What They Say
Hat-tip to DSCC for pointing me to a couple of articles on GoodEreader that cover the Reinkstone R1 colour eReader, a Kickstarter project, that uses a new reflective colour epaper technology called DES from Dalian Good Display (Goodisplay) that is called CofferDam* or ‘electronic slurry’. A white paper on the technology can be downloaded here. The cofferdam surrounds a single pixel and sits above the transistor structure, presumably, isolating the effects of the transistor on adjacent pixels. The EPD material (charged pigments in a hydrotropic solvent) reacts to the field to create black and white pixels and colour is achieved with a colour filter.
The R1 has a 10.1″ display with 1680 x 2232 (280ppi) in monochrome and 140ppi for colour. (GoodEreader suggests that the colour filter can be ‘completely turned off’, but this editor is having trouble getting his head around that!)
GoodEreader tried an early version of the Reinkstone R1 and remarked that there was a lot of ghosting, even on full page refresh.
There is a video online from GoodEreader that shows the colour being switched on and off.
The R1 is available on Kickstarter for $329 and at the time of posting had raised over $750,000, well ahead of its goal.
What We Think
GoodEreader has also suggested that Amazon is working on a flexible Kindle although it admits that it is at an early stage. That’s not really surprising as Kindles have been getting smaller lighter and slimmer for years. However, they are all pretty low cost, so flexibility might be a challenge.
On the DES technology, it’s good to see E Ink having some competition. The firm has had things basically its own way since it bought Sipix, years ago. (BR)
* A cofferdam is a kind of dam used within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out, like a dry dock.
