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-EPAPER DISPLAY
1. INTRODUCTION
Today's electronic displays have ever more evolved to be more lightweight, efficient and clear. Yet the importance of the paper has not diminished. We still prefer it to others for a variety of reasons including its readability, high contrast, convenient handling, minimum power requirement cost and strain less reading it offers. At the same time, an electronic display offers us a paperless environment and relieves us from carrying loads of paper for referring to information when required.
Electronic ink is a pioneering invention that combines all the desired features of a modern electronic display and the sheer convenience and physical versatility of sheet of paper. E-paper or electronic paper is sometimes called radio paper or smart paper. Paper would be perfect except for one obvious thing: printed words can't change. The effort is to create a dynamic high-resolution electronic display that's thin and flexible enough to become the next generation of paper.
The technology has been identified and develop ed is well under way. Within five years, it is envisioned electronic books that can display volumes of information as easily as flipping a page and permanent newspapers that update themselves daily via wireless broadcast. They deliver the readability of paper under virtually any condition, without backlighting. And electronic ink displays are persistent without power, drawing current only when they change, which means batteries can be smaller and last longer.
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1.1 History
Electronic paper was first developed in the 1970s by Nick Sheridon at Xeroxs Palo Alto Research center. The first electronic paper, called Gyricon, consisted of tiny, statically charged balls that were black on one side and white on the other. The "text" of the paper was altered by the presence of an electric field, which turned the balls up or down.
In the 1990s another type of electronic paper was invented by Joseph Jacobson, who later co- founded the corporation E Ink which formed a partnership with Philips Components two years later to develop and market the technology
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2. TECHNOLOGY USED
2.1 Gyricon
Electronic paper was first developed in the 1970s by Nick Sheridon at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. 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). 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. At the FPD 2008 exhibition, Japanese company Soken has demonstrated a wall with electronic wall-paper using this technology
2.2 Electrophoretic
An electrophoretic display forms visible images by rearranging charged pigment particles using an applied electric field.
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titanium
particles approximately one micrometer in diameter are dispersed in a hydrocarbon oil. A dark-colored dye is also added to the oil, along with surfactants and charging agents that cause the particles to take on an electric charge. This mixture is placed between two parallel, conductive plates separated by a gap of 10 to 100 micrometers. When a voltage is applied across the two plates, the particles will migrate electrophoretically to the plate bearing the opposite charge from that on the particles. When the particles are located at the front (viewing) side of the display, it appears white, because light is scattered back to the viewer by the high- index titanium particles. When the particles are located at the rear side of the display, it appears dark, because the incident light is absorbed by the colored dye. If the rear electrode is divided into a number of small picture elements (pixels), then an image can be formed by applying the appropriate voltage to each region of the display to create a pattern of reflecting and absorbing regions.
Electrophoretic displays are considered prime examples of the electronic paper category, because of their paper- like appearance and low power consumption.
Electronics on
Plastic by Laser Release (EPLaR) process developed by Philips Research to enable existing AM-LCD (Active matrix liquid crystal display) manufacturing plants to create flexible plastic displays.
manufacturing equipment avoiding the need to build new factories. The technology can also be used to manufacture flexible standard OLED fabrication facilities. OLED (Organic LED) displays using
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display glass as used in TFT-LCD processing plants. It is coated with a layer of polyimide using a standard spin-coating procedure used in the production of AMLCD displays. This polymide coating can now have a regular TFT matrix formed on top of it in a standard TFT processing plant to form the plastic display, which can then be removed using a laser to finish the display and the glass reused thus lowering the total cost of manufacture.
controlled whether the white particles were at the top of the capsule (so it looked white to the viewer) or at the bottom of the capsule (so the viewer saw the color of the oil). This was essentially a reintroduction of the well known electrophoretic display technology, but the use of microcapsules allowed the display to be used on flexible plastic sheets instead of glass.
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One early version of electronic paper consists of a sheet of very small transparent capsules, each about 40 micrometers across. Each capsule contains an oily solution containing black dye (the electronic ink), with numerous white titanium dioxide particles suspended within.
The particles are slightly negatively charged, and each one is naturally white. The microcapsules are held in a layer of liquid polymer, sandwiched between two arrays of electrodes, the upper of which is made transparent. The two arrays are aligned so that the sheet is divided into pixels, which each pixel corresponding to a pair of electrodes situated either side of the sheet. The sheet is laminated with transparent plastic for protection, resulting in an overall thickness of 80 micrometers, or twice that of ordinary paper. The network of electrodes is connected to display circuitry, which turns the electronic ink 'on' and 'off' at specific pixels by applying a voltage to specific pairs of electrodes. Applying a negative charge to the surface electrode repels the particles to the bottom of local capsules, forcing the black dye to the surface and giving the pixel a black appearance. Reversing the voltage has the opposite effect - the particles are forced from the surface, giving the pixel a white appearance. A more recent incarnation of this concept requires only one layer of electrodes beneath the microcapsules.
2.3 Electrowetting
Electro-wetting display (EWD) is based on controlling the shape of a confined water/oil interface by an applied voltage. With no voltage applied, the (coloured) oil forms a flat film between the water and a hydrophobic (waterrepellent), insulating coating of an electrode, resulting in a coloured pixel.
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When a voltage is applied between the electrode and the water, the interfacial tension between the water and the coating changes. As a result the stacked state is no longer stable, causing the water to move the oil aside.This results in a partly transparent pixel, or, in case a reflective white surface is used under the switchable element, a white pixel. Because of the small size of the p ixel, the user only experiences the average reflection, which means that a high-brightness, high-contrast switchable element is obtained, which forms the basis of the reflective display. Displays based on electro-wetting have several attractive features. The
switching between white and coloured reflection is fast enough to display video content.It is a low-power and low- voltage technology, and displays based on the effect can be made flat and thin. The reflectivity and contrast are better or equal to those of other reflective display types and are approaching those of paper. In addition, the technology offers a unique path toward high-brightness full-colour displays, leading to displays that are four times brighter than reflective LCDs and twice as bright as other emerging technologies.
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Instead of using red, green and blue (RGB) filters or alternating segments of the three primary colours, which effectively result in only one third of the display reflecting light in the desired colour, electro-wetting allows for a system in which one sub-pixel is able to switch two different colours independently. This results in the availability of two thirds of the display area to reflect light in any desired colour. This is achieved by building up a pixel with a stack of two independently controllable coloured oil films plus a colour filter.
2.4 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. 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. W hen voltage is removed liquid surface tension causes the pigment dispersion to rapidly recoil into the reservoir. As reported in the May 2009 Issue of Nature Photonics, the technology can potentially provide >85% white state reflectance for electronic paper.
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The brightness and resolution of electrophoretic-based e-ink is better than that of bichromal-based e-ink, but both are monochromatic in nature. To create color, E Ink joined hands with the Japanese company Toppan Printing, which produces color filters. Another drawback of electrophoretic e-ink is its low refresh rate, making electrophoretic e-ink unsuitable for displaying animation or video. Since it takes time for the particles to move from one side of the microcapsule to the other, drawing a new text or image is too slow and creates a flicker effect.
Fig-.4 A colorful illustration of the way ChLCD technology works (Credit: Fujitsu) A completely different solution for creating e-paper, known as cholesteric liquid crystal (ChLCD), is being developed by such companies as IBM and Philips, as well as HP and Fujitsu, which have demonstrated actual devices. ChLCD technology is based on the well-known and widespread technology of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which work by applying a current to spiral-shaped liquid-crystal molecules that can change from a vertical to a horizontal position.
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Although other potential technologies for developing advanced colour electronic paper exist such as photonic crystals (P-ink) recently covered by TFOT, many analysts believe that ChLCD technology could become the dominant e-paper technology of the next decade. This assessment relates to the high level of maturity exemplified by the current LCD industry, as well as to the fact that ChLCD technology currently offers what many analysts see as the ideal list of features for epaper: flexibility and even bendability; thinness, at approximately 0.8 millimetres; lightness; a bi-stable nature, requiring no power to maintain an image and very little power to change it; good brightness, contrast, and resolution; as well as vivid color and a decent refresh rate capable of displaying animation and possibly even video.
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3. KEY BENEFITS
E-Paper has numerous benefits. The reader does not need to get used to a new format - reading an E-Paper equals reading a printed newspaper. However, EPaper guarantees independency regarding room and time. E-Paper can be read everywhere in the world, at every hour, and since digital editions can also be received on PDAs and smart phones, mobility is almost limitless. Additionally, E-Paper saves resources. On the one hand, paper and space are saved - because E-Paper does not pile up anywhere - on the other hand, valuable time is saved. Since the complete pages are displayed on the PC monitor, one instantly gets an overview over all headlines and thus gets to the relevant articles a lot faster
Unlike conventional LCD's and other kinds of reflective displays, an electronic ink display is exceptionally bright and is ready viewable under both bright and dim lighting conditions. To be more assertive we could compare electronic ink display with the latest liquid crystal displays.
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E-PAPER DISPLAY
image
only
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Gray on gray
Readable in sunlight
Legible conditions
under
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Plastic or glass
Glass only
glass make
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When reading text, both reflectance and contrast are important factors in determining the readability of a display. In fact, the contrast of E Ink is nearly twice that of printed newspaper. As can be seen from its high reflectance and contrast the E Ink display is much more readable than LCD.
The bright paper-white background of electronic ink eliminates the need for a backlight is most conditions.
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3.5 Twistable
Electronic Paper is made using soft plastic containing small particles and fluid. As there is no hard material, Electronic Paper is highly flexible and it is able to be twisted or bended into different curvatures. The Electronic Paper can be applied to different shapes of products, without being limited to being bonded to flat display panels. The end product becomes more imaginative in shape and style.
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Superior Look - Because it's made from the same basic materials as
regular ink and paper, electronic ink retains the superior viewing characteristics of paper, including high contrast, wide viewing angle, and bright paper-white background.
plastic to metal to paper. And it can be coated over large areas cheaply.
even when the power is turned off and it's even legible in low light reducing the need for a backlight. This can significantly extend battery life for portable devices.
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5. DISADVANTAGES
Electronic paper technologies have a very low refresh rate comparing with other low-power display technologies, such as LCD. This prevents producers from implementing sophisticated interactive applications (using fast moving menus, mouse pointers or scroll ing) like those which are possible on handheld computers. An example of this limitation is that a document cannot be smoothly zoomed without either extreme blurring during the transition or a very slow zoom.
Another limitation is that an imprint of an image may be visible after refreshing parts of the screen. Those imprints are known as "ghost images", and the effect is known as "ghosting". This effect is reminiscent of screen burn- in but, unlike it, is solved after the screen is refreshed several times. Turning every pixel white, then black, then white, helps normalize the contrast of the pixels. This is why several devices with this technology "flash" the entire screen white and black when loading a new image, in order to prevent ghosting from happening.
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6. APPLICATIONS
Electronic Paper behaves similarly to conventional paper, a llowing high readability under low or high light conditions, and being thin and lightweight and fully pliable. In addition, Electronic Paper has the advantage of allowing the content to be changed easily at any time via the Electronic Paper driver IC. Electronic Paper will provide a viable substitute to paper in certain areas. Some examples of Electronic Paper applications are described below.
In a large department store or supermarket, there are many price tag labels on the shelves indicating product price. Whenever there is a change of price information, it is very tedious to change the price tags individually. By replacing the paper price tag with Electronic Paper, the price information can be easily updated once the Electronic Paper price tags are connected via a wireless network.
The Electronic Paper price tag requires no battery power to maintain display and prices can be updated using the energy from the RF wave to change the image content.
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E-PAPER DISPLAY
For example, a watch using Electronic Paper will allow time and image to be displayed on the wrist strap of the watch.
The digital display utilizes the revolutionary E Ink electronic paper display featuring its paper-like, high contrast readability that is sure to be noticed by others around you. A standard numeric digital display in one mode, a graphic hour clock display in another, and ability to switch between white-on-black to black-on-white time display give this digital watch a style all its own.
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6.3 e-Books
In 2004 Sony released Libri EBR-1000EP in Japan, the first e-book reader with an electronic paper display. In November 2006, the iRex iLiad was ready for the consumer market. In November 2009 Barnes and Noble launched the Barnes & Noble Nook, based on the Android operating system.
In late 2007, Amazon began producing and marketing the Amazon Kindle, an e-book reader with an e-paper display.
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Today, many credit cards contain a smart card to store information such as accumulated credit and money expenses etc. Since Electronic Paper has the advantage of lower power consumption and is as flexible as the card, it offers a good solution to displaying this type of information on the card.
Fig-7 credit cards contain display The revolutionary One Time Password (OTP) DisplayCard enables cardholders to generate and display a dynamic passcode for one-time use. During an online merchant checkout or home banking login, the cardholder obtains a new, unique number by pressing a button on the card. As prompted, the cardholder then enters the number, proving the presence of the card, and completes the transaction. With the DisplayCard, banks can strengthen online banking sign-on by enabling twofactor authentication.
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E-PAPER DISPLAY
SiPix Microcup Electronic Paper is the key enabler for the DisplayCard solution, specifically designed for the applications requirements flexibility, impact resistance, extreme thinness, and ultra-low power consumption. The result is a flexible, 0.25-mm thin e-paper display for increased smart card security, control, and personalization.
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6.5 Newspapers
Electronic paper, e-paper and electronic ink are display technologies which are designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper.[1] Unlike conventional backlit flat panel displays which emit light, electronic paper displays reflect light like ordinary paper. Many of the technologies can hold static text and images indefinitely without using electricity, while allowing images to be changed later. Flexible electronic paper uses plastic substrates and plastic electronics for the display backplane. 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 prerelease version of the iRex iLiad. This was the first recorded application of electronic ink to newspaper publishing.In September 2007, the French daily Les chos
announced the official launch of an electronic version of the paper on a subscription basis. Electronic paper display (EPD) is often considered to be more comfortable to read than conventional displays. This is due to the stable image, which has no need to be refreshed constantly and has a wider viewing angle. An ideal e-paper display can be read in direct sunlight without the image appearing to fade. The contrast ratio in available displays as of 2008 might be described as similar to that of newspaper, though newly developed displays are slightly better. There is ongoing competition among manufacturers to provide full-color ability. The first flexible EPD for consumers will be available in Europe in April 2012.[4] Applications of electronic visual displays include electronic pricing labels in retail shops, and digital signage,[5] time tables at bus stations,[6] electronic billboards, mobile phone displays, and e-readers able to display digital versions of books and epaper magazines. Electronic paper should not be confused with digital paper, which is a pad to create handwritten digital documents with a digital pen
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Some devices, like USB flash drives, have used electronic paper to display status information, such as available storage space. This tends to be better than an LED display, for example, because once the image on the electronic paper has been set, it requires no power to maintain, so the readout can be seen even when the flash drive is not plugged in.
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8. CONCLUSION
Electronic ink is not intended to diminish or do away with traditional displays. Instead electronic ink will initially co-exist with traditional paper and other display technologies. In the long run, electronic ink may have a multibillion-dollar impact on the publishing industry. Ultimately electronic ink will permit almost any surface to become a display, bringinginformation out of the confines of traditional devices and into the world around us.
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9.BIBLIOGRAPHY
gyricon balls" Journal of Electrostatics 2002, 55, (3-4), 247. [2] Comiskey, B.; Albert, J. D.; Yoshizawa, H.; Jacobson, J. "An
electrophoretic ink for allprinted reflective electronic displays" Nature 1998, 394, (6690), 253-255. [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper. [4] Blankenbach K, Schmoll A, Bitman A, Bartels F and Jerosch D
2008 Novel highly reflective and bistable electrowetting displays SID J. 16 23744. [5] Andersson, P.; Nilsson, D.; Svensson, P. O.; Chen, M.;
Malmstrm, A.; Remonen, T.; Kugler, T.; Berggren, M. "Active Matrix Displays Based on All-
Organic Electrochemical Smart Pixels Printed on Paper" Adv Mater 2002, 14, (20), 1460-1464. [6] Huitema, H. E. A.; Gelinck, G. H.; van der Putten, J. B. P. H.;
Kuijk, K. E.; Hart, C. M.; Cantatore, E.; Herwig, P. T.; van Breemen, A. J. J. M.; de Leeuw, D.
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