LG Begins Mass Production of First Flexible E-ink Displays

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LG Begins Mass Production of First Flexible E-ink Displays

Posted by timothy on Thursday March 29, 2012 @09:51AM from the will-believe-it-when-in-my-hands dept.

MrSeb writes "LG has just announced it has begun mass production of the world's first flexible, plastic e-ink display, with finished devices expected to hit Europe next month. LG says these plastic displays are half the weight (14g) and 30% thinner (0.7mm) than the hard, heavy, prone-to-cracking glass-laminate e-ink displays found in e-book readers like the Kindle and Nook. The press release says the plastic display survives repeated 1.5-meter drop tests and break/scratch tests with a small hammer, and that it's flexible up to 40 degrees from the mid point. Technology-wise, it's not very clear how LG's e-paper actually works. The press release suggests LG is using a conventional TFT process, which hints that they've cracked Electronics on Plastic by Laser Release (EPLaR). EPLaR is basically a technique of embedding electrophoretic ink capsules in a plastic substrate, but using existing TFT manufacturing processes, rather than building a whole new factory (unlike E Ink, which makes displays for the Kindle and other e-book readers). If this is the case, then other LCD manufacturers like Samsung and Sharp could start producing e-ink displays as well, hopefully driving prices down and further improving the display technology."

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Does the display require power? by adisakp · 2012-03-29 09:55 · Score: 4, Insightful

It mentions a TFT substrate and calls it an eInk display. Correctly me if I'm wrong but TFT requires active power for a display while the idea of eInk is that once a display is "set", you do not use any power until you need to update / change the display.
1. Re:Does the display require power? by adisakp · 2012-03-29 09:58 · Score: 0
  
  The main reason I ask this is I can read a number of books on my B&W eInk Kindle without recharging. In fact, it gets recharged only about once a month and I read nearly daily. A device with a display with active power requirements would probably need much more frequent charging.
2. Re:Does the display require power? by Dyinobal · 2012-03-29 10:02 · Score: 1
  
  I was under the impression that a huge chunk of most devices power usage was the back light for the displays.
3. Re:Does the display require power? by Dyinobal · 2012-03-29 10:06 · Score: 2
  
  well that and wireless connectivity be it 3g/wifi or what ever.
4. Re:Does the display require power? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:09 · Score: 1
  
  As I understand what is they say is that they are using manufacturing process of TFTs to produce them which means that existing fabs can adapt to manufacturing them quite easily. Also the usage of electrophoretic ink capsules hints of not needing active power to maintain the picture.
5. Re:Does the display require power? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:10 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  TFT is just "thin film transistor" - the switches that make it work. Backlit flatpanel displays are really LCD (liquid crystal display). Liquid crystals need a sustained voltage bias for their polarization to hold. The suspension of charged ink capsules in eInk does not require a sustained bias for the capsules to stay put in their viscous oil carrier. That is the property that governs the power consumption of these displays, not the electrode substrate.
6. Re:Does the display require power? by johanwanderer · 2012-03-29 10:14 · Score: 2
  
  You still need electronics to flip / reset the eInk pixels. Maybe that's what the Thin-Film-Transistors are for. But that's pure speculation on my part. If that's the case, once the pixels are set, you no longer need power to keep the displayed image.
7. Re:Does the display require power? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:19 · Score: 0
  
  I think the point is that they use the same manufacturing *process* - not that the resulting product is also a TFT. It's a way of using the same machines but making something that is not TFT. There's a brief description at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPLaR
8. Re:Does the display require power? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:25 · Score: 0
  
  Which may be a fair trade for most people, considering the gains.
9. Re:Does the display require power? by adisakp · 2012-03-29 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  Your link mentions AM-LCD and OLED using TFT. Again, both of those use active power to drive the display.
10. Re:Does the display require power? by adisakp · 2012-03-29 10:36 · Score: 1
  
  Oh sorry... I didn't catch the part where it's an electrophoretic display just using those manufacturing techniques... not that actual type of display.
11. Re:Does the display require power? by m3000 · 2012-03-29 10:46 · Score: 1
  
  I've never noticed ads for gift cards, but there are "groupon" type ads which claim 50% off massages, cupcakes, destination vacations, etc (typing this, I wonder if my Kindle thinks I'm female...).
  So they're not as worthless as a TV ad, but on the other hand, there hasn't been anything interesting enough for me to bother clicking on. I don't regret saving the money though, the ads don't bother me at all.
12. Re:Does the display require power? by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-03-29 11:12 · Score: 1
  
  It mentions a TFT substrate and calls it an eInk display. Correctly me if I'm wrong but TFT requires active power for a display while the idea of eInk is that once a display is "set", you do not use any power until you need to update / change the display.
  If what you say is true, incorporating this new technology would seem to me to defeat the whole purpose of having a dedicated e-reader. If I'm going to have to charge my device regularly, I'll just get an iPad and read on that.
  The Kindle is great because I can just pick it up whenever and continue reading - no worrying about the charge, even if I haven't read for a week. I usually leave wireless on, so the charge interval I see is more like two or three weeks... but still, that's playing a whole different ballgame from a tablet or laptop.
  
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  #DeleteChrome
13. Re:Does the display require power? by viperidaenz · 2012-03-29 11:43 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The property that governs the majority of the power consumption is the backlight. How do you think and LCD watch maintains its display for 5 years on a single 50mah battery? Transflective displays were semi-popular in the PDA market 10 years ago. You could turn the backlight off and still read it when there is sufficent ambient light. They're also easy to read in direct sunlight. The down side is without ambient light they require a much stronger backlight to get through the semi-reflective back layer of the screen.
14. Re:Does the display require power? by Cinder6 · 2012-03-29 13:26 · Score: 1
  
  In a the past couple months that I've owned a Kindle, I've noticed one gift card ad--basically, pay $5 and get $10.
  
  --
  If you can't convince them, convict them.
15. Re:Does the display require power? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 15:10 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It makes it clearer in TFA. The 'TFT process' they refer to is the manufacturing process. So a TFT manufacturing plant is believed to be able to produce the LG eInk plastic as well without significant retooling. The LG eInk display is low power usage, just like normal eInk displays.
16. Re:Does the display require power? by bill_mcgonigle · 2012-03-29 16:56 · Score: 1
  
  TFT requires active power for a display
  TFT LCD panels are a type of LCD panel that uses TFT parts. To use "TFT" as a shorthand is convenient but only useful as such when the subject domain is LCD panels.
  I'm not sure of all the uses for TFT's but there are probably many.
  
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  My God, it's Full of Source!
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17. Re:Does the display require power? by bemymonkey · 2012-03-29 18:19 · Score: 1
  
  "The down side is without ambient light they require a much stronger backlight to get through the semi-reflective back layer of the screen."
  On machines like laptops, which could be used in ambient mode when on battery power and active mode when connected to an outlet, a screen like this would be awesome. Too bad Pixel Qi doesn't seem to be gaining any ground :(
18. Re:Does the display require power? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 19:28 · Score: 0
  
  I've read an interesting statistic published by Nielsen that 61% of e-readers are owned by women, so they may just be targeting all advertising at women.
  http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/changing-demographics-of-tablet-and-ereader-owners-in-the-us/
Newspapers say yes, please! by busyqth · 2012-03-29 09:56 · Score: 5, Funny

This will be great for the newspaper industry.
They can roll up an e-ink display, stuff it into a plastic bag, and toss it in your driveway everyday.

The newspaper industry moves into the 21st century!!!
1. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by cpu6502 · 2012-03-29 10:04 · Score: 1
  
  Everyday? More like once-and-done. Then they newspaper editor would just have to send updates via 3G, like the kindle does with books.
  
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  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
2. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by busyqth · 2012-03-29 10:08 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Well then what is the use of making it flexible?
  Just download the newspaper to your iPad and be done with it.
3. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by GodInHell · 2012-03-29 10:11 · Score: 1
  
  Can you roll up your Ipad and jam it in your bag?
4. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by cpu6502 · 2012-03-29 10:20 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I wouldn't want to read a newspaper on an iPad. I can of course if I have to, but an e-ink display is better (looks like a real newspaper).
  
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  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
5. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:20 · Score: 0
  
  Whoosh
6. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by TheRaven64 · 2012-03-29 10:49 · Score: 1
  
  Pocket size. I don't think this display is flexible enough, but there was a company a few years ago that put out a concept eBook reader in a scroll form factor. Rolled up, the screen was completely protected and it would fit in a pocket. Unrolled, it gave a reasonably large screen. I'd love to have a device like that.
  
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  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
7. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:54 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Excuse me troll, but as an Apple user, I find your disturbing use of the word 'better' to be highly offensive and inflammatory.
  How can you state with a straight face that another company can make a product that does something better than the gold standard Apple equivalent?
  People like you should be locked up and throw away the key. Or maybe rendition to an Apple Store you so you can be re-educated to prove the error of your evil ways.
  Nobody, and I mean NOBODY makes better products than Apple! If you think otherwise, you are just as bad as the racists and holocaust-deniers of the world, and are therefore scum. iScum!
8. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-03-29 11:15 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Can you roll up your Ipad and jam it in your bag?
  Depends... is having it continue to work afterward a requirement?
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
9. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by cpu6502 · 2012-03-29 13:08 · Score: 1
  
  Hmmmm.
  
  Excuse me troll, but as an Apple user, I find your disturbing use of the word 'better' to be highly offensive and inflammatory.
  How can you state with a straight face that another company can make a product that does something better than the gold standard Apple equivalent?
  People like you should be locked up and throw away the key. Or maybe rendition to an Apple Store you so you can be re-educated to prove the error of your evil ways.
  Nobody, and I mean NOBODY makes better products than Apple! If you think otherwise, you are just as bad as the racists and holocaust-deniers of the world, and are therefore scum. iScum!
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
10. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by bill_mcgonigle · 2012-03-29 16:58 · Score: 1
  
  Pocket size. I don't think this display is flexible enough, but there was a company a few years ago that put out a concept eBook reader in a scroll form factor. Rolled up, the screen was completely protected and it would fit in a pocket. Unrolled, it gave a reasonably large screen. I'd love to have a device like that.
  In the early 90's, _Earth: Final Conflict_ had a device called a 'global communicator' (everybody's cell phone) that worked this way. Darned if I can find a video on YouTube, though.
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
11. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 18:15 · Score: 0
  
  Red Planet had some cool pull out tablet devices. http://i.imgur.com/7TrWW.jpg
12. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 20:23 · Score: 0
  
  This will be great for the newspaper industry.
  They can roll up an e-ink display, stuff it into a plastic bag, and toss it in your driveway everyday.
  The newspaper industry moves into the 21st century!!!
  If you'd like your daily newspaper to sell for $200, be welcome! :)
13. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by tehcyder · 2012-03-30 02:11 · Score: 1
  
  Can you roll up your Ipad and jam it in your bag?
  Yes. Please feel free to pass on this information to all your iFriends.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
14. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by Tweezak · 2012-03-30 03:28 · Score: 1
  
  Perhaps and appropriate punishment would be a job at Foxconn. At least Apple then has a direct influence on the suffering of the offending individual.
15. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by cpu6502 · 2012-03-30 03:47 · Score: 1
  
  Late 90s. And it didn't roll up. The screen was solid. EFC was a good show in season 1, and then they dumbed it down and it was boring.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
16. Re:Newspapers say yes, please! by bill_mcgonigle · 2012-03-30 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  Late 90s.
  ah, thanks.
  And it didn't roll up. The screen was solid.
  Do you mean the prop or what it was imagined to be? The imagined part had a roll-out screen. Check out the scissor mechanism on the prop.
  EFC was a good show in season 1, and then they dumbed it down and it was boring.
  Agreed! Such wasted potential. I suppose if Gene were around it would have been good.
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Color? by Yvan256 · 2012-03-29 10:09 · Score: 1

Okay, so no color yet, but what about the contrast? Is it better than e-ink's Pearl display from the 4th-generation Kindles? And is it faster?
1. Re:Color? by jfengel · 2012-03-29 11:11 · Score: 1
  
  The photo in the article still looks like dark gray on light gray. It's kind of painfully obvious next to the black and white of my computer screen.
  And as far as I can tell (though the press release doesn't mention it) the speed is still in the "e-books, not animation" stage.
2. Re:Color? by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-03-29 11:16 · Score: 2
  
  Tiny quibble - the Pearl displays have been around since the third-generation Kindles.
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
3. Re:Color? by Yvan256 · 2012-03-29 12:54 · Score: 2
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R92qSBU_WzA
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24srQXX81Oc
  There's also another one, I can't find it, someone switched a nook into 1-bit mode and played Angry Birds on it and it was as fast as the first YouTube link above.
TFT = Thin Film Transistor by bigtrike · 2012-03-29 10:14 · Score: 4, Informative

TFT means Thin Film Transistor, and from what I understand is a method of manufacturing transparent electronics behind the display. If it's still an e-ink display, those transistors will presumably only be powered on when it's time to flip the capsules.
1. Re:TFT = Thin Film Transistor by AmiMoJo · 2012-03-29 23:14 · Score: 1
  
  I wonder if they have made any progress on being able to reliably flip individual capsules off without having to blank the entire screen, and on getting the refresh rate up.
  
  --
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  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
2. Re:TFT = Thin Film Transistor by tehcyder · 2012-03-30 01:59 · Score: 1
  
  I wonder if they have made any progress on being able to reliably flip individual capsules off without having to blank the entire screen, and on getting the refresh rate up.
  The refresh rate on the Sony and Kindle e-ink readers I've seen is perfectly adequate for reading books, which is what they are designed for. You would have to be a real dedicated speed-reader to find it slowed you down noticeably more than turning over a paper page.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
3. Re:TFT = Thin Film Transistor by drinkypoo · 2012-03-30 02:25 · Score: 1
  
  I think most of us would like the display to be capable of doing more than book-reading, though. You can hack the nook simple touch to be a general Android machine, but some apps are just unsuitable. I heard even google maps has too many spurious refreshes but I have no personal experience. I just got my first Android device by installing x86-4.0-rc1 on my EEE701...
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Prone to Cracking by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:24 · Score: 0

I elbowed my Nook Touch the other day. Most of my weight was on the elbow. It didn't crack. I'm tall and a bodybuilder. This was not an insignificant force. I own two other e-ink nooks, one of which I've taken apart. They also have put up with abuse and not cracked. I'm not sure you can really call these things "prone to cracking".
Still, I am interested in the thinner, lighter displays.
Great for manga by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:26 · Score: 0

Imagine a device the size of a standard weekly japanese manga collection but you know not thick as a phone book, have a small reader that you plug in read only cards that contain that weeks manga releases instead of having any sort of wifi or 3g or internal memory it just uses the read only card for data, well it could have a small bit of writable memory for saved reading locations but it does not have to be much. It could help the manga indrustry which is currently struggling by cutting costs and letting a wider level of access to new manga artists as the space on the "phone books" are limited and new artists have trouble getting into.
As this type of screen is light weight and can be bent and read and sturdy enough that you wont worry about carrying it around and putting it into a bag and if it can be made cheap enough which i think it could be if you take out most of the internal guts of current ereaders.
1. Re:Great for manga by semi-extrinsic · 2012-03-30 02:24 · Score: 1
  
  Why can't it have wifi? It's much easier than dealing with a new card for every new magazine. I have newspaper subscriptions on my Kindle that automagically sync over wifi every morning, and I still get 3 weeks on a single charge. Mind you, I turn on wifi, sync, and then turn off wifi. This takes about as much time as making my cup of coffee.
  
  Also, IMO, sturdiness is not the problem with current e-readers. My Kindle (in a cover) has survived 1.5 years of being tossed around in my backpack with books, water bottles, etc. The problem is that you want a large screen to read on, but a small device to put in your bag. That is the issue these screens may solve.
  
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OLED?! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:38 · Score: 1

What the hell happened to the OLED technology?! The industry announced a wide production release soon, several years ago!
1. Re:OLED?! by bigtrike · 2012-03-29 10:46 · Score: 1
  
  It's in a bunch cell phones and increasingly larger TVs.
2. Re:OLED?! by TheRaven64 · 2012-03-29 10:51 · Score: 1
  
  My mobile phone is two years old and has an OLED display. I can only assume that this means that they were in production two years ago, and probably still are since things like the Galaxy Nexus also have them.
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
3. Re:OLED?! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:58 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah, but it's not a flexible OLED display. I think the GP is talking about the technology to print OLED's on flexible surfaces.
"Prone to cracking" by Hadlock · 2012-03-29 10:51 · Score: 1

This is not a phrase I associate with eink, can the posted post some evidence that this is a problem? I've never, ever heard of an eink display cracking

--
moox. for a new generation.
1. Re:"Prone to cracking" by marcosdumay · 2012-03-29 11:23 · Score: 1
  
  Well, have you throwed an eink device from several meters hight, or hit it with a hammer?
  Prone to cracking is relative.
  
  --
  Rethinking email
2. Re:"Prone to cracking" by B1oodAnge1 · 2012-03-29 11:42 · Score: 1
  
  I cracked mine by setting it on top of a toilet paper dispenser and then brushing it off to land on it's corner on the concrete a couple feet below... I dunno about "prone" but it certainly can be done.
  
  --
  RUGBYRUGBYRUGBY
3. Re:"Prone to cracking" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 11:57 · Score: 1
  
  The Kindle screen cracks quite easily, a small amount of pressure on the corners of the screen will cause it to crack. Fortunately, Amazon will replace it for free if it is under warranty.
  Evidence
  It really doesn't take much to break an eink screen.
  I welcome this technology.
4. Re:"Prone to cracking" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 13:06 · Score: 0
  
  B&N solved this problem by making the entire back of the device into an impact softening rubberized plastic. That way instead of waiting a week for the shipping turnaround, you can just not have cracked your display in the first place.
  The black bezel really hides those scratches, too.
  Enjoy your proprietary formats and supporting the company that brought us the one-click patent.
5. Re:"Prone to cracking" by tehcyder · 2012-03-30 02:45 · Score: 1
  
  The standard meaning of "prone to cracking" is not "can be broken with a jackhammer and enough patience".
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Is this a color display? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 10:56 · Score: 0

Or still the black on grey like the Kindle?
Xerox PARC was first by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 11:01 · Score: 0

... to create this stuff, though not in mass production.
Years ago, I saw a pic on the web (of course, I can't find it now) showing the Xerox team holding a huge roll of this stuff.
Xerox filed (likely one-of-multiple) patents on this in 1996; it was granted in 1997. (http://www.google.cf/patents/US7158111).
Re:LIVESTOCK: That's what YOU and I are to "THEM!" by Fned · 2012-03-29 11:10 · Score: 4, Funny

I'm INTERESTED in your IDEAS and want to SUBSCRIBE to your NEWSLETTER
Comming soon the scroll computer by KPexEA · 2012-03-29 11:13 · Score: 1

I would love to see a portable computer that is similar to the old scroll type maps of days gone by. The CPU itself would be about the size of a paper towel tube and the display would just unscroll to look at it and scroll back up around the tube when you are finished with it.
Please put this on the Kindle! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 11:46 · Score: 1

I've broken 4 Kindle screens, always by packing it in my luggage and discovering the cracked screen immediately after boarding a flight. The screen is so fragile, just by applying a small amount pressure on the screen it will break.
This is my most recent one: http://i.imgur.com/Q6GtV.jpg
I NEED this. Amazon, can you hear me?? Please please please put this on the Kindle.
That is all.
1. Re:Please put this on the Kindle! by NoKaOi · 2012-03-29 21:32 · Score: 2
  
  I'm not saying a more durable screen wouldn't be great, but perhaps it would be cheaper for you to buy a decent case once instead of buying a whole new kindle 4 times?
2. Re:Please put this on the Kindle! by MDillenbeck · 2012-03-30 03:32 · Score: 1
  
  Thank Apple and its development of the iPad for that... there was a company called Plasticlogic that was developing an eReader called the Que. It was a flexible plastic display, and in one demo they slammed a boot on it to show its durability. Refresh rates were poor compared to most eInk displays, but with a plastic-based technology it would have been a leap forward. Problem is they pulled out of the market when the iPad was announced and the Que vaporized. (However, I wonder if LG bought the right or is licensing this technology, or did they develop independently and a patent war lies in the near future...)
scale it up, LG by viperidaenz · 2012-03-29 11:51 · Score: 1

A 19" demo screen? If it's that cheap to produce and low-power like traditional glass e-ink, show me a billboard or the side of a building covered in this plastic e-ink display.
Earth: Final Conflict by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 12:22 · Score: 0

Cool, now I can get me my Global!
This will be cool!! by axlr8or · 2012-03-29 12:37 · Score: 1

I wanna changing tatoo! Man that would be hilarious. Put it on banner mode, "I love Mom!!" "I love /."
1. Re:This will be cool!! by foamrat · 2012-03-30 01:59 · Score: 1
  
  Here you go: http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/moodinq-tattoo.shtml?srp=6
Eink displays have been flexible for YEARS by mark-t · 2012-03-29 14:06 · Score: 1

It's the protective screens that they put over them to protect them in consumer devices that aren't typically flexible.
Nothing new to see here.
Wake me up when they can do vibrant color and have motion video-capable display update speeds.

--
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
1. Re:Eink displays have been flexible for YEARS by iksbob · 2012-03-30 06:59 · Score: 1
  
  Correct. As an example, the displays used in the e-ink magazine cover that Esquire released in 2008 were quite flexible. The cover as a whole was pretty rigid, but that was more due to the controller/battery PCB.
  This is the first flexible pixel-matrix type display I've seen, but claiming it's the first flexible e-ink display ever is hype.
A color picture frame by Lohrno · 2012-03-29 14:24 · Score: 1

If they could make these in color I would love to have a giant one of these as a picture frame! It would use less power than digital photo frames so long as it doesn't change that much! You could have a Monet on your wall one day and a vacation photo the next.
1. Re:A color picture frame by Yvan256 · 2012-03-29 16:52 · Score: 2
  
  I'm already thinking about the next step: electronic wallpaper.
2. Re:A color picture frame by SuricouRaven · 2012-03-29 17:47 · Score: 2
  
  Make it in 16x16cm tiles, forming an electrical connection at each edge. That way if a section is damaged (Which it will be) you don't have to repaper the entire wall.
3. Re:A color picture frame by Yvan256 · 2012-03-30 03:59 · Score: 1
  
  The more I think about it, the more I wonder what would be a good DPI for such an application.
  We're talking about wallpaper artwork here, not a display right in front of your face to read text. Would 16, 8 or even 4 DPI be enough?
4. Re:A color picture frame by Yvan256 · 2012-03-30 04:00 · Score: 1
  
  Why 16x16 cm tiles? Is there a "wall tiles" standard?
5. Re:A color picture frame by Yvan256 · 2012-03-30 04:09 · Score: 1
  
  http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/11/a-full-wall-of/
6. Re:A color picture frame by SuricouRaven · 2012-03-31 01:08 · Score: 1
  
  Because powers of two make math easier for me.
Only one question... by tlambert · 2012-03-29 15:23 · Score: 1

What do they cost? Typical LVDS panels cost ~$28 in quantity 10,000. If they can't hit near that, then they are going for a niche market.
-- Terry
3M advertised this crap twenty years ago by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 17:12 · Score: 0

It took this fucking long for if to become a reality? Christ, 3M's ads were ALL about the flexible displays.
Re:LIVESTOCK: That's what YOU and I are to "THEM!" by Omestes · 2012-03-29 18:23 · Score: 1

fnord

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A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
Fleshlight shaped? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-29 19:47 · Score: 0

So you can roll these things, right?
Mmmm... interesting.
Re:LIVESTOCK: That's what YOU and I are to "THEM!" by gabereiser · 2012-03-30 01:08 · Score: 1

Here's my bank ACCOUNT number to TRANSFER that $4,000,000 that my late step-aunt-in-law-second-removed-cousin left ME in your care.
Re:LIVESTOCK: That's what YOU and I are to "THEM!" by tehcyder · 2012-03-30 02:42 · Score: 1

That gave me a good laugh on a slow Friday afternoon at work. Luckily my coworkers all appear to be asleep.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:LIVESTOCK: That's what YOU and I are to "THEM!" by kat_skan · 2012-03-30 08:26 · Score: 1

YOW! You don't need to SUBSCRIBE to anything. He has a WEBSITE.