E Ink & Epson Increase ePaper Resolution – Music Applications Slated
E Ink and Epson have announced the joint development of a 300-dpi electronic paper device with sharp text and images for ePaper Document Readers. Combining E Ink’s high-resolution ePaper display and Epson’s high-speed display controller platform, the new device will fuel the world’s highest resolution ePaper tablets, as well as other ground-breaking applications.
Thin, lightweight, energy-efficient eReaders with easy-to-read, paper-like displays have won over users of sheet music for sure. Gone are the days of fumbling with individual pages of music, which ultimately make an unscheduled dismount from your stand just as you’re ramping up to hit that high C. Now a simple press of a pedal “turns” the page for you. However, one of the minuses of ePaper has been the low resolution, which currently weigh in at about 160-dpi.
However, ePaper is just not for breakfast anymore. New applications demonstrated by the concerns include thermostats, hand-held radio displays, universal remotes, and our favorite snowboards. E Ink has a snowboard on display with a large, rugged display showing temperature, altitude, weather, mobile phone signal, and even an email notification.
E Ink will manufacture, sell and support the newly developed 300-dpi ePaper displays, which measure 9.68 inches on the diagonal and have 2,400 x 1,650 pixels. These paper-like, high-resolution displays demonstrate in full the very best features of ePaper: crisp and clear text and images on an easy-on-the-eyes screen, a thin and light form factor, and ultra-low power consumption.
Epson will manufacture, sell and support a high-resolution, high-speed display controller platform optimized for controlling E Ink’s high-resolution display. Leveraging Epson’s experience with image processing technology developed for photo-quality printers, the display controller platform combines a display controller IC, applications processor, system power management IC, and firmware to provide excellent display control and improved operability.
Beyond sheet music, the technology is poised to make it into other music gear including guitars (fret board based music learning systems), keyboards, mixers and possibly even some DJ gear.
