Also, the long refresh time when changing the image of up to 15 s with three-colour representations and the lack of partial image refreshing (partial refresh) certainly indicates that the main application field intended for this display model is as an in-store digital shelf price tag indicator. Unfortunately, no grayscale or shades of red can be displayed. As a 3-colour display, each dot can be assigned as black, white or red. It has a 2.9" screen size and offers a resolution of 296 x 128 pixels with a pixel density of 112 dpi. The display on review here is perfect this application field. With the increased uptake of this type of display, it is likely that prices will fall thanks to cost savings through mass-production. New trends such as electronic ‘shelf labeling’, being introduced in some supermarkets, display product pricing on small e-ink displays. They are not difficult to use and are ideal for beginners wanting to see results quickly. Tricks such as the use of ‘partial refresh’ speed up the process a bit and sacrifice contrast and sharpness to allow faster switching for some scrolling operations.Īll in all these novel displays have many useful attributes making them an ideal display solution for certain niche applications. It often takes several seconds to refresh an image, making it impossible to stream videos it is more suitable for applications where information display is static or changes slowly. There are also disadvantages: Since the image change is on a microscopic level and relies on the mechanical movement of tiny beads, pixel change is much slower than with LCDs or OLEDs. The display also does not show any burn-in tendency when the same image is displayed for extended periods. In addition to high contrast and virtually no viewing angle dependence, this type of display has several other advantages: electricity only flows when the displayed information needs to be changed, the image remains without any external electrical input so overall the energy consumption is very low. Each bead represents a pixel and each contains a positively charged white pigment particle and a negatively charged black pigment particle. Charged beads drift in a fluid and are drawn to the viewing surface when a voltage is applied. The technology on which these screens rely is called electrophoretic displays (keyword: eInk / ePaper), electrophoresis is the motion of dispersed particles relative to a fluid under the influence of a spatially uniform electric field. The display readability is excellent even in bright sun, perfect for chilling out on the beach! I’m an avid reader so it’s useful to have all the books I’m reading on the one device rather than lugging a pile of books around with me. Since they were first introduced I’ve been a big fan of e-book devices, I find them easy to use and like the display crispness along with the added functionality provided by menu options.