14 DAY TRIAL // Even though e-paper screens from e-ink have the e-reader market more or less completely under control, other technologies have been surfacing form time to time, and Gamma Dynamics has been working with the University of Cincinnati on one of its own.
E-paper has, so far, dominated the e-reader market because it has a very low power consumption over LCD, enough that it offsets the fact that e-paper can not display color.
Of course, there are some e-book readers that use other types of displays, but they are but the exception that confirms the rule.
Still, where there is a monopoly, one can easily expect challengers to emerge, and Gamma Dynamics is definitely working on such a challenger.
Through a partnership with the University of Cincinnati, the company managed to develop what the two call electrofluidic e-paper.
“What we’ve developed breaks down a significant barrier to bright electronic displays that don’t require a heavy battery to power them,” said lead researcher Jason Heikenfeld, UC associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering & Applied Science.
Essentially, electrofluidic e-paper is similar, in a way, to e-ink, but relies on simple microcapsules that boast both black and white ink plus a clear oil.
This gives the Gamma Dynamics pixels a colored fluid in a pixel split by a reflective sheet, and ink that can be forced up above or pulled down below the reflective separator by applying different voltages.
This procedure ends up creating a reflectivity of 70 percent, almost the same as that of real paper, and even forms an image in 20ms.
Basically, this should allow the panel to actually support, to some extent, even video playback. Unfortunately, even though this type of panel can be manufactured in a regular LCD factory, practical implementations won't be ready for about another three years.
