What is E Ink?

E Ink is the creator of electronic ink — the optical component of a film used in Electronic Paper Displays. Although futuristic-sounding, electronic ink is actually a straightforward fusion of existing knowledge of chemistry, physics and electronics to create this new material. It's so much like paper, it actually utilizes the same pigments used in the printing industry today.

Electronic ink is made up of millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. Each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid. When a positive or negative electric field is applied, corresponding particles move to the top of the microcapsule where they become visible to the user. This makes the surface appear white or black at that spot.

We have posted up an animation of how our electronic ink works on our website. Please see the right-hand sidebar for the video.

What does E Ink sell?

E Ink sells display modules to device makers who wish to integrate our reflective displays into their application. E Ink has two display platforms currently available – Segmented displays for applications that can utilize predefined segments that can be turned on or off, and Matrix displays, for applications that require the display of many different forms of text and images.

What is the difference between an E Ink® display and an LCD display?

Simply put, E Ink displays reflect the ambient light in a room, exactly like printed paper, while LCD displays use a strong backlight that is modulated using liquid crystals. Because E Ink displays work like a printed page, they are not as tiring on eyes as an LCD screen.