Bridgestone shows fast e-paper display
updated 01:40 pm EDT, Thu July 2, 2009
Bridgestone e-paper screen
With the introduction of its latest A4-sized electronic paper display, Bridgestone recently announced it will begin supplying e-book makers with the product. At the same time, Bridgestone will offer a development kit to help developers create prototypes of new devices using the Bridgestone e-paper technology. The latest e-paper display from Bridgestone is ten times faster than the company's previous effort, with a 0.8-second rewrite speed for the 8.3 by 11.7-inch display.
The company's previous e-paper products were used for applications such as inventory tags and did not require a fast refresh speed. Like the previous e-paper displays from Bridgestone, the newest ones use the same electron powder and granular material design unique to the company.
The increase in speed was accomplished not by changing the e-paper material but simply by changing the way of applying voltage to it more efficiently. Bridgestone will also offer a color version of the display by combining the black-and-white e-paper with a glass substrate-based RGBW-type color filter. From the photos of Bridgestone's prototypes, it seems the company is also working on touchscreen e-paper, although whether the functionality will make it into production versions is unknown.
More details on this new business venture from Bridgestone will be announced later in July or August. [via Tech-On]
