E Ink and Plastic Logic Develop The World’s First Flexible ePaper Display

Taiwan’s E Ink Holding company and Germany’s Plastic Logic are teaming up to launch a new brand of flexible ePaper color displays. These low power displays will be based on the Advanced Color e-Paper (ACeP) technology that can be used on clothes and other wearable products.

Plastic Logic works on flexible glass-free electrophoretic displays which are thin, low power, paper-like displays. On the other hand, Taiwanese E Ink Holding has developed Advanced Color e-Paper (ACeP) technology that brings color to these ePapers. These color reflective electronic papers are able to display colors at every pixel without needing any filter array.

The companies will be combining their technologies to create the world’s first flexible active-matrix EPD. It is a Legio 2.1-inch color display with 240 x 146-pixels screen resolution. Powered by an Ultra chip UC8156 controller, these displays support red, green, blue, yellow, black, and white colors.

Thanks to this development, ACeP technology which has largely been limited to signboards can now be featured in wearables. CEO of Plastic Logic Tim Burne says that the technology can now appear on a number of wearables including smart jewelry and smart clothing.

The company says that the first kits of  Legio™ flexible color displays will be available for designers to try out by the end of 2020.