E Ink is a type of
electronic paperElectronic paper, also called e-paper or electronic ink display is a display technology designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper...
manufactured by
E Ink CorporationE Ink Corporation is a privately held manufacturer of electrophoretic displays , a kind of electronic paper. E Ink is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was co-founded in 1997 by Joseph Jacobson, a professor in the MIT Media Lab. Two years later, E Ink partnered with Philips to develop and...
, founded in 1997 based on research started at the
MIT Media LabThe MIT Media Lab is a department within the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
.
It is a proprietary material that is processed into a
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
for integration into electronic displays, particularly for e-Readers such as the
Sony ReaderThe Sony Reader is an e-Reader. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation that has 166 dpi resolution, eight levels of grayscale , is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain a static image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation...
, the
iLiadThe iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-Reader, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display.-Description:Main specifications:...
, the
Cybook Gen3Cybook Gen3 is a 6 inch e-Reader, specially designed for reading e-Books and e-News, or listening to MP3 music or audio-books. It is produced by the French company Bookeen.-Description:...
, the
Amazon KindleAmazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 for reading e-books and other digital media. Three hardware devices, known as "Kindle", "Kindle 2," and "Kindle DX" support this platform, as does an iPhone application called "Kindle for iPhone"...
, the Readius device from Polymer Vision and
Plastic LogicPlastic Logic is a spin-off company from Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory and specializes in polymer transistors and electronics. The principal product the company has developed is a flexible A4-size and robust plastic electronic display the thickness of a credit-card...
's Reader. The Motorola F3 was the first mobile phone to employ E Ink technology into its display, taking advantage of the material's ultra-low power consumption.
E Ink is a type of
electronic paperElectronic paper, also called e-paper or electronic ink display is a display technology designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper...
manufactured by
E Ink CorporationE Ink Corporation is a privately held manufacturer of electrophoretic displays , a kind of electronic paper. E Ink is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was co-founded in 1997 by Joseph Jacobson, a professor in the MIT Media Lab. Two years later, E Ink partnered with Philips to develop and...
, founded in 1997 based on research started at the
MIT Media LabThe MIT Media Lab is a department within the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
.
It is a proprietary material that is processed into a
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
for integration into electronic displays, particularly for e-Readers such as the
Sony ReaderThe Sony Reader is an e-Reader. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation that has 166 dpi resolution, eight levels of grayscale , is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain a static image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation...
, the
iLiadThe iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-Reader, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display.-Description:Main specifications:...
, the
Cybook Gen3Cybook Gen3 is a 6 inch e-Reader, specially designed for reading e-Books and e-News, or listening to MP3 music or audio-books. It is produced by the French company Bookeen.-Description:...
, the
Amazon KindleAmazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 for reading e-books and other digital media. Three hardware devices, known as "Kindle", "Kindle 2," and "Kindle DX" support this platform, as does an iPhone application called "Kindle for iPhone"...
, the Readius device from Polymer Vision and
Plastic LogicPlastic Logic is a spin-off company from Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory and specializes in polymer transistors and electronics. The principal product the company has developed is a flexible A4-size and robust plastic electronic display the thickness of a credit-card...
's Reader. The Motorola F3 was the first mobile phone to employ E Ink technology into its display, taking advantage of the material's ultra-low power consumption. In addition, the Samsung Alias 2 utilizes this technology as the display on the buttons change. The October 2008 limited edition North American issue of
EsquireEsquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
was the first magazine cover to integrate E Ink, and featured flashing text. The cover was manufactured in Shanghai, China, shipped refrigerated to the United States for binding and was powered by a nominal 90 day integrated battery supply.
According to the manufacturer, "The principal components of electronic ink are millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. In one incarnation, each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top of the microcapsule to become visible to the reader. This makes the surface appear white at that location. At the same time, an opposite electric field pulls the black particles to the bottom of the microcapsules where they are hidden. By reversing this process, the black particles appear at the top of the capsule, which now makes the surface appear dark at that location."
On June 1, 2009, E Ink Corporation announced an agreement to be purchased by one of its primary business partners, Prime View International, for
USDThe United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
$215 million. It is predicted that the purchase by Prime View will speed the development of color E Ink.
See also
- List of e-book readers
- Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 for reading e-books and other digital media. Three hardware devices, known as "Kindle", "Kindle 2," and "Kindle DX" support this platform, as does an iPhone application called "Kindle for iPhone"...
- Plastic Logic
Plastic Logic is a spin-off company from Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory and specializes in polymer transistors and electronics. The principal product the company has developed is a flexible A4-size and robust plastic electronic display the thickness of a credit-card...
- Electronic paper
Electronic paper, also called e-paper or electronic ink display is a display technology designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper...
- Sony Reader
The Sony Reader is an e-Reader. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation that has 166 dpi resolution, eight levels of grayscale , is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain a static image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation...
External links