A flexible color display was demonstrated at Plastic Logic's Technology Open Day last month in the company's Russian center. The big news is that this flexible plastic display, developed by a company known for its leading research in plastic transistors, is now available in full color.
The previous generation display is 16-bit grayscale with a resolution of 150 dpi. This version is currently used in the Plastic Logic 100, an academic e-reader the company developed that's being tested in Russian schools.
The new display, like the previous generation, has a 10.7-inch diagonal screen, and is as thin as a sheet of paper at 0.8mm, or 800 microns. It displays 4,096 colors with a resolution of 112 dpi, and weighs 40gm. Its low resolution is explained by the fact that color is achieved by adding a filter on top of the grayscale screen.
Plastic Logic's flexible color display is daylight readable and has multiple applications. (Source: Plastic Logic)
Plastic Logic's flexible displays are remarkably robust: They can be cut with scissors or stomped with a boot and still tick. (Watch videos showing these demonstrations here and here.) Their stated life is five years, including 10 million page updates, or e-reader page changes. The displays are also easy to read in sunlight.
The screen technology is all plastic, based on organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs), and the main structure of the backplane is made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), said Peter Fischer, vice president of process engineering, in an interview. PET is a widely-used polyester material that's also present in most plastic water bottles. On top of that are the OTFTs, made of other plastics.
The backplane is then laminated to E Ink's frontplane, harnessing its electronic ink technology. Due to both the E Ink display and Plastic Logic's transistors, the display is also extremely low power, since it only draws power when the screen makes an update, said Fischer.
Flexible circuits have been around for several years. Electronic components are mounted on, or printed on, flexible plastic substrates, usually made of PEEK (polyether ether ketone), an organic thermoplastic, polyimide, or transparent conductive polyester film. They've been used in watches, cameras, cellphones, and several small and/or portable consumer devices, as well as automotive and aerospace applications.
Applications for flexible color plastic screen technology of various sizes may go beyond e-reader displays. For example, Plastic Logic is investigating industrial and commercial possibilities such as conformable signage or conformal screens in medical applications, said Fischer. The screens' daylight readability in bright and dim light would be a benefit in both of those applications, as well as in mobile electronics.
The company also makes other displays that are not flexible, and is working on several other applications for its OTFT backplane technology.
I agree that an advocate for a specific technology platform, such as tablets, helps. But so many other factors have to be in place before that becomes the deciding factor. "Demand" is pretty evanescent and doesn't accomplish much without the other drivers. In the case of tablets, aside from a combination of the right technologies, materials and manufacturability thereof, market timing of competing platforms (notebooks and handhelds) was a big factor.
Many companies seem to develop technology ahead of actual demand. Companies like Siemens seem to develop technology based on customer needs. But a lot of technology gets developed without a clear customer need in mind -- tablets for instance. With tablets it worked out, but I'm not sure the market would have been significant if Apple hadn't demonstrated the technology's value.
Rob, I think it's less a question of demand than of technology and manufacturing/materials issues. Getting multiple technologies to work together, finding/developing the right combinations of materials, and making this all manufacturable at high volumes is not easy. Tablets took a long time for similar reasons, not only because they didn't have Apple as a champion. So did fancy cell phone features. Miniaturizing cameras didn't happen overnight: that took lots of work on the image sensors and enough time for multiple semiconductor generations/shrinks to occur.
If the idea has been around for ages, Ann, it could be there is not a great demand for the feature. I guess someone company will have to demonstrate the need. Tablets were around for ages before Apple showed they could be cool.
Flexible displays, at least the idea, have been around for ages, but they're usually smaller and not good enough for e-readers. For example, the Flexible Display Center's 7.4 in diagonal display http://flexdisplay.asu.edu/node/195 Samsung and Nokia say they are working on them: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/30/samsung-to-offer-flexible-displays-in-2012-challenges-nokia-to/
Have you seen this technology anywhere else, Ann. I saw the large placemat-style screen Microsoft developed a few years back. That has some flexibility to it, but nothing like the screen you show in the article.
You're right about kids being great beta testers, NadineJ, especially with tablets. I'm sure you're heard the stories of pre-verbal kids mastering tablet functions. I've seen that close up. It's quite amazing. This flexible screen seems perfect for kids.
Actually, the company is based in Germany, although it has a center of some kind in Russia, presumably to support the Russian schools testing. Nadine, no financial data was available. To date, this is the only large contract I'm aware of that the company has revealed, at least for the color version.
I was pleasantly surprised to see it come out of Russia too. Since it's being used in schools, the cost must be low. Any info on that? Any companies or governments in other countries using this in the same way? Kids are great beta testers.
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