Seiko Epson had successfully developed A6-size (7.1 inches on the diagonal) electronic paper using a plastic substrate. The new electronic paper achieves Quad-XGA resolution (1536 x 2048 pixels) – the worlds highest and shows the potential for increasing screen size. The development was announced on June 9 at the Society for Information Display (SID) international symposium held in San Francisco.

As outlined below, the new electronic paper draws on a number of original Epson technologies and has a range of features suited to portable displays.

1. Worlds highest resolution
LTPS-TFT formed on a plastic substrate using SUFTLA technology gives this electronic paper Quad-XGA resolution – the highest in the world. This ensures that even the smallest letters on a portable display are fully visible.

2. High contrast guaranteeing high-quality display
With a contrast ratio of 10:1, the new technology achieves the same levels of visibility as images printed on ordinary paper.

3. Narrow border and simple interface
Forming peripheral drive circuits with LTPS-TFT creates a simple structure with very few external terminals, that result in a borderless flexible display, even with the drive circuits included.

4. Low power consumption
Data display does not require power – a memory function ensures that information does not disappear even if the power is turned off. Maximum drive voltage even for editing information is just 6 volts, showing that the display itself consumes very little power.

5. Larger screen
The expanded screen size, from around 2 inches in existing models*3 to A6 size (7.1 inches on the diagonal), is evidence of potential for even bigger screens in the future.

[Via Press]