E ink, the company behind the pigment-based, low-energy monochromatic displays found in many of today’s popular readers finally figured out how to create up to 32,000 colors in what is almost the exact same technology.

The company will unveil what it’s calling a breakthrough technology on Tuesday at the annual SID Display Week conference in San Francisco.

“For the first time, we can create all colors at every pixel location,” said E Ink Holding’s Head of Global marketing Giovanni Mancini. “We have encapsulated four different things in one micro-cup.”

Those four things are actually four different pigments: yellow, cyan, magenta and white. In traditional monochromatic E Ink, there were just two colors: black and white. Both microcups work in similar ways, E Ink changes the polarity to move the pigments around. For monochrome, the white and black pigments basically switch places (you see white or black on the reflective screen). However, for the new full-color electrophoretic display, E Ink had to figure out a more sophisticated way to manage the pigments in each tiny cup.

“The ability to control those pigments is significant,” said Mancini

In addition to being different colors, each pigment will have additional properties that gives E Ink greater control over their movement and position. This allows E Ink to move some or all together to create combinations that result in up to 32,000 display colors. Since each cup basically represents a controllable pixel, the results can be pretty stunning.

Color that lasts

The new display, which E Ink will publicly demonstrate for the first time, is a 20-inch, 2500 x 1600 resolution display that actually shares monochrome E Ink’s impressive power capabilities. Mancini told Mashable that it’s equally power-efficient. He explained that it could be used in bus stop signage. “Bus stops are powered with solar cells, you could power this with solar cells,” he said.

A color E Ink display rendering a full-color image. Image: E Ink

E Ink is not alone in the low-power color display market. Qualcomm’s full-color Mirasol display technology has been around for more than six years. Instead of pigments, capsules and polarity, it uses a fully mechanical system to create a wide color gamut and uses almost zero power to maintain the image once it’s set. Last year, Apple reportedly bought Qualcomm’s Mirasol plant. No word yet on if Apple plans to productize the low-power color display technology.

Not for everyone

While color E Ink is on the fast-track to commercialization, it does have some significant limitations. For now, the resolution is 150 pixels per inch (ppi), which is roughly half the resolution you find on a typical, 6-inch, monochromatic E Ink display. In addition, the full-color E Ink can’t come anywhere close to the virtual instant refresh capabilities of today’s ereaders. Right now, it takes a color E Ink display two seconds to fully resolve.

Here is how color E Ink recreates its 32,000 colors. Image: E Ink

Mancini doesn’t consider this an issue, though, because the company is targeting commercial signage, which wouldn’t need to change that often and is also designed to grab attention, an area where color E Ink may excel. Mancini said color E Ink will feature highly saturated colors. “Something close to what you would see on printed poster, paper type of product.”

He also noted that even though the prototype will be less than 2-feet wide, size is actually only limited by E Ink’s manufacturing capabilities.

General availability for color E Ink displays is expected in two years. Will color E Ink make it to future Amazon Kindles? Mancini would only reiterate that E Ink is currently focused on the display market.

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