sony: flexible colour e paper

flexible colour e-paper, debuted by sony at SID 2011 image courtesy of tech-on

sony has just debuted one of the first colour, flexible e-paper screens at SID 2011, the largest conference on display technologies.

measuring 13.3-inches (338mm), the flexible screen utilizes a plastic substrate, measuring in at less than 150 micrometers in thickness and weighing under 20 grams. the use of a plastic substrate also adds durability to the device, as it is bendable and more difficult to break even when dropped. red, green, and blue pixels and white sub-pixels at a count of 800 x 1200 offer 150dpi resolution, with a 13-percent (NTSC) colour gamut and 100,000:1 contrast ratio.

to manufacture the device, sony attached a glass substrate to the plastic, and formed amorphous TFTs (thin film transistors) onto the panel before removing the glass substrate. the high precision of the initial attachment between the two materials reduces the space between sub-pixels, thereby attaining the high colour gamut and reflectance ratings.

while a product has not yet been announced for release, sony followers estimate that a device using the technology will be made available within the next one to two years.

at its 2010 dealer show, sony displayed flexible e-paper only available in black and white image courtesy of sony insider

sony’s 24-inch naked-eye 3D LCD display, also announced at SID 2011 image courtesy of tech-on

at the conference, sony also exhibited naked-eye 3D LCD displays, already utilizing different technology than the panels the company debuted at CES 2011. the 24-inch and 10-inch prototype devices each incorporate two backlights, one for 2D and one for 3D images, the latter of which includes LEDs along the light guide plate to generate scatter patterns that are used to show different images to the right and left eyes.

via tech-on