Enduring Image

A thinner, tougher display puts screens on more gadgets

By Amanda Schupak Posted 09.03.2008 at 1:58 pm 4 Comments

SCREEN YOUR CALLS Hitachi’s flip-phones can show 96 different designs. HItachi

Want a new cellphone? Just press a button. What looks like painted artwork on the Hitachi W61H phone is actually a new E-Ink screen. Unlike LCDs that add bulk to a device, manufacturers can add these screens—just twice the thickness of a hair—as if they were stickers.

Keyed Up: For its key fob, Delphi cut a wavy-edged screen to fit in your palm. Delphi

E-Ink draws power only when changing its black-and-white images, so it can show a pattern without draining batteries. In the latest version, engineers shaved 40 percent off the screen’s thickness by applying thinner layers of the coatings that protect it from moisture and ultraviolet light. They also stacked the layers in a different order to mesh them together tighter. A flexible ceramic backing, in place of Teflon, lets the screen withstand temperatures from 14° to 140°F.

Hitachi’s phone is sold in Japan, but you can also see the new screens in the U.S. Lexar uses them as storage meters on its flash-memory drives, and Delphi is developing a wireless key fob to display information such as fuel level and whether the car doors are locked. The thinner screen is less prone to snagging when the fob slips in and out of a pocket and can endure drives during a San Antonio summer or
a Minneapolis winter.

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4 Comments

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Dustin2127

09/03/08 at 5:11 pm

By 'put it on like a sticker', are they referring to the weight or are you actually able to put it on like a sticker?
I don't mean to sound stupid, but the only stupid question is one you don't ask. It sounds like an interesting concept, but think about it: being able to slap it on a similar buisness-card sized battery (also in development) and having a super-portable display, or possibly an e-book, as I know that as of now e-ink doesn't have video capabilities. But I'm going to keep posted on this.

Dustin H

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DiGMEH

from Montreal, Quebec

09/04/08 at 8:50 am

@ Dustin: I think they are referring to the fact that the screens are so thin, they ressemble stickers.
But on the other hand, reserach is going on with nano-screens, which can take any shape and fit any structure. Being like stickets, can simply mean that you can probably use this screen and attach it to any other device with a graphic user interface. Lets say you have a computer at home and at work, and a portable DVD system for "on the go". With nano-screens, you would be able to elimitage all other 3 screens (the 2 PC's and the pDVD) and use this nano-screen for all of them. Just bring it along with you anywhere.
I can't find the exact link, but I saw a concept last year, of a "green nanotechnology cell phone" that adapted to the environment you were in.
- DiGGY

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solomon

09/04/08 at 4:07 pm

Make it large enough. Add color to the technology. Stick it on my car and I can change the color of my car every day.

The potential is endless.

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DiGMEH

from Montreal, Quebec

09/05/08 at 2:08 pm

lol @ solomon
sounds like an idea BMW had.. their conceptual "shape changing car" is pretty cool:)
- DiGGY