E Ink and Plastic Logic partner to provide world’s first flexible advanced colour ePaper-based display

 

E Ink (Billerica, Massachusetts), a leading innovator of electronic ink technology, and Plastic Logic, a leader in the design and manufacture of flexible, glass-free electrophoretic displays (EPDs), are partnering to provide the world’s first flexible colour displays based around E Ink's Advanced Color ePaper (ACeP) technology.

Plastic Logic’s advanced oTFT (organic Thin Film Transistor) displays are high-resolution, lightweight and ultra-low-power. They are more rugged than standard glass-based TFTs and are thinner and lighter, making them ideal for applications such as wearables.

E Ink ACeP is a high quality, colour reflective electronic paper that can produce full colour at every pixel without the use of a colour filter array (CFA). Currently, E Ink's ACeP display has been used in signage applications that do not require flexible form factors. The addition of Plastic Logic’s technology allows for expansion into applications that can require thinner and lighter weight displays.

“E Ink is excited to partner with Plastic Logic to offer the world's first flexible colour display technology to customers,” said Johnson Lee, CEO, E Ink. “Plastic Logic's advanced oTFT displays are more robust than traditional amorphous silicon transistors on plastic substrate, which are more suitable for wearable applications."

“We are very excited to collaborate with E Ink to provide the market with the world's first plastic displays using ACeP film,” said Tim Burne, CEO, Plastic Logic. “Our flexible, glass-free displays are a perfect addition to any wearable technology designer’s toolkit – they are extremely lightweight, making them well suited for integration into a host of wearables, including smart jewelry and smart clothing.”

Lee also added: “Our new range of Legio flexible colour displays will enable customers to bring new colour applications to market faster and, we believe, more cost-effectively. Evaluation kits will be available later this year so that designers can try out the displays in 'real world' applications.”

Legio products are made using oTFT backplanes manufactured by TENFlecs, one of Plastic Logic's manufacturing partners – illustrating a further important milestone in the company's strategy to move to a fully outsourced supply.

Caption: Flexibility in ePaper displays – E Ink and Plastic Logic have teamed up (photo: E Ink/Plastic Logic)