This is insane. Almost everything done here to make things fast were things that I had assummed that e-ink displays aready did, because they are so slow, I figured their behaviour was the best that could be achieved after trying all these kind of tricks.
It makes me what other things could be much better if they received some attention from someone who cares about it.
For the grayscale, I'm guessing each physical display would need to be individually calibrated? I also wonder whether the calibration is sensitive to environmental factors, i.e. gets out of whack if the display is too hot or too cold.
I don’t know if this particular display is magnetic particles or not, but epaper is not synonymous with eink. Something can be called epaper and still be lcd based. So I feel the video is misleading by declaring epaper is particle based.
> if everyone understands ... then what's the problem
"E-paper" means very little. It may mean "static" (and yet not necessarily "bistable", not even necessarily "efficient"), it may mean "reflective"... It is a marketing term.
So no, there is no real "agreed understanding" in it.
I know e-ink has a whole lot of limitations, which is what makes this video impressive, but, what were the limitations on the hardware used in the original gameboy screens that prevented them from remaining popular? Wikipedia says that they were STN LCD.
Perhaps a stupid question, But I always thought the whole point of e-ink displays was to have non-volatile display, that is, a mostly static display that persists when the power is out. These projects that focus on driving them at high speed, Is there any actual advantage in using e-ink tech at that point?
It's a niche use, but if backlit screens trigger migraines (as they do for mine), then high-speed e-ink is almost a pre-requisite for using traditional interactive UI. At ~15fps typing is OK but using a mouse cursor sucks. Outdoor use is a bonus. RLCD is another option.
Is also "reflective" (natural) vs "emitting" (a compromise idea that worked but should not have you take it for granted - we do not "read fire" in nature).
It makes me what other things could be much better if they received some attention from someone who cares about it.
For the grayscale, I'm guessing each physical display would need to be individually calibrated? I also wonder whether the calibration is sensitive to environmental factors, i.e. gets out of whack if the display is too hot or too cold.
There has to be a reason the e-ink industry hasn't done this yet...
Is one a subset of the other? If so which is the superset?
E-paper is an informal category that anyone can use for any display type.
The display in this video/article is also electrophoretic, but not all displays called e-paper are and it’s aggravating. An example: https://kentdisplays.com/products/color-epaper-displays/
"E-paper" means very little. It may mean "static" (and yet not necessarily "bistable", not even necessarily "efficient"), it may mean "reflective"... It is a marketing term.
So no, there is no real "agreed understanding" in it.
Is also "reflective" (natural) vs "emitting" (a compromise idea that worked but should not have you take it for granted - we do not "read fire" in nature).
Reading a book on e-paper in daylight is so much nicer than on a phone, for example.