The Future Of...Ink

Sound effect

>> Sumi: When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the mid 1400's he paved the way for newspapers, magazines and books. music More than 500 years later a new technology is potentially poised to transform the way we read, electronic ink.

Sound effects

>> Sumi: This fall marked a milestone the first magazine to feature an electronic cover hit news stands. Like a shrunken Times Square billboard the cover proclaimed the 21st century begins now in flashing words and pictures.

>> It's a great high-profile launch for a new technology. It's simple and yet it's effective in what it's trying to do.

>> Sumi: The magazine displays were developed by Massachusetts Company E Ink. But several companies produce electronic ink displays also known as electronic paper. The technology was originally invented in the 70's. But as this magazine proves it's starting to generate broader appeal. The key to ePaper, microcapsules thinner than a strand of hair.

>> The basic concept with both electronic ink and electronic paper is you have a display back plain and this special ink material and what happens is when you provide a small charge to the individual particles kind of like pixels on a screen or dots on a printer they turn on they essentially go from a white state to a black state.

>> Sumi: Unlike energy-hungry plasmas E Ink displays are efficient only using power when switching between states. Displays are easy to read thanks to high contrast, no back lights and generous viewing angles. Electronic readers from companies like Sony and Amazon use E Ink to store hundreds of books. Because ePaper displays are thin and efficient they can pop up almost anywhere, on a USB memory stick to show how much storage remains, on a car key pod to tell you how much gas is left in the tank. Retail businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations may be particularly eager for the advent of electronic paper. Imagine wirelessly connected displays that update prices automatically.

Music

>> Sumi: In a snow storm newspaper deliveries may be delayed but E Ink could make walking to the mailbox for the morning paper a dated ritual and that could be the killer application for this technology a flexible scroll-like ePaper display that could receive multiple papers and magazines.

>> The goal is to develop a flexible back plain, again, the part that the ink sits on so that you could bend it or even roll it up. So you can imagine having a pen that you would pull out, a screen which would be very cool.

>> Sumi: To deliver on this promise though will take further fine tuning.

>> It's gonna take even lower price points that's gonna take the ability to be used in devices that no other display can work in and it's gonna take color and video. So all of those things are happening and I think you will see them but, again, it could be 5, 6 years before we actually have a bendable color video capable display.

>> Sumi: Say goodbye to newspaper ink-stained fingers the future of ink is fluid and limitless. From price tags and magazines to billboards and more electronic ink could transform displays as if by magic. For BNET I'm Sumi Das.

Music

==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Techologies ====