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Prototype Rollable Paper-like Display Ready Early

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the many-cool-applications dept.

freitasm writes "A few months ago Philips promised a rollable, paper-like display in two years, but it only took them a few months to have a prototype ready. From the article: 'The Readius is the world's first prototype of a functional electronic-document reader that can unroll its display to a scale larger than the device itself. With four gray levels, the monochrome, 5-inch QVGA (320 pixels x 240 pixels) display provides paper-like viewing with a high contrast ratio. Once the user has finished reading, the display can be rolled back into the pocket-size (100 mm x 60 mm x 20 mm) device.'"

22 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. need higher resolution and more gray level by yagu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the article: With four gray levels, the monochrome, 5-inch QVGA (320 pixels x 240 pixels) display provides paper-like viewing comfort with a high contrast ratio for reading-intensive applications, including text, graphics, and electronic maps.

    This is the type of screen resolution for my Digital Reader, the resolution that made me send it back the day I got it. There's nothing paper-like about reading dot-matrix like resolutions. The eye doesn't adapt but instead becomes increasingly fatigued.

    This technology may have some application for computer-like applications. I was hoping for e-books. This screen resolution won't cut that....

    1. Re:need higher resolution and more gray level by Angst+Badger · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Forget the resolution, look at the picture -- this stuff is much greyer than even newsprint. There's a reason real paper is white and so much money and effort goes into bleaching wood pulp to make it that way: the contrast makes it easier to read and reduces eyestrain.

      --
      Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
    2. Re:need higher resolution and more gray level by jcl5m · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This comment and the parent comment frustrate me. They are short-sighted criticisms of a fundamentally new technology. I've held samples of this technology in my hand, and its potential is staggering. Sure, the current prototypes are a bit crude in terms of contrast and resolution, but these are engineering issues that will go away with time and more R&D money.

      The two key features that make this a revolutionary new display technology is that it is thin and flexible (and can be manufactured and processed as giant sheets) and that it is bi-stable, meaning once you set the image it takes no power to retain that image. These two features are unlike any other display technology we have today, and unltimately will define the applications it is appropriate for. This really does have the potential to radically change periodical print media, personal printing, and poster/billboard advertising.

      In the future, I would encourage you to learn a little bit more about a new technology before saying it sucks.

    3. Re:need higher resolution and more gray level by gabuzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well you're partly right however this is only a consequence on the press release. I'm sorry but 320x200 on a 5 inch screen is really far from "paper-like" viewing. Laser printing got a par with classical printing when it reached 600dpi. So I doubt you can get "paper-like" without at least 300dpi and a really high contrast.

      Also interesting for the thin, flexible and "no need to maintain power" part, the displayed prototype on have 80dpi resolution and AFAIK a really poor constrast. So I don't want to bash new technology but the step need to go from the prototype to actual paper-like display if really beyond engineering issues.

  2. Ready for primetime? by gbulmash · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Cool prototype and proof of concept, but is it ready for primetime with the specs? Four levels of gray are good for text, but poor for B&W photos and certain types of graphs. I'm not trying to denigrate it as an achievement, but as a product... I have some issues with it. Until it can do more shades and possibly a higher resolution, would it be more than a status gadget?

    - Greg

    --
    Start a happiness pandemic
    1. Re:Ready for primetime? by agent0range_ · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Polymer Vision does not intend to commercialize this concept as a product in the market. Instead, it is demonstrating the fitness of its rollable displays for use in future mobile devices."
      It's a good start. They said they'd have a prototype in 2 years, it took a few months... but it's nothing more than a proof of concept.

    2. Re:Ready for primetime? by mabinogi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Are there really so many people that don't know what a prototype is?

      A prototype isn't "Well, it's got a couple of bugs, but otherwise it's ready".

      A prototype is "if we cobble together these bits and pieces, you can get a general idea of what it might possibly look like once we've actually developed it"

      --
      Advanced users are users too!
  3. Give it some time. by CyricZ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There was a time when the best personal computers had screens of that quality. But over time the technology develops, and things will improve. While not perfect, I would hardly suggest that this technology is useless. It is merely a stepping stone to far greater achievements.

    --
    Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
  4. How tough is it? by mashade · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This looks like a cool new technology, but how useful can it be? I'm wondering how durable the 'film screen' is. Can I accidentally rip it, pulling it out of a pocket? I'm interested to see prototypes in other such designs, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how useful something like this may be.

    --
    Technology tips and tricks.
    1. Re:How tough is it? by OzRoy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      From the picture it seems to just give devices the ability to expand the screen out so you can have a very portable device with a large screen.

      So think of a mobile phone sized device that can expand out to screen size of a PSP (or something like that). Then give that screen touch pad or stylus abilities, and a powerful CPU and you have an ultimate generic portable PC with game, mp3 and organiser abilities.

    2. Re:How tough is it? by aussie_a · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You can easily rip paper pulling it out of your pocket.

      Will it have a paper-like price-tag (bumped up slightly for it's more durable state)? If yes, great. Otherwise it being fragile is a real concern. Now I'm by no means rough with my expensive gadgets, but if it's too flimsy when unrolling it, it's usefulness is decreased dramatically.

      Also, how easy will it be to keep this thing open? And do you really need both hands? Reading something so small two handed can be annoying (please leave the jokes for another time). You need a good justifiable reason for needing both hands with something this small (such as with a PSP where both hands are doing something), and "keeping it open" doesn't seem a very good one (in my opinion). This should be a design issue that's worked on before it's released if this product is going to be useful.

  5. Re:This will revolutionize schools by CyricZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Had Jimmy lived in a society that wasn't so fucking stuck up about the very natural concept of sexual relationships, then he wouldn't have to be whacking his peter to pornography in his arithmetics class.

    --
    Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
  6. Re:omg... by raitchison · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That was the first thing I was thinking too! Can't wait to pick one of these up in the sto'or.

    Seriously though, most of the rest of the global technology already exists, essentiall it's a video/camera phone with the roll-up display. Of course the real time video phone technology as well as the truly global (& orbital) range are a long ways off practicality wise.

    It's definitely reasonable to expect a device very similar to the EFC Global within our lifetimes.

  7. Re:This will revolutionize schools by Moofie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Whaaa...?

    Where are these societies where people aren't interested in pictures of other, naked people? I think such a society would be very dull. And short-lived.

    --
    Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  8. Buttons on the top by Dan+East · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I read ebooks daily on my 240x320 Pocket PC (I use it landscape for reading at 320x240, just like in the article photo). I seldom hold the device in one hand, as they indicate. The most comfortable method for me, allowing for reading for long periods of time, is to use both hands and "encircle" the device with my fingers. If you touch your index finger-tips together, as well as your thumb-tips, forming a rectangle that would encircle the device, you'll see what I mean.

    My Pocket PC (Asus a716) has buttons on the top (when held landscape) that I can push with either index finger.

    The main problem I see with this prototype is they force you to hold the device with your left hand in a specific position to operate the buttons. Hopefully an engineer will have the foresight to put multiple sets of page up / down buttons on the device so it can be utilized in different ways.

    Dan East

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  9. Nattering Nabobs of Negativity by Continental · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Christ, if the moon was made of cheese you people would complain that it wasn't Brie de Meaux. This is the first step to e-paper! Any tech that gets us closer to a more interesting future I'm all in favor of. The first car didn't go 120 and have heated seats. The first e-paper won't be hi-def and touch sensitive. Or whatever else you're complaining about.

    1. Re:Nattering Nabobs of Negativity by gcauthon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The first car wasn't trying to replace something that went 120mph with heated seats, was it? Wasn't it replacing a horse? E-paper is attempting to replace paper so there's nothing wrong with expecting it to be as easy to read as real printed paper. Otherwise, what's the point?

  10. thankfully... by KillShill · · Score: 2, Insightful

    they won't cripple such a useful invention in order to please the copyright cartel?

    right? right...?

    --
    Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source
  11. Mod Parent Up by Anti-Trend · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Parent is right, this technology is astounding and it's only in the prototype phase for crying out loud. Will the technology improve in the future? Almost certainly. Does it have useful implications right now in its current form? Absolutely. I wouldn't be incredibly surprised if paper displays become the successor to plasma (when/if plasma becomes more mainstream), but isn't it a bit unfair to expect something to be technologically perfected right out of the starting gate?

    -AT

    --
    Working in a DevOps shop is like playing in a band made up entirely of keytarists.
  12. Gripe Gripe Gripe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whats with some of you people? You're all technically competent, probably more so than I. Yet when reading your comments, it's clear you're not looking beyond even today. Look at some of these gripes...

    "There's nothing paper-like about reading dot-matrix like resolutions."

    "this stuff is much greyer than even newsprint. There's a reason real paper is white"

    "Cool prototype and proof of concept, but is it ready for primetime with the specs?"

    Of course it isn't! Thats why it's a prototype!! It'll get brighter and more... erm... contrastier... and the resolution will increase. It's not like they expect you to buy and use one today.

    1. Re:Gripe Gripe Gripe by FlynnMP3 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "You're all technically competent..."

      Better yet, imagine /. contributors as pimply faced pubescent hormonally challenged ADD strung out teenagers that have nothing better to do than to offer their viewpoint of how much things suck. Furthermore, imagine the moderators as 1 step up from that, barely able to look above the /. party line or groupthink.

      Heck, I know that is a gross over simplification and stereotype. I look at it this way, imagine bottom of the barrel and when something better comes along, you'll be pleasantly surprised. :)

      On topic, this tech is incredibly cool and the fact that it is in a prototype product makes it even cooler. I'm anxious to see how fast this tech advances now that some core problem have been figured out.

      -FlynnMP3

  13. Don't be so short-sighted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've been saying since high school (17 years) that we need this technology. I don't think it matter what the resolution is... If you can put a dynamic image on something as flexible and portable as paper, it's worth it.

    Consider the possibilities. What does the average person do when they create a document on computer / receive an important e-mail they want to read later / download a manual for a product that they need to view at a different location? They print it. Paper is ultimately versatile because of its portability. A tablet PC just doesn't cut it when you need to slide your chair a few cubicles down to share an idea or present some documentation. Forget a pocket PC - average paper is 8.5x11" for a reason.

    With electronic paper, you simply "print" to the medium and take it with you to wherever - the boss's office, home, a meeting room, the bathroom... Doesn't matter. And because it is electronic, the possibilities are almost endless for how you can renew the data it displays. No more having to collect your hard copy from a printer. The "paper" is just like a PDA, with bluetooth or WiFi, and with touch-screen technology you can even update the image from the device itself. It's also cheaper than a PDA (after mass production), so you can give it away without worrying about where your life-in-a-box went for five minutes.

    IMHO, the sooner this becomes an actual product, the better, even if it looks like a bit worse than newsprint.

    And, as other have said here, this tech will only get better. The medium that is being used is by E Ink, which already provides superior resolution (most likely, the given res was a limitation of the controlling tech, not the medium). Next comes colour. Come on! Persistent, highly visible dynamic image generation on flexible material? This is the arguably the main reason why laptops/tablets/PDAs exist at all.