microcapsule where they become visible to the
user. This makes the surface appear white at that spot. At the same
time, an opposite electric field pulls the black particles to the
bottom of the microcapsules where they are hidden. By reversing this
process, the black particles appear at the top of the capsule, which
now makes the surface appear dark at that spot. To form an E Ink
electronic display, the ink is printed onto a sheet of plastic film
that is laminated to a layer of circuitry. The circuitry forms a
pattern of pixels that can then be controlled by a display driver.
These microcapsules are suspended in a liquid 'carrier medium' allowing
them to be printed using existing screen printing processes onto
virtually any surface, including glass, plastic, fabric and even paper.
Ultimately electronic ink will permit most any surface to become a
display, bringing information out of the confines of traditional
devices and into the world around us."
LCD screens of ebook readers were replaced by E Ink screens. Launched
in April 2004 by Sony in Japan, the Librié was the first ebook reader
with a 6-inch E Ink screen. Launched in October 2006 in the U.S., the
Sony Reader had a E Ink screen that gave “an excellent reading
experience very close to that of real paper, making it very easy going
on the eyes" (Mike Cook, editor of epubBooks.com). The Sony Reader was
then available in Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and France, with
various models. The Cybook Gen3 launched by Bookeen in July 2007, the
Kindle launched by Amazon in November 2007, and the Nook launched by
Barnes & Noble in November 2009 also had E Ink screens.
Another display technology was the gyricon, developed since 1997 by
PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), the Xerox center in Silicon Valley,
California. In December 2000, some researchers at PARC founded the
company Gyricon Media to market the SmartPaper, an electronic paper
based on the gyricon technology. Very briefly (and not so well)
explained, the technology was the following one: in between two sheets
of flexible plastic, millions of micro-cells contain two-tone (black
and white) beads suspended in a clear liquid. Each bead has an electric
charge. An external electrical pulse makes the balls rotate and change
color, to display, modify, or delete data. In 2004, Gyricon Media began
marketing commercial advertising, for example small posters running on
batteries. The company ended its activities in 2005, with R&D
activities going on at Xerox.
Another project has been developed by the company Plastic Logic, this
time using both proprietary plastic electronics and the E Ink
Technology. As explained on the company’s website in 2009: "Technology
for plastic electronics on thin and flexible plastic substrates was
developed at Cambridge University’s renowned Cavendish Laboratory in
the 1990s. In 2000, Plastic Logic was spun out of Cavendish Laboratory
to develop a broad range of products using the plastic electronics
technology."