E-paper: The Next Generation Display Technology
Posted By: swicn
Date: 23/07/2021
The Evolution of Display Technologies
In the past, because of limited availabilities of display technologies, TFT displays were usually used for advertisements and information displaying at commercial and public areas such as shopping mall, railway stations, bus stations, airports, fast food shops, restaurants, super markets and stores. However, people and the market demand more and more for the displays like outlines, eco-friendly, display effect(colors, brightness, contrast, resolution), eyes-harmless and cost, so the researchers and developers keep introducing newer technologies according to the demands from end users. In the past decades, there were few major display technologies introduced including:
- CRT: Cathode Ray Tube
- Plasma Display
- LCD: Liquid Crystal Display
- TFT: Thin Film Transistor
- LED: Light Emitting Diode
- PMOLED: Passive Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode
- AMOLED: Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode
- Micro LED: Micro Light Emitting Diode
- EPD: Electronic Paper Display
With the evolvion of technologies, the display resolution also changed a lot from standard to high-definition, and eventually to ultra-high definition.
Trends of EPD
EPD (Electronic Paper Display) technology is not a new concept; it had been in the research pipeline since the 1970s and achieved a breakthrough which led to its commercialization in the 1990s. However, it had a relatively low adoption rate among consumers in those old days. It is now being widely adopted as an alternative to TFT and LED display technologies.
EPD is a combination of various types of electronic-ink laminated to a plastic film. EPD is different from regular displays in terms of light emission, display panel used, and luminescence. EPD provides better viewing angles and reading comfortability as compared to the traditional LEDs and TFT displays. EPDs are mostly used to hold static texts, such as those used for signage and posters. The EPD technology is advancing with developments in display technology. Flexible EPD technology is being implemented to increase the convenience of use. The display technologies mostly use electrophoretic, electrowetting, interferometric modulator, and plasmonic electronic displays. Growing concerns to save the environment by replacing papers with the help of e-paper technology are expected to drive the e-paper display market during the forecast period. However, limited color richness and video capabilities pose a challenge to market players.
The global e-paper display market has been segmented on the basis of product, technology, end-user, and region. By product, the market is segmented into e-readers, mobile devices, smart cards, posters & signages, auxiliary displays, electronic shelf labels, and wearables. Based on technology, the market has been segmented into electrophoretic displays, electrowetting displays, cholesteric displays, interferometric modular displays, and others. By end-user, the market has been segmented into automotive, consumer electronics, retail, healthcare, IoT and media and entertainment.
Will EPD completely replace TFT?
EPDs comprise various features that outweigh TFT displays in commercial and public areas. TFT displays are bulkier, heavier, eye-harmful and consume more energy as compared to EPDs. EPDs offer thinner, lighter, paper-alike effect and minimum power consumption. It can be ideally used for displaying static information, and marketing and advertising.
Because of the advantages of EPD technology, EPD is getting wider and wider applications in the market like wearable devices, retail maketing, IoT devices and advertisements, however, it can’t competely replace TFT because some products require better colors, lower cost and refresh rate which TFT can offer. TFT displays, EPDs and OLEDs each have their own advantages, so they will play a role in different types of product and market.
480RGBx480 ST7701S 262K 3SPI+18RGB 2.1" Round TFT Display CTP Capacitive Touch Panel
TFT21001A is a round TFT display, with circle capacitive touch panel. The TFT LCD screen and the display active area both are round shape. It is 480(RGB)x480 pixels, 3SPI+18RGB interface, with ST7701S/CST826 driver ICs respectively for TFT and CTP.
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