In the digital era, display technology like LCD is present everywhere, starting from your smartphone to the digital billboards on the road. They use the OLED display to produce their light and have the best contrast ratio and picture quality.
Now E-readers like Amazon, Kindle, and koboKobo this type of display technology much different from OLED & LCD. These displays are ideal for the reader who does not recommend an electronic display for the long reading lesson because their light is not comfortable for the human eyes.
What is an E-Ink Display?
E-Ink, or electronic ink, is a type of display technology that copies the appearance of ink on paper. Developed in the late 1990s, E-Ink technology has revolutionized the e-reader market with its paper-like readability and low power consumption.
How are E-Reader Displays Different from LCD or OLED Displays?
For the E-reader, they use a display which is called the E-ink Display or Electronic Paper Display. These displays are not like LCD or OLED displays, they can work without any type of light production. Their surface reflects the light and makes their surface visible even when the backlight is not present or switched off.
This because their pixels are individual or dots are making the image is making using different materials and their design is different from the LCD OR OLED display technology.
To understand better the pixel of the E-ink display one would have first to understand the liquid crystal pixel design. In the liquid crystal display, there is a backlight at the back which is lined up with the light emitting diodes or LED which produce the white light.
When the light passes through the polarizer layer which is A PVA plastic sheet which has blocks some light and then allows only particular polarized light waves that pass through.
If we have the TFT electrode layer which consists of the microscopic TFT that switches when switched on and off that gives a signal. It also has a capacitor that stores a charge for a few milliseconds and that can give power to the individual pixels of the LCD.
When the LCD layer forms the image on the display. The LCD layer is made up of individual liquid crystals that are placed into the two layers of the glass like a sandwich. Each pixel has been divided into three layers each of red, green, and sub-pixel blue, which forms the entire pixel.
An LCD crystal is a glass window that has been made up of opaque material that blocks all light and allows the some light that passes through and made to clear that allows the light to pass through them. This is controlled by the amount of current passing to the LCD layer. The LCD layer has created an image. The image that has been produce by an LCD that is is in grayscale colors.
The top electrode layer which is connects that other end to the negative terminal of the LCD layer. We have the horizontally polarized layer that filters the light once again. The color is the filter layer which gives color to the grayscale image forming into the LCD.
How E-ink Displays Work
The Electrophoretic Process
E-ink displays rely on the electrophoretic process, where particles move under the influence of an electric field. By manipulating this field, the display can control which particles are visible, thereby forming text or images.
Role of Microcapsules
Each microcapsule acts like a tiny pixel. When an electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top, and the black particles move to the bottom, making the microcapsule appear white. Reversing the field causes the opposite effect, making it appear black. This process requires very little power, which is why E-ink displays are so energy-efficient.
E-reader Display is Comparable to a Real Paper Surface
The design of the pixel that I explained above that it is different from the LCD or an OLED display. It can produce an image or text that looks similar to the text printed on the paper sheet.
It appears better than the actual paper. It is capable of producing the true white paper color that reflects more light in the blur spectrum making the surface clean and pure white, unlike the paper that is used in the paperbacks.
The absence of the backlight is an advantage for the e-link display in that it does not need an LED display layer behind the screen that is to be switched at all times. Also, it has a display in the e-ink that needs negligible power to maintain in that state that you need only refresh when you go to the next page.
This device can save a battery, And the display would not consume the battery even if you keep it on for several days.
Thinner and Lighter than an LCD Display
The absence of the additional and the backlight layer like in the liquid crystal layer makes their display thinner and lighter than the other LCDs. The E-ink reader can be easier to carry on the hand because of their thinner and lighter weight.
Mostly Come in Grayscale Color Display
Most of the e-ink displays in the entry-level segment that are come with a grayscale display that producess only the text or images with their black and white color and their shades. Some of the e-ink diagrams are generated the color images and the text but the actual image looks faded with their less vibrant colors and a very low contrast ratio.
Can’t Play Videos and Low Refresh Rates
An e-ink display has a very low refresh rate and response time. A higher response time is required to play a video but it is not possible in the e-ink display. Some companies make this type of display which is capable of playing videos at a low frame rate but it is more costly than the normal one.
R-reader is made for reading books, it does not perform multitasking like a smartphone or tablet.
Conclusion
The e-ink technology offers a unique and provides comfort for their readers. And it is easy to carry because of their lighter weight. It is very battery efficient you can use this e-reader for a long time on one charge.