[SID] Samsung Prototypes Video-enabled E-paper Display

The LCD Business Unit of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd of Korea exhibited a 10.2-inch panel at SID Display Week 2009.

The panel combines electronic paper and video display technologies and allows users to switch between both modes.

It is an active matrix panel and was realized by utilizing "a kind of cholesteric liquid crystal" for the image display technology, Samsung Electronics said. The main feature of the prototype is that its display mode can be switched between the "memory mode" to operate the panel as e-paper and the "dynamic mode" to display moving pictures, according to the company.

"We are not interested in ordinary e-paper displays like the ones being developed by everyone else," Samsung Electronics said. "So, this time, we planned to do something that no one else would do."

The panel has 320 x RGB x 240 pixels and is capable of displaying 64 colors. It features a reflectance of 10% or higher and a response time of 25ms or less. The exhibited prototype gave the impression that, both as e-paper and as a video display, it needs major improvements in terms of not only specifications but also other capabilities.

Nevertheless, the idea of switching functions of a display depending on the usage or allowable power consumption may draw attention from other manufacturers.