Sure e-ink was amazing when it first started and now with 600x800 readers like the Kindle and Nook, I think it reached it's end-of-life. Anything higher than that would make the user wish he could run videos and photos.
And for the Skiff Reader, 1200x1600 is amazing, but at that resolution I want color! It's like having a black and white LED TV...
Discussion about
Is hi-res e-ink really the way to go?
Unless the Skiff is really affordable, I wonder if paying more than a Kindle justifies the higher resolution. I'm thinking convergence like Apple with one device to rule them all and double layer e-paper/color LED would be a winner in my opinion.
If you have multitouch for zoom, then 7" is not too shabby for school books... no?
If you have multitouch for zoom, then 7" is not too shabby for school books... no?
The Plastic Logic QUE is priced at $650 last report which seems to suggest the Skiff will have a hard time being super affordable.
A better convergence device would be the Notion Ink Adam which gives you full LCD slate functionality but with the option of switching to an e-paper like mode using Pixel-Qi technology which doesn't have the resolution or refresh limitations of e-ink.
Check out the display in broad daylight here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=698D-jmk42w
and here you can see switching between modes:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN2OEbHLUD4
Now the immediate question that springs to mind is whether this technology is cost effective and the answer is a tremendous YES! The entire manufacturing infrastructure is geared heavily towards LCD so LCD is extremely cheap and cost effective. Pixel-Qi requires no significant additional tooling or components only a reordering of the manufacturing process. So you get a HUGE price advantage over e-ink as well as tremendous technical advantages.
A better convergence device would be the Notion Ink Adam which gives you full LCD slate functionality but with the option of switching to an e-paper like mode using Pixel-Qi technology which doesn't have the resolution or refresh limitations of e-ink.
Check out the display in broad daylight here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=698D-jmk42w
and here you can see switching between modes:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN2OEbHLUD4
Now the immediate question that springs to mind is whether this technology is cost effective and the answer is a tremendous YES! The entire manufacturing infrastructure is geared heavily towards LCD so LCD is extremely cheap and cost effective. Pixel-Qi requires no significant additional tooling or components only a reordering of the manufacturing process. So you get a HUGE price advantage over e-ink as well as tremendous technical advantages.
Continuing on the pricing issue:
cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500...
As you can see slate devices can come down in price a whole lot especially if you take branding and proprietary parts out of the equation.
cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500...
As you can see slate devices can come down in price a whole lot especially if you take branding and proprietary parts out of the equation.
I don't know. I use my e reader solely for reading books and there it is plenty fine, actually the best experience on a gadget so far. But I was wishing for a better resolution and a slightly bigger display now and then. Especially for university text books. For me it is really how they will improve the user interface and the ability to interact with the text (marking, notes, copy, cite etc.). Colour would be nice to have though and I'm sure it will come eventually. For movies I have my TV and PMPs ;)
I agree. I have a Sony PRS-700 (6-inch, 800x600 screen).
Higher resolution will give an even more paper-like appearance, and should improve contrast. I find the 6-inch screen size a little small. It's fine for novels, but a bit of a pain if trying to read a PDF with margins. Zooming in just screws up the formatting of complex books.
I can't remember the company, but I saw a demo of an e-ink-like display with a refresh rate capable of video (in black and white, with colour on the way). I think the process was called electrowetting or something. The demo shows how much better it is to circle text and write notes with a stylus with the high refresh rate.
I wish somebody could invent a hybrid screen that used e-ink to display text and a second layer of LCD for colour pictures and video. The LCD would be perhaps transparent when not in use so battery usage would be kept very low. You'd have the best of both worlds - the quality and power efficiency of e-ink with the ability to show full colour images and video.
Higher resolution will give an even more paper-like appearance, and should improve contrast. I find the 6-inch screen size a little small. It's fine for novels, but a bit of a pain if trying to read a PDF with margins. Zooming in just screws up the formatting of complex books.
I can't remember the company, but I saw a demo of an e-ink-like display with a refresh rate capable of video (in black and white, with colour on the way). I think the process was called electrowetting or something. The demo shows how much better it is to circle text and write notes with a stylus with the high refresh rate.
I wish somebody could invent a hybrid screen that used e-ink to display text and a second layer of LCD for colour pictures and video. The LCD would be perhaps transparent when not in use so battery usage would be kept very low. You'd have the best of both worlds - the quality and power efficiency of e-ink with the ability to show full colour images and video.
