Electronic paper is a modern technology that allows you to display information in the form of a simulation of ordinary ink. This latest image carrier is fundamentally different from LCD backlit screens. Electronic paper can reflect light in the same way as ordinary paper. Its capabilities allow you to display the text as long as you want, as well as change it. At the same time, this storage medium does not require power supply.
In order to create paper of electronic type, various technologies can be used. Often in the production process of the information carrier, a plastic substrate and electronics are used. The result is a display that is flexible enough to read text comfortably. Electronic paper has a stable image that does not require updating, as well as a large viewing angle. The convenience of this information carrier lies in its ability to reflect the sun's rays without creating its own light. The percentage of image clarity is not reduced.
In 2008, electronic paper was produced with the contrast of ordinary newsprint. Modern manufacturers have slightly improved this option. In the future, it is expected to create a full-color electronic storage medium.
Electronic paper serves as price tags in trade, to display public transport schedules at stops. It is used in displays of mobile phones and in special equipment containing digital versions of literary and journalistic publications.
Electronic paper technology was developed in the seventies of the last century. The first storage medium of this kind was a complex consisting of spheres having a polyethylene base. The diameter of each of them ranged from seventy-five to one hundred and six micrometers. Each of the spheres was a Janus particle, consisting of plastic: on one side black, and on the other white. All elements were placed in a transparent silicone sheet and had the possibility of free rotation. In this case, the black side of the plate carried a negative charge, and the white side - a positive one. The polarity, which was determined by the voltage applied to all pairs of electrodes, gave direction to each sphere, which rotated either white or black side. At the same time, a certain image appeared on the screen.
Two decades later, another type of electronic paper was invented. Its principle of operation is based on electrophoretic image technology. This storage medium contains microcapsules filled with colored oil, as well as charged particles having a white color. The control of the underlying wiring facilitates the placement of electrically charged cells either above or below the capsule. Thus, when viewing the image, the oil color or white medium is visible. The use of capsules allowed to abandon the glass display and make it from flexible sheets of plastic.
Color electronic paper is currently invented. It consists of colored thin optical filters included in a monochrome display. The points of such a screen are divided into triads consisting of yellow, purple, and cyan colors. In contrast to displays powered by electricity, where color-addition technologies are used, they are subtracted in electronic paper. The same principle of creating color is used in printing.
The autonomy of electronic paper gives it advantages over various devices equipped with displays. This modern storage medium is reliable and lightweight. At the same time, displays based on electronic paper are quite flexible.
Companies producing modern devices for displaying various information are constantly looking for new technologies.