14 DAY TRIAL // E-readers may have looked like a promising market a few months ago, but the emergence of slates and the continued lack of color on e-paper screens seem to have reduced, at least in part, the hype of this segment. On the other hand, since slates cater to a different set of needs, it is unlikely that they are any real threat to e-readers, just as they don't look as though they will have any impact on netbooks either. This gives manufacturers all the more reason to invest in improving e-paper capabilities.
Those up to speed with occurrences in this field will know that Qualcomm has already devised the Mirasol display, which has total sunlight readability, extremely low power consumption and quite a high level of detail. The only drawback of this technology is that, regrettably, it isn't ready to show up in devices yet (will debut later this year). Fujitsu, on the other hand, will unveil a different color e-paper screen in a few weeks.
Set to be made official at the Fujitsu Forum, the display technology will be a new form of electronic paper that is based on fresh image re-write methods and a redesigned panel structure.
The screen also boasts a threefold increase in contrast ratio compared to the company's previous solution (7:1), as well as a minimized light loss that results in a reflectance of 33% (1.3 better brightness). Not only that, but a driver control method enables rewrite speeds twice as fast, allowing 1,024 x 768 resolution images to be rewritten in 0.7 seconds.
In addition to e-book readers, this e-paper technology will be usable in other portable electronic devices, as well as public billboards and commercial advertising applications. Unfortunately, there is no word on how Fujitsu plans to promote it, but it shouldn't take too long for some actual prototypes to take it for a spin.