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Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

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Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#21

Post by userbinator »

For those who would just like to use an EPD of reasonable size and price, the "official" development kits etc. are extremely expensive (likely due to the IP/patents discussed in some of the comments here) but others have figured out how to drive the panels you can find cheaply as replacements for e-book readers:

http://essentialscrap.com/eink/

In the usual applications these are driven by a dedicated controller (another big chunk of IP and thus $$), but it's easy enough to generate the signals with a regular microcontroller --- there's literally no minimum refresh rate, so the timing requirements are not high --- and it also gives you more control over the actual pixel whitening/darkening, allowing such things as grayscale and incremental updates:

https://hackaday.io/project/11537-nekocal-an-e-ink-calender

Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#22

Post by bluejekyll »

vivekd wrote: post #4
wuschel wrote: post #3

I wonder what the current situation with e-ink is. From my point of view,current e-ink displays have not really improved significantly in terms of resolution and refreshing speed. Where are the current difficulties with the technology? I remember the difficulty of making larger, highly monodisperse SiO2/polymer particle spheres in the end of the 90s. But I believe this problem was overcome long ago. So is it the elec…

I think the real issue is there is an IP moat - Eink corporation was pretty much a monopoly which kept prices high and research and innovation spending low - but the patent has been partially annulled in Germany so there might be more innovation in that field coming soon http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2015/03/02/german-court-fin...

Shouldn't the original patents be expiring soon anyway?

Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#23

Post by userbinator »

shiven wrote: post #16
linuxkerneldev wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Kudos to Trekstor to stand up for a fight, and thanks for the link. I fear you may have misinterpreted that result. Trekstor doesn't make panels. They buy panels from OED Tech based in Shenzhen. OED Tech is actually a company started by former E Ink engineers who left Boston and moved to China. They were sued by E Ink because those guys just stole the chemical formulas and production processes. OED Tech even approa…

Competition is good but I kind of prefer genuine competition. Except in the industries and product areas where IP is being used for land-grabs, rent-collection, little-to-none innovation and roadblocking any and all competition. In those cases (as E-Ink), I am glad there are still places in this world where people can continue to push the envelope and innovate to create better products for our species. IP be damned.

There are apparently already a bunch of small companies in China making EPDs (electrophoretic display, the "generic name" and associated components; E-Ink is just one company/trademark) so the end of the monopoly may be near, and prices may drop enough to make them as commonly available as LCDs.

Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#24

Post by xeemzorz »

bluejekyll wrote: post #22
vivekd wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the real issue is there is an IP moat - Eink corporation was pretty much a monopoly which kept prices high and research and innovation spending low - but the patent has been partially annulled in Germany so there might be more innovation in that field coming soon http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2015/03/02/german-court-fin...

Shouldn't the original patents be expiring soon anyway?

Patents are only a very small portion of IP value. A huge portion of knowledge is kept as trade secrets. It's not easy to manufacture epaper.

Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#25

Post by xeemzorz »

userbinator wrote: post #23
shiven wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Competition is good but I kind of prefer genuine competition. Except in the industries and product areas where IP is being used for land-grabs, rent-collection, little-to-none innovation and roadblocking any and all competition. In those cases (as E-Ink), I am glad there are still places in this world where people can continue to push the envelope and innovate to create better products for our species. IP be damned.

There are apparently already a bunch of small companies in China making EPDs (electrophoretic display, the "generic name" and associated components; E-Ink is just one company/trademark) so the end of the monopoly may be near, and prices may drop enough to make them as commonly available as LCDs.

I wouldn't count on it. There are still many manufacturing difficulties to overcome before making large format electrophoretics cheaper.

Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#26

Post by mbrookes »

xeemzorz wrote: post #15
ethagknight wrote: post #12

Recently, I tried to contact E-Ink, hoping to get information for an architectural use of some of their supposed products. I couldn't get any real information, conceptual pricing, development kit, summary of capabilities, or anything useful out of their sales staff. I repeatedly explained, I am a well capitalized entrepreneur wanting to incorporate some of their tech into my properties at scale, and that I have a dev…

If black/white isn't a core requirement look into BluBoard (bluboard.io). They are a Cleveland-based hardware startup that specializes in 18" epaper displays and related content management systems. Sources: [1] CES News Story - https://bluboard.io/news/bluboard-at-ces-2017-with-fellow-cw... [2] BluBoard Chooses Multitech - http://www.multitech.com/news-and-events/press-releases/lork... [3] Local News Segment - http:/…

> They are a Cleveland-based hardware startup > Disclaimer: I am the Director of Architecture at BluBoard

Then you should probably say "we are" rather than "they are" so that it's clear from the outset. (PS. When you disclose something, it's a "disclosure".)

Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#28

Post by userbinator »

costcopizza wrote: post #27

Sort of related question I've always had: What is the highest resolution non-color display? I.e. are there '4K' versions of things like e-ink? It seems like most of these things are sort of pixelated looking.

There is the ED312TT2, a 2560x1440 31.2" display which costs $2k:

http://shopkits.eink.com/product/signage-evaluation-kit-v3-w...

Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#29

Post by DenisM »

pcl wrote: post #20
falcolas wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been awhile, but I have seen some basic e-ink displays for sale on DigiKey. That said, I agree that it's silly and frustrating that you couldn't get anything out of someone whose job is sales for the company. EDIT: Nevermind, all they offer currently are segmented displays (think calculator LCD style displays). That's crap.

I've had good experiences with a 10" eInk dev kit from Pervasive Displays, purchased from DigiKey. Looks like it's out of stock right now, but they've got a 7.4" and a 4.4" form factor in stock: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays... https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays... https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays...

How do you program this? Is it easy to get started with?

Re: Building a simple e-ink display from scratch

#30

Post by DenisM »

glial wrote: post #17
ethagknight wrote: post #12

Recently, I tried to contact E-Ink, hoping to get information for an architectural use of some of their supposed products. I couldn't get any real information, conceptual pricing, development kit, summary of capabilities, or anything useful out of their sales staff. I repeatedly explained, I am a well capitalized entrepreneur wanting to incorporate some of their tech into my properties at scale, and that I have a dev…

reMarkable[0] was mentioned here a few days ago. Do you think they are vaporware? [0] https://getremarkable.com/

This looks great. Almost too good to be true.
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