E-Ink Reading Device

At the NIST/NISO Electronic Book 2001 Conference, Russ Wilcox, Vice President & General Manager of E Ink, showed a prototype of a reading device which incorporates e-ink technology. Electronic ink is being developed as a cheaper and lighter alternative to liquid crystal displays. Small black and white microcapsules are embedded into a sheet of thin plastic film. As positive and negative charges are passed across the plastic film, the black and white balls move towards and away from the surface, creating the black and white pixels on the page. For a more in-depth explanation, see "What is Electronic Ink?"

E Ink's prototype device replaced the liquid crystal display with an e-ink display. The result is a reading device that weighs only 9oz and has a 1mm screen that can be read at an angle without a change in the 10:1 contrast. Moreover, because energy is not needed to sustain the display of the pixels, but only to alter the arrangement of the pixels, 10,000 pages can be displayed with the power of 2 AA batteries. E Ink hopes to have the devices on the market in mid 2003, with a price tag around $300. A model with a color screen is scheduled for 2004.