What is E-paper?

According to SearchMobileComputing.com, E-paper is defined as “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, 2001). This new emerging technology has revolutionized the standard sheet of paper and adapted it to our changing and technologically influenced society. The information desired on the e-paper can be downloaded using a computer or any other electronic device such as a cell phone. Information can also be created from scratch using an electronic version of a pencil (E-Paper, 2001).

Several designs have been developed by different companies:

Gyricon (Developed by Xerox and 3M) – This E-paper consists of a transparent layer of plastic made up of “bichromal beads” of 2 colors (usually black and white). Use of voltage causes the beads to rotate to display text or imaging. Gyricon does not require any lighting module (Gyricon, 2009).

E-Ink (Developed by Lucent)- This E-paper consists of millions of capsules that contain dyes which are light and dark. When these dyed particles are electronically charged, they move up and down along the paper, displaying the desired information. The E-ink model runs on batteries used for watches (E-Paper , 2001).

Flexible E-paper Display (Developed by LG)- This is the model that is the largest (19 inches) and most flexible out in the market. This E-paper uses a “ metal foil layered over a TFT display instead of a glass substrate”, this is what gives this technology its extended flexibility (LG Debuts Flexible E-Paper, 2010).

References:

E-Paper. (2001, March 23). Retrieved March 26, 2010, from SearchMobileComputing: http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/definition/e-paper

Gyricon. (2009, November 25). Retrieved March 26, 2010, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyricon

LG Debuts Flexible E-Paper. (2010, January 17). Retrieved March 26, 2010, from Epaper central: http://www.epapercentral.com/lg-debuts-flexible-epaper.htm