How Electronic Paper Opens a New Chapter in Full-Color Commercial Use
Overall, the industry needs to promote deep collaboration and technological breakthroughs in materials, membranes, modules, software, and other areas to achieve large-scale manufacturing and application of electronic paper. At the same time, there are many technical paths for full-color electronic paper, and a technical route competition may arise in the future.In recent years, near-zero power consumption electronic paper display technology has emerged, gradually entering the stage of large-scale application due to its advantages of low power consumption, paper-like viewing effects, and visual health. However, this display technology, which mainly relies on reflected ambient light for information display, faces many challenges in large-scale commercialization despite the joy of explosive growth.Image Source: E Ink TechnologyCurrently, this niche display technology still faces challenges such as colorization, low market awareness, and high production costs, which not only affect user experience but may also hinder further market expansion. To achieve future growth targets, multiple technical and market challenges must be addressed.How to Break Through Full-Colorization?Electronic paper is a super light and thin display technology with near-zero power consumption, green eye protection, paper-like display effects, and bistable technology. However, as a display technology widely used in e-books, it can only present black and white images, leaving a stereotype of “ink screen” in the minds of ordinary consumers. In fact, in recent years, the industry has accelerated the research and development of color electronic paper technology and has achieved many results.E Ink Technology’s full-color electronic paper E Ink Spectra™ 6 technology and E Ink Kaleido™ 3 Outdoor color printing electronic paper have accelerated the colorization process of electronic paper. Among them, the E Ink Kaleido™ technology achieves a relatively warm color display effect by printing colors onto black and white electronic paper, and it has already been upgraded to the third generation. Meanwhile, E Ink Gallery™ uses four-color ink particles for mixing, resulting in a more vivid display effect.Moreover, Rainbow Optoelectronics has also achieved full-color electronic paper with over sixteen million colors using cholesteric liquid crystal technology, which features bistable characteristics, reducing power consumption of the display.Undoubtedly, the transition of electronic paper from black and white to full color is an inevitable trend in the development of the electronic paper industry and an important turning point for the electronic paper industry. Color electronic paper means that its application fields will be further broadened, promoting large-scale applications of electronic paper in electronic textbooks, electronic price tags, indoor and outdoor advertising, various signage, smart wearables, and smart homes.Guofu Zhou, director of the South China Advanced Optoelectronics Research Institute at South China Normal University, stated at the 2024 China Low Carbon Display Innovation Development Conference that breakthroughs in color dynamic electronic paper display technology will bring revolutionary changes to tablet computers, smart city information boards, and outdoor display devices.Taking electronic labels as an example, the “colorization” process of electronic paper labels is accelerating, with mainstream products gradually transitioning from “black and white dual-color” to “multi-color as the main feature”.However, for electronic paper to achieve full-color video display, technical challenges such as color, refresh speed, and brightness need to be addressed. This requires continuous improvement in materials, device design, backend algorithms, and display control systems. Zhou Guofu stated that electronic paper display products can only truly reflect the advantages of being a “green display terminal” with eye protection, low power consumption, and support for mainstream information playback (full-color video) when significant breakthroughs are made in color video playback, filling the current market gap that screen technologies and products cannot meet.It is worth noting that many industry companies are focusing on launching printed color electronic paper, which adopts electrophoretic electronic paper imaging technology based on microcapsules of black and white colors, allowing RGB arrays to be directly printed onto the surface of electronic paper. This technology not only retains the fast response time characteristics of black and white electronic ink screens but also achieves color display.Slow Progress in Large-Sized Product ApplicationsIn addition to colorization, large-size electronic paper is also an important development trend with practical application significance. However, there are some technical challenges regarding colorization and display effects for large-sized electronic paper. Currently, the colorization progress of large-sized electronic paper tablets and panels is slow, with poor color reproduction leading to insufficient contrast and low refresh rates.At present, large-sized electronic paper products face multiple challenges during application, mainly including the following aspects:First, motherboard support:Large-sized electronic paper requires more powerful hardware support to ensure stable operation and good user experience. However, there are currently few motherboards on the market that can provide sufficient support, which limits the development of large-sized electronic paper.Second, temperature range:The performance of electronic paper in extreme temperatures is another important challenge. Although there are solutions such as using flexible printed heating membranes to improve operating temperatures, allowing it to function normally in environments as low as -30°C, these technologies have not yet been widely adopted.Third, refresh rate:The refresh rate of large-sized electronic paper is usually low, affecting display effects and user experience. Fast-moving content may not display smoothly on large-sized screens, thus impacting user acceptance.Fourth, color reproduction:Colorization is an inevitable trend in the development of the electronic paper industry, but poor color reproduction of large-sized products is a significant issue.Although large-sized electronic paper is gradually piloted and applied in specific fields such as digital signage and educational scenarios, the overall demand remains relatively small. In 2023, the global shipment of electronic paper digital signage reached 127,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 29.6%, and it is expected to reach 165,000 units in 2024. This indicates that while the market is gradually expanding, the overall scale remains limited.In the electronic paper market, the main terminal products are still concentrated in small and medium-sized products, such as office notebooks and study notebooks. The market share of large-sized products is small and mainly applied in emerging fields such as outdoor information signage and electronic posters. Although these emerging applications have potential, they have not yet formed large-scale market demand.Currently, policy support and environmental trends play a certain role in promoting the development of large-sized electronic paper. China’s education policies and dual carbon trends will gradually benefit the electronic paper industry, promoting its vigorous development in the Chinese market. However, the implementation and promotion of policies will take time, and it may be difficult to significantly enhance the application progress of large-sized products in the short term.However, although the current application progress of large-sized electronic paper is slow, with technological advancements and cost reductions, it is expected to achieve broader applications in the future. For instance, E Ink Technology hopes to gradually open up various segmented markets by actively laying out medium and large-sized products, and it has already shipped 42-inch color electronic paper to customers, with plans to launch larger products such as 55 inches and 65 inches.Moreover, the development direction of the electronic paper industry is large size, colorization, and high resolution, and it is predicted that basic products will continue to grow.Cost Issues Need to Be AddressedAlthough large-sized electronic paper has huge application potential in smart retail, smart logistics, and other fields, its development still needs to overcome many technical and market challenges. Among them, cost is one of the main obstacles to the commercialization of color electronic paper.As a niche sector of the display industry, the upstream of the electronic paper industry chain overlaps significantly with TFT substrates, driver chips, and LCD display technologies, leading to relatively sufficient competition, with mid-to-lower stream manufacturers having some bargaining power; however, the film materials (electronic ink films) currently mainly use electrophoretic display technology paths, with E Ink Technology as the main supplier, which has high pricing power. Additionally, the lack of large-scale production (currently about 30 million pieces/year) leads to high prices for film materials.Since the production of ink, imprinting, film materials, and other technologies are controlled by a few enterprises, the expansion of electronic paper applications is also somewhat limited without technological diffusion. Among them, E Ink Technology, with its strong technological competitiveness and patent layout, has a gross profit margin far higher than that of other panel manufacturers.However, E Ink Technology seems to realize that only by enlarging the electronic paper market can those who slice the cake gain more profit. Therefore, E Ink Technology is also willing to lower the prices of color electronic paper to stimulate market demand, and has been committed to improving color technology and increasing production capacity in recent years.At the same time, new entrants such as Fudong Technology & Rainbow Optoelectronics, Laibo High-tech, and Wuxi Weifeng are expected to break the monopoly of E Ink Technology and push down film material costs. Among them, Laibo High-tech and Wuxi Weifeng, in collaboration with local governments, are investing 9 billion to build micro-cavity electronic paper display devices (plasma display technology, also belonging to electrophoresis) projects, focusing on producing medium and large-sized color electronic paper, with plans to start construction in the second half of this year, with a construction period of 24 months. Superspeed also proposed the “New Front of Electronic Paper” plan, claiming to have solved issues of flickering, ghosting, and insufficient color vibrancy, while reducing costs. In June of this year, Tianma also launched the μ-Fluidink micro-ink flow reflective display technology.From the market perspective, although the cost of large-sized electronic paper is gradually decreasing, it is still higher than that of small-sized products. For example, Loto Technology predicts that within the next three years, it will plan larger 55-inch and 75-inch electronic paper films, but cost remains a major obstacle.Overall, the industry still needs to promote deep collaboration and technological breakthroughs in materials, membranes, modules, software, and other areas to achieve large-scale manufacturing and application of electronic paper. At the same time, there are many technical paths for full-color electronic paper, and a technical route competition may arise in the future. Additionally, the competition between electronic paper and other display technologies (such as OLED, LCD, etc.) is also a problem that cannot be ignored.
