HP has just turned the whole e-paper community upside down by showing off their new prototype for a thin, flexible plastic display. This new display can handle some pretty powerful stress tests, and even boasts a nice resolution. The current prototype is only in black and white, but they expect a high color version ready to roll before it’s released to the public.
The prototype was made in conjunction with Arizona State University’s Flexible Display Center. According to ASU, they are only about three years away from field trials, which means that we should be seeing flexible, portable displays on store shelves within the next five years.
Cost Effective and Environmentally Friendly
HP says that the whole point of the new display is to be cost effective, especially when compared to LCD, E Ink or current non-flexible e-paper displays. The new displays would be built by using a method known as roll to roll manufacturing, and it works
in the same way as newspaper is printed on a press (web offset). The displays would be made using batch production methods, much like the process of cutting cookies on a cookie sheet.
Even though we are five years away from seeing this, HP has already licensed the technology to PowerFilm Solar, a company that specializes in flexible solar film panels. As of yet HP hasn’t released an estimate of the cost of the display to consumers, but they do expect them to be significantly cheaper than what is currently on the market.
The Technology Behind the Wonder
These new displays are built on self-aligned imprint lithography (SAIL) technology. This technology was built by HP Labs, and enables the fabrication of thin film transistor (TFT) arrays on flexible plastic. This technology is what makes it easy to stamp and cut the displays using the aforementioned roll to roll manufacturing.
Another piece of breakthrough technology used in this prototype are the flexible plastic material called Teonex Polyethylene Naphthalate, (PEN), developed by DuPont Teijin Films. This allows for the bendable, flexible surface.
The prototype display uses 90% fewer materials than current displays, as well as drastically decreasing the power required to run the display. These displays are far more environmentally friendly than any of the competition, and could drastically reduce the carbon footprint of most computers and household devices.
Stress Test and Durability
The actual display itself has been proven extremely sturdy and resilient, as shown in the action tests performed at industry partner General Dynamics’ lab. By watching the video below, you can see that the display still holds a clear image even when it’s twisted, bent, and rolled into a spindle. Very impressive!
All in all, we should remain cautious and skeptical, after all this isn’t the first time HP prototyped a paper-thin display. In 2004 they’d released a full color display prototype, and promised cheaper displays using this technology by the year 2007. 2007 has come and gone with only this new prototype as promise to things to come along with a global recession.
By Paul Jessup
hp
for me, more than its being cost-effective, high-tech and greatly durable, the best part is its being environment friendly.
While most thin screens and colored ones are still concept things for now, I think it will not be long before they become available. It’s just surprising that this came from HP, it’s not their core product line at all!
Core product or not, HP makes a great leap for e-paper with this technology.
I’m not as sure as some people about e-paper being environmentally friendly- they still have computer components, and these are terrible things for the environment. CPU’s, motherboards, etc, all contain things like lead, mercury and other nasty things. Since the lifetime of a electronic device is roughly 1-2 years, and if e-ink takes off to the point of being very commercially viable (like, every other person in the world has one) then we can see landfills overflowing with nasty, toxic waste that would be far more harmful than traditional paper manufacturing and disposal.
Not to mention building the device itself! Of course, HP’s device here uses cold manufacturing, which does cut down on carbon emissions and oil in the creation of the product.
Anon,
You should check out this report:
http://www.csc.kth.se/sustain/publications/reportfiles/Report%20e-paper_final.pdf
It looks at all those factors you have mentioned - it still finds e-readers more environmentally friendly. Let me know what you think.
On a less technical note, I’m studying on a Masters fine arts degree and I see massive potential in this field for flexible screens. At the moment the arts are generally restricted to projection or LCD screens to ‘view’ work (digitally) but the process to some degree dictates the content. Flexible screen will offer new possibilities particularly as a more ambient media because of it’s flexible properties and the fact that the content may not necessarily need to be ‘readable’.
I’ve only just started to investigate this as I’m hoping it will be influential in the development of my work. I’m eager to test out it’s potential area so if anyone out there has contacts in the e-paper community who might like me to field test some I’d appreciate any info.
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