Samsung may have completely abandoned the business of E-Paper production. However, that doesn’t mean that E-Paper is necessarily dead. LG has opted to begin producing 19-inch flexible E-Paper.
E-Paper is a thin, flexible sheet of plastic-like material that is capable of displaying images, videos, and text. It can be rewritten (refreshed) thousands of times over the span of its lifetime. There are many different forms of E-Paper that exist currently. They include E-Ink and Gyricon. The E-Ink version is made by Lucent and uses thin, plastic, flexible transistors and Polymer LEDs (light emitting diodes).
There is also a 9.7-inch version in the works. According to Gizmodo via SEC, “LG"s going to be "mass producing" the two screens, according to an SEC filing dug up by PC World, and even with Amazon boss Jeff Bezo"s comments that a color Kindle is "still some ways out," we all know that it"s inevitable.”
This technology could potentially bring us into the era of Harry Potter-like Newspapers with moving images. It could do so because it can create Newspapers that are small and portable -- like standard Newspapers, and it is big enough to remain easy to read for the average user. A great benefit is that it could be more “green” because people could pay for a subscription and be sent a flexible E-Paper one time.
The E-Paper would then be updated daily with the newest version of the Newspaper. It could also allow you to view video stories right from the Newspaper. Gizmodo states that this E-Paper display weighs 130g and is only 0.3mm thick. The light weight, small size, and flexibility would make E-Paper very convenient for those that are constantly on the go.
The only major concerns with this technology are battery life and cost. Although, battery life could be extended if power is only required to update the display and then it gets turned off. Only time will tell if the battery life is truly a problem. Cost would likely be prohibitive initially because of the fact that the technology is newer and hasn’t yet gone main stream.