E-ink supplies e-ink screens for all e-reader manufacturers (including Kobo, Kindle and Pocketbook). A few weeks ago, they introduced a brand-new type of color screen, the Spectra 6.
This new "color e-paper" technology is based on the use of 6 colors, which are then combined to produce the right shades of color required.
The screens presented at the various trade shows have a diagonal of 25.3 inches and a resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels at 145 PPI. However, these screens can go up to 200 PPI.
From the photographs and videos we've seen on the Web, Spectra 6 screens are clearly the most advanced when it comes to displaying vivid colors with a contrast that makes them look as good as printed on paper.
This is truly a revolution, albeit with one major drawback: it now takes 12 seconds to completely refresh the screen and display a different photograph!
This is totally unacceptable for a e-reader, which needs to refresh the screen much faster to achieve a good reading experience.
These E-ink Spectra 6 color e-ink displays are therefore reserved for display and signage applications. They can be used as signage in shopping malls or to display promotional offers in boutiques - for example.
Despite this significant limitation, the images that can be seen are truly fascinating and give a good glimpse of what e-readers may become in the years to come.
With refresh rates falling to less than 2 seconds, I think many of us would adopt a e-reader with a Spectra screen as a reading device for novels and comics.
E Ink's previous generation of color signage screens took around 30 seconds to refresh. In just a few months, the company and its engineers have managed to halve this time, and I have no doubt that they are working hard to achieve satisfactory fluidity.
Spectra 6 displays are scheduled for delivery as early as 2024. If they prove a success, we can imagine a new generation of color screens arriving in a few years' time, and hopefully in our e-readers.
See the E-ink website: https://www.eink.com/brand/detail/Spectra6
Here's an interesting video to give you a better idea of the quality of the color display:
