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The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

shop.invisible-computers.com

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Re: The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

#71

Post by paxys »

ghostly_s wrote: post #68
paxys wrote: post #66

Products like these make me realize that a standard e-reader has the perfect general purpose e-ink display. The Kindle for example is about the same size as this but much sleeker, is backlit, multi-tone, has a battery, wifi, bluetooth, all for less than half the price. I wish there were more mainstream jailbreaking projects and alternative operating systems to really unlock their potential.

You're comparing a product from one of the largest companies on earth with an upstart. and even the cheapest ad-supported Kindle is only 2/3 the price of this in US?

The cheapest Kindle is routinely on sale for $60-70. And spec wise there is really no comparison. The Kindle has a backlight. 1448x1072 resolution (compared to this one's 800x480). Battery that can last a month. USB-C. 16GB storage. Bluetooth. It's a very capable device. The fact that this one is made by an "upstart" means nothing. You have to compete on price and quality to be successful. Plus if this company goes out of business and shuts their servers you are left with a $150 paperweight.

Re: The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

#72

Post by vladxyz »

drdaeman wrote: post #42
0ct4via wrote: post #19

From the creator: "It’s not open source and you need the backend for it to work." They alluded to open sourcing the software/API if the business ever goes under, but obviously that'd not guaranteed. Such a shame, I'd be willing to pay more for a product that was actually open.

Thank you, this is exactly the information I was looking for. If it would be a nicely built frame with a display and a microcontroller (flashable with a custom firmware, or with a simple and sane local API where I can upload a full bitmap via USB and/or WiFi, with no cloud requirements) I'd buy this in an instant. I have a Waveshare 7.5" display for some Grafana dashboards, but I'm all thumbs when it comes to buildin…

I have a 3D printer to supplement my thumbs for things like this. Let me know if you want some help upgrading that cardboard to plastic!

Re: The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

#73

Post by Animats »

Invisible? Looks very visible in the pictures.

E-Ink prices for large displays are still too far high. Not much improvement in the last year. Little watch-sized ones are only a few dollars, though. Ought to be good for something. Auto gauges? Status displays on low-power devices?

Re: The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

#75

Post by octobus2021 »

Nice job, creator. I was working on starting up something similar, went through 3 prototypes but never finished it :(

A few ideas for your consideration:

- 7 inch is waaaay too small, should be at least 10/11 inch.

- Touchscreen is a must. To switch between views, scroll to next/previous day/week, and even insert/update events.

- Voice control is really nice to have, eg to read back events for today/this week etc. Maybe to wake up so that the screen does not stay on all the time.

- Would be cool to have it running off internal power source. I used LCDs which are power-hungry, but with e-paper you are constrained only by the controller which I think is much less draining (voice control would not be an option in this case I think).

- Consider offline mode. Yes it does introduce difficulties but allows people to own the data instead of renting it and sharing with others.

Again, great job!

Re: The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

#76

Post by hiddencost »

passive wrote: post #74

The lack of a battery kills this for me. Minimal power usage is one of the benefits of these kinds of displays, so it seems a very strange omission. We have too many cords running along walls as it is, and it makes the placement a lot harder. Neat idea though.

I have a home made one running on a battery for 8 months. 10Ah, but it only updates every 8 hours.

Re: The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

#78

Post by Rebelgecko »

paxys wrote: post #66

Products like these make me realize that a standard e-reader has the perfect general purpose e-ink display. The Kindle for example is about the same size as this but much sleeker, is backlit, multi-tone, has a battery, wifi, bluetooth, all for less than half the price. I wish there were more mainstream jailbreaking projects and alternative operating systems to really unlock their potential.

I dont have the link handy, but there's a company that sells 6-8 inch eink screens that are just recycled kindle parts with a more hobbyist-friendly interface attached

Re: The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

#79

Post by CPLX »

I bought one of these the last time it was on HN and I’m happy with it.

I have been trying to eliminate reasons to use my phone when at home, and have totally stopped picking it up in the morning.

The problem then is I can get blindsided not knowing what my schedule is or if I have an early call.

So now I have one of these things by my sink and it shows me just the calendar for the current day.

Re: The Invisible Screen – An E-Paper Smart Display

#80

Post by hinkley »

passive wrote: post #74

The lack of a battery kills this for me. Minimal power usage is one of the benefits of these kinds of displays, so it seems a very strange omission. We have too many cords running along walls as it is, and it makes the placement a lot harder. Neat idea though.

I got into arduino when they first come out because I wanted to build information radiators. Every five years since I look at whether or when it will be possible to hang a picture frame on the wall that has no wires and updates. I’m just about overdue to look again. It seems like we are close, but charging it wirelessly or off of solar hidden in the frame is a while yet.

The desktop model really stands out here. The foot needs to be heavy, and there’s plenty of space for batteries in there.

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