HP has developed a re-writable printing technology called IonTouch in collaboration with E Ink Holdings. The system is intended to allow writable 2.5″ displays which could be use for labels or displays for credit cards. The company said that it might be used for applications such as visitor labels as the costs are ‘a few tens of cents’ and might also be included in gift cards. The displays can be printed by an HP Indigo digital press and can be re-written ‘thousands of times’ (well, more than 10,000). Resolution is 300 x 300 and the display can have 16 grey levels.
Displays are identified with a barcode. The printer then uses a floating, non-contact print head to create an image in four seconds. The display, like any E Ink display, is bistable and will retain the image indefinitely without needing power. The displays are flexible, durable, water- and impact-resistant, HP said.
HP said that displays will cost less than $2 to make and are being tested at HP’s Palo Alto headquarters as shown in this video.
