E Ink co-develops paper-like display standard with TÜV Rheinland and receives world’s first paper-like display certification

 

E Ink Holdings (Billerica, Massachusetts), a pioneer and commercial leader in digital paper technology, has received a “Paper Like Display” certification for its Kaleido Plus colour ePaper display module, presented by TÜV Rheinland Greater China, the international testing, inspection and certification body.

The continued increase in digital display content and greater user awareness on the importance of visual health has led to increased adoption of ePaper. E Ink’s reflective displays are known to be easy on the eyes, providing a more comfortable viewing experience and without the emissive light of monitors, tablets and cell phones. However, existing display product standards are aimed at emissive displays such as LCD and OLEDs, and are not useful for reflective displays like ePaper, making an industry standard for scientifically evaluating the performance of ePaper and other reflective display products a necessity.

E Ink and experts at TÜV Rheinland worked in collaboration for two years to develop a metric for evaluating specific optical indicators on reading comfort for paper-like display products. These parameters were then evaluated against reading comfort in conjunction with user experience to arrive at the Paper Similarity Index (PSI). PSI will help consumers select ePaper products that offer a high level of reading or visual comfort.

“TÜV Rheinland has been studying how user experience can be integrated with new display technologies for a long time,” said Frank Holzmann, global vice president of TÜV Rheinland Business Field Electrical. “The Paper Like Display standard incorporates user experience with the latest visual health research to look at their performance in two dimensions: reading comfort and safety. It provides a scientific standard for the testing and assessment of paper-like display products. We will continue to work closely with E Ink in the future to promote the development of high quality ePaper products.”

E Ink has nine display partners making ePaper modules leveraging E Ink's unique paper-like materials. The company will continue to enable more applications using ePaper with partners to provide more eye-friendly, eco-friendly and low-carbon emission display solutions.

“E Ink is delighted to obtain the first ‘Paper Like Display’ certification from TÜV Rheinland,” said Johnson Lee, CEO of E Ink. “E Ink’s products have long been associated with less eye strain, low power and these certifications are proof that ePaper is truly like conventional paper, displaying images without any backlighting. E Ink will work with our ePaper ecosystem partners to promote the ‘Paper Like Display’ certification and will continue to innovate and bring our customers the most comfortable visual experience possible.”

The new certification was awarded to E Ink’s colour ePaper display using the latest E Ink Kaleido Plus technology. E Ink Kaleido offers 16 grey levels and 4096 colours, making it suitable for rich graphical information such as graphs, maps, images, comics, and advertising. Text and detailed images can be clearly displayed even in outdoor lighting conditions. Certification testing found that E Ink Kaleido Plus delivered outstanding performance on all parameters related to reading performance. Its PSI rating of 86 is the highest of all comparable products on the market rated by TÜV Rheinland to date.

In addition to E Ink’s true paper-like experience, the company’s products are also helping their customers reach their net zero carbon emissions and sustainability goals through ePaper’s incredibly low power requirements as global sustainability trends continues to shape the economy. E Ink will continue to collaborate with TÜV Rheinland to promote the Paper Like Certification at all level of the ePaper ecosystem and applications.

Caption: E Ink’s Kaleido Plus colour technology (photo: Business Wire)

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