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New E-Paper from NEC, Available in A3 and A4 Formats

A whole new range of uses might be waiting right around the corner

Oct 28, 2008 13:22 GMT  ·  By
Nec's new A3 and A4 electronic paper
   Nec's new A3 and A4 electronic paper

It's already pretty clear that in the no-so-far-away future, electronic paper (e-paper) will be replacing the classical one, so every development in this particular area is of great interest. That's also the case with the latest announcement from display solutions manufacturer NEC, which has just introduced a revolutionary new type of electronic paper that supports large displays and even multi-tiling.

Thus, according to a report by Nikkei Electronics Asia (TechOn), the company managed to develop what can be described as the e-paper equivalent for A3 and A4 paper formats, by using E Ink's Vizplex Imaging Film. This film contains black and white particles, which are contained in a clear microcapsule and are moved by applying a voltage in order to form an image.

As the company's statement reads, it would seem that the new e-paper modules feature 16-step grayscale, white reflectivity of 43% and a contrast ratio of 10:1, which is actually a lot better than most newspapers. Furthermore, the modules support multi-tiling, which means that they can be used to form large screen displays by combining up to eight modules.

In order to take advantage of the feature mentioned above, the A3 e-paper module features some particularly narrow frames, with two sides measuring just 1mm. This way, very large screens can be created. Furthermore, as any e-paper module, the new solution from NEC requires very little power, both for maintaining the display information and for performing screen rewriting.

As you might imagine, the range of uses for this technology is absolutely huge, the first that comes to mind being the possibility to develop posters or perhaps other types of displays that require large viewing surfaces. However, e-Paper A3s could also be used as centerfolds for the next E-paper men's only magazines....but I guess that's looking way too much into the future.

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