Taiwan’s HANNspree Starts Marketing Energy-Sipping Reflective “ecoVISION Paper Displays”

August 30, 2024 by Dave Haynes

Taiwan-based flat panel display manufacturer HannStar, through its HANNspree division, has started advance marketing on what it calls an ecoVISION Paper Display – a reflective digital display that consumes  up to 80% less power than traditional LED-backlit display panels.

There are versions for e-readers and specialty monitors, but also a pair that have digital signage applications in mind:

With both, the displays are based on ambient light reflectance, which like more familiar e-paper products reflect natural light when outdoors or by windows, or indoor lighting when it is bright (at least 500 lux lighting). The BIG difference between this and E Ink-based displays – like those marketed now by PPDS and Sharp – is that these ones support video.

HANNspree will be showcasing its new ecoVISION products at the giant IFA consumer electronics show next week in Berlin, and they are slated for release before the end of this year.

The Taipei company is no newcomer, and I have seen interesting products from HANNspree at trade shows for years. It has been working in LCD technology since 2003, with ecoVISION Paper Display its latest innovation. “By reflecting ambient light,” the company says in PR, “an ecoVISION panel can minimize its reliance on internal light sources and consume up to eighty percent less power than a traditional LED-backlit panel. It combines fast, full-colour performance with advanced energy efficiency to set a new standard for LCDs.”

“In addition to its energy-saving benefits, ecoVISION technology also promotes personal health and well-being. It’s true 8-bit, non-FRC, flicker-free, and low blue light features help reduce eye strain, leading to improved focus during extended screen use. This is especially valuable for those looking to boost cognitive stamina and productivity.”

The company also says it is “committed to reducing product carbon footprints for achieving sustainability in terms of materials, manufacturing processes, and logistics packaging materials.”

This video gets into ec0-friendly paper displays and how they work:

The pitch for green, or at least greener, displays will get a more attentive hearing in Germany and Europe at IFA than it would likely get at the other giant consumer electronics show, CES in Vegas in January.  The  green signage movement is a real thing in Europe – mainly related to energy consumption but also with the product materials and packaging.

Reflective displays is not necessarily new technology – and probably better described as evolving, just like all display technologies, from e-paper to OLED.

I don’t have any electrical engineering chops, plus I’m dumb as a rock, so I will leave to te the CEO of a reflective display start-up to explain this stuff. I have no idea if this is HANNstar’s internal IP, or those of a Taiwan partner, or maybe it is from the US firm Azumo. Here’s how Mike Casper explained reflective displays to me in a 2021 podcast … 

So most LCDs that are out there today, the vast majority of them are transmissive LCDs and the way that these work is the pixels essentially act like shutters of light, and so they either close or open allowing  a backlight to light up the screen and let the light pass through. With these backlights in these older transmissive style LCDs, they only allow about 7% of the light to make its way through those pixels.

So 93% of all this heat and light and really wasted energy generated is stuck behind the LCD and so with this new style, and what we’re helping to enable here at Azumo is what’s called a reflective LCD. Essentially what the LCD manufacturers have done is put a mirrored surface on the back, so no light can pass through it, but what happens instead is that light from the outside or external lighting will reflect off the surface and that’s the way that you can see the display. So it’s saving 90% energy, much better viewing in bright sunlight and outdoor environments, which is why it’s a great application for signage.

A couple of the knocks against reflective have been viewing angles and color reproduction, and I have no idea how these ecoVISION displays do on that. In the past, reflective has been touted as a way to do outdoor, sunlight-readable displays without needing to drive a backlight, generating heat (which is not an LCD’s friend, and gobbling up power). With the push for greener signage, I’d say the greater attention and interest now is in reducing energy demands for environmental and availability reasons.

  1. Edward says:
    September 14, 2024 at 9:54 pm

    Can we get comparison between ecoVision display and e-ink display?

    It seems ecoVision is far superior in terms of refresh rate. Can ecoVision make the pixcel to go over 200 mega pixcels?

    Considering ecoVision is reflective LCD technology, the cost of making this panel should be relatively cheap. The cost could be cheaper than color e-ink. Is this correct assessment?

    Best, Ed

    Reply

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