December 22, 2005. Copyright 2005, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Time to get slim
By Mark Rutter

LONDON, December 22, Graphic News:  As far as the latest fashion in wristwatches goes, you canÕt help but admire the sleek and stylish Seiko Spectrum. With its innovative electronic paper display, the solid curved band wraps around the wrist like the most modern stylish bracelet.
 
Look beyond the fashion and you will see an ingenious technology that could soon revolutionise the look and feel of display screens found in appliances ranging from mobile phones and computer monitors, to information and advertisement signs. Electronic ink technology entails attaching a layer of plastic film containing tiny particles of ÒinkÓ onto electronic circuitry. The result is a wafer-thin flexible display screen around 3mm thick. Without any need for a solid glass covering, these screens can be rolled up like a newspaper. They will also allow printing on virtually any surface, including glass, plastic, fabric and paper.
 
Being ultra-thin, flexible and lightweight are not the only advantages of the technology. The millions of tiny pure black and pure white microcapsules making up electronic ink give it a high level of contrast similar to the printed page, both under dim and very bright conditions, and far superior to LCD displays. The viewing angle is also wider than any other current display type, so that information displayed can be read from virtually any angle. Another impressive feature of the new technology is its low power consumption. This is made possible because no backlight is needed and a stable Òmemory effectÓ allows an image to remain on screen without power.
 
The E Ink Corporation, based in Massachusetts, is leading the development of electronic paper display technology. In addition to its joint venture with Seiko, it is also collaborating with Citizen Watch Company to build the worldÕs first curved clocks. These bright and flashy lightweight timepieces could soon be appearing in public places, creating entirely new designs. Their low power consumption and visibility from angles of up to 180 degrees under all lighting conditions means that they could be located in places not possible before.
 
Other spin-offs of the technology are also on the cards. An alliance between E Ink and a company supplying colour filters for the flat panel display industry has led to a colour electronic paper display that could soon be ready for mass production. The ÒInk-In-MotionÓ colour overlay technology developed by Neolux Corporation and E Ink is now being used in promotional displays in shops selling MicrosoftÕs Xbox in Korea. Another innovation likely to be available in the next few years is electronic paper. Combining the look and the feel of paper but with a high-resolution display, this lightweight Òradio paperÓ could be used for applications from dynamic logos in clothing to books and newspapers that can be updated by regular electronic download.
/ENDS