Electronic ink has many advantages and disadvantages – it is energy efficient and gentle on the eyes, but due to its slow redrawing and the ability to display few colors, it is more suitable only for e-book readers. TCL decided to invest in this sector and at the fair IFA demonstrated a new technology called NXTPAPER, which is supposed to work similarly to e-ink, but without all its disadvantages.
Electronic ink that plays color video
The TCX NXTPAPER has a highly reflective screen that does not emit any light of its own, but uses the reflection of ambient light to display it. As a result, the display should be 65 percent more energy efficient than typical LCD screens, plus it is up to 36 percent thinner. The new panel does not bother with flickering or emitting blue light, and compared to conventional e-ink displays, it should also provide 25 percent higher contrast.
TCL promises that its “paper” can play video or animations smoothly at a decent frame rate, but this value has not been expressed numerically. We also don’t know how many colors NXTPAPER can display.
TCL demonstrates the new technology on a 10.4-inch tablet display with Full HD resolution, while tablets and e-book readers will probably be the first devices to use the new technology. And when will it be? TCL claims in the near future, which is a rather vague concept.
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