LG.Philips LCD announced yesterday it has developed the world's first 14.1-inch flexible color electronic paper (e-paper) display, equivalent in size to an A4 sheet of paper. This is a second breakthrough in e-paper for LG.Philips LCD, which introduced the world's first 14.1-inch black and white flexible e-paper display in May 2006, the company said.
The 14.1-inch flexible color e-paper uses electronic ink from E Ink to produce a maximum of 4,096 colors. It can be viewed from a full 180 degrees, so that images always appear crisp, even when the display is bent, according to the LG.Philips.
Like the black and white flexible display, the color version uses a substrate that arranges TFT on metal foil rather than glass, allowing it to recover its original shape after being bent. This model includes a color filter (CF) coated onto the plastic substrate, allowing it to display color images.
The use of metal foil and plastic substrate rather than glass substrate makes the flexible color e-paper display bendable and durable while maintaining excellent display qualities.
To make this new display possible, the company developed a proprietary processing technology that minimizes panel deformation and prevents circuit structure change during high-temperature processes. LG.Philips LCD focused on the designs of the CF structure and TFT, as well as CF lamination technology. This allowed processing difficulties inherent in the lack of heat resistance in metal foil and plastic substrates to be overcome, stated the company.
These displays are energy efficient, only using power when the image changes. Additionally, the displays are thin, less than 300 micrometers. The images displayed are comparable in quality to printed pages.
In October 2005, LG.Philips LCD unveiled the world's first 10.1-inch flexible e-paper display.
According to Displaybank, the flexible display market is projected to grow into a US$ 5.9 billion market by 2010, rising to US$12 billion by 2015.
LG.Philips LCD flexible color A4-size e-paper display
Photo: Company
Article translated by Carrie Yu and edited by Eric Mah
