May 2004 Philips, Sony and E Ink have won the race to market for electronic paper and announced the world’s first consumer application of an electronic paper display module in Sony’s new e-Book reader, LIBRIé, which went on sale in Japan as we publish. E Ink’s electronic ink technology offers a truly paper-like reading experience with contrast similar to newsprint.
The display is reflective and easily read in sunlight or dim light and at any angle, just like paper.
Its black and white ink-on-paper look is achieved with a resolution of 170 ppi (pixels per inch), far better than most portable devices (computer screens are normally 72 ppi). As the display uses power only when an image is changed, you can read 10,000 pages on a set of over-the-counter batteries. With a compact, lightweight form factor LIBRIé is similar in size to a paperback book.
LIBRIé allows users to download content, such as books or comic strips and read it anywhere, and it can store 500 downloaded books.
While the way people experience entertainment has changed dramatically with the rapid growth of portable entertainment devices like music and movie players, the way people read books, magazines and newspapers has not.
The commercialization of this revolutionary display technology is a result of a strategic collaboration among E Ink Corporation, Toppan Printing, Philips and Sony and has resulted in more than 100 patents in chemistry, electronics and manufacturing processes.
