Video: Etulipa’s CEO Demos, Explains Electro-Wetting Reflective Display

June 5, 2023 by Dave Haynes

Here’s a good, detailed look at those reflective displays from the Dutch start-up Etulipa – done as a video interview with CEO Has Feil during the SID’s recent Display Week trade show and conference in LA.

The interview is by a video blogger – Charbax – who attends and records interviews at dozens of trade shows.

The tech has both similarities and differences to e-paper displays. Both these “electro-wetting displays” and e-paper displays are low-power and take advantage of natural light. But the Etulipa units support high speed video, whereas most of the e-paper product that’s progressed from R&D labs is still static.

The company is understandably aiming this product at outdoor advertising and messaging applications, where average viewing distances minimize the visible bezels between units and the relatively coarse 10mm pixel pitch. You can see at about 1:08 in the video below what these tablet-sized tiles look like in arrays.

Reflective tech would also be attractive to media companies because of power consumption, which is far, far less than LED displays that are working their hardest and brightest (and consuming energy at peak day hours). The reflective displays are best in bright sunlight, and use backlighting at night – from stored solar power collected by attached arrays.

The use of energy-sipping alternative displays is getting much more attention in Europe because of high energy costs and restrictions, but the need is relevant anywhere. Media owners are going to very receptive to display tech that cuts operating costs (the energy bills) and also address whatever green initiatives the local and regional governments might be encouraging or mandating.

Here’s the video interview …

I did a podcast interview with Feil last year …