Do you know what the primary complication is whenever companies build electronic ink or OLED displays is? The most common problem is the backing of the screen itself. Usually the backing is made from glass because of its properties of being transparent, rigid, and reliable. A lab in Taiwan—ITRI is manufacturing a new material that can be sprayed onto the glass backing before the materials are put onto it. It does not discolor and it can then be peeled off of the glass. This leaves you with a highly flexible display made from a new poly material.
ITRI has signed a non-exclusive agreement with a company in Taiwan that manufactures black-and-white e-readers. This product is expected to be released for consumer products next year, one of the creators Janglin Chen believes. Sometime next year color displays based in OLED technology with this new flexible display should make its way into the marketplace. E-readers such as the Nook use standard LED technology while black and white e-readers such as the Kindle use e-ink on glass. This new technology will lead to slimmer products and will not be limited to display panels. They will be turned into touch panels and potentially solar panels.
It is Janglin Chen’s fantasy that this technology will lead to rollable e-books or phones. For now, removing the glass from the displays will lead to lighter, more reliable.
-TwisTtheTwiTcH
