Electronic books with electronic ink - personal libraries that are always with you

Previously, a mobile device capable of storing a home library and at the same time having a very modest size could only be found in some of the fantastic stories. Now electronic books with electronic ink can be bought without problems at almost any computer hardware store or ordered online. What they are, which have advantages and disadvantages, this will be discussed in our article.

Electronic paper, which is used by books with electronic ink, appeared back in the 70s of the 20th century. The first device using this technology was called the "Gericon". In it, the space between two transparent sheets was filled with a thin layer of very small plastic balls and then filled with oil. Each ball was painted in two colors: the first half of the surface was white, and the second was black. Depending on the sign of the supplied charge, the layer turned upside down on either side. As a result, a white or black dot appeared on the surface of such a device. In practice, such an invention was not widespread, but at the same time it inspired the inventors to new research. Modern electronic books with electronic ink work on the basis of an LCD matrix, which contains a layer of transparent microcapsules. In each of them there is a viscous liquid in which there are particles of white and black color. The former are charged with a positive charge, and the latter are negative. As soon as a positive charge enters such a cell, white particles will push off from the bottom of the “electronic paper” and float to the surface. Negatively charged black particles, on the contrary, will be pulled down. As a result, the image point in this place will turn white. If a negative charge is applied to the capsule, the reverse process will occur, and in this place the pixel will turn black.

E-books with electronic ink can accommodate a solid library that you can take with you everywhere. Many readers can access the Internet, where you can replenish your collection with a new bestseller. In addition, such devices, as a rule, have a headphone jack, if your eyes are tired, you can listen to an audio book or relax to music. The most important advantage that an e-book with ink has in front of the monitor is that the image does not flicker on it. This means that the eyes will not get so tired. Due to the low power consumption, the charge will last for several weeks, and even if you turn off the power, the image will remain on the screen for a long time, since the lion's share of the energy is spent only on the initial drawing. The light weight of the device and the independence of image quality from the angle of the screen are an additional plus, which allows such gadgets to successfully compete with ordinary paper.

disadvantages

E-ink e-books have three drawbacks. The first minus is the low speed of image formation. For this reason, watching the video on the “ink” screen will not work. The second drawback is that enough bright light is still needed for reading. Even the most modern “readers” cannot boast a background of pages of perfect whiteness. Of course, it is very light, but so far inferior in color to ordinary paper and in low light it seems a little gray. The third and final drawback is the hazy perspectives of color screens. So far, this type of reader is too expensive, the page change takes a long time (up to 2-3 seconds), and the battery charge is consumed too quickly.

Prospects

However, hopes for an affordable and high-quality device with color "electronic" ink still remain. It became known that PocketBook is currently working on this, and the first "reader" of this type will appear in the CIS by the end of 2013. So, despite the competition from tablets and smartphones, the technology is developing. And the day is not far off when a high-quality e-book with color inks on an ideal snow-white background becomes available.