The company that creates the screens for the foremost popular ereaders has just announced a replacement technology which will make reading on electronic paper displays a far better visual experience, while also possibly bringing down the value of the devices.
E Ink’s new On-Cell Touch ePaper may be a module that comes with the touch sensor built into the screen itself. Before this, the touchscreens we’re so conversant in on ereaders had the touch sensor laminated above the E Ink displays – working as a separate component of the device.
This chickenfeed, consistent with E Ink, will make ereader screens a way better visual experience, with text becoming sharper, clearer and with better contrast. Kobo Elipsa: the new stylus-toting 10.3-inch ereader Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: a reasonable yet great ereader The best Amazon Kindle ereaders Better and cheaper displays
The new screen technology will work on both black-and-white also as color displays. E Ink’s Carta grayscale displays – the black-and-white screens on popular ereaders from Amazon and Kobo – will see a 30% increase in contrast ratio, the corporate claims, while E Ink Kaleido color screens (like the one utilized in the PocketBook InkPad Color) will get a far better 40% bump in contrast ratio and 15% increase in color saturation with the utilization of the new On-Cell Touch module.
The integration of the touch sensor within the display itself also means the new technology are often used on flexible e-paper screens, just like the E Ink Mobius, also as in TFT (thin-film transistor) displays that have a glass backplane. In theory, meaning this tech are often utilized in TFT LCD displays just like the ones on our computer monitors and TVs, potentially making interactive panels more mainstream.
The new On-Cell Touch module uses a stacked design that, consistent with E Ink, will drop the assembly cost of creating ereaders because it eliminates the step where the touch sensor must be added on top of the electronic paper display. If this saving is passed on to the top user, next-gen premium ereaders that would potentially replace the likes of the Kobo Forma and Amazon Kindle Oasis could be a touch cheaper. And if this tech somehow filters right down to displays generally, it could reduce the worth of touchscreen monitors.