E Ink, Hanshow Launch 13.3-Inch Full Color E-Paper Display For Retail

October 18, 2024 by Dave Haynes

This is what’s at least described as the first commercial application of a full-color electronic paper display in a retail environment – at an Aeon China store in Changsha.

I put the “described” qualifier in there because there often ends up being another example, done somewhere else.

Whatever the case, it is certainly indicative of what should be a trend – as e-paper costs likely/hopefully come down and image quality/color support steadily increases.

This is a 13.3-inch E Ink Spectra 6 electronic paper technology done in partnership with the Chinese electronic shelf label specialist Hanshow and called Polaris Max electronic paper. The pitch with this tech is that the color reproduction attributes of e-paper are now good enough to replace print in stores. Earlier generations have supported color, but have needed color filters that both muted and limited colors.

The Spectra 6 tech can do 200 Pixels per inch and have a contrast ratio of 22:1, which will mean something to someone (beats me).

Several companies, including biggies like Sharp and PPDS (Philips) have e-paper products developed with E Ink. The twist with what Hanshow has launched is, it says, a “self-developed HiLPC protocol” results in the 13.3-inch display consuming even less power and running off a single set of batteries for up to 10 years.

Energy usage is tied to display refreshes. It only uses power when the image is changed, and the rest of the time uses surrounding light to illuminate the visuals.

This stuff is getting interesting – though the wild card remains cost, which is still pretty high.