Philips Research has developed a novel color e-paper technology that opens up new design opportunities for personalizing electronic devices. This means my MP3 player or my mobile phone color and appearance can be changed to match my outfit, mood or environment simply at the touch of a button. The technology has the potential to be used in the future for larger area ‘e-wallpapers’ where you can adjust the color of your wall or smart windows to regulate the daylight coming through your window. Electronic paper (e-paper) looks like conventional paper and the bright wash of color it generates uses the ambient light for rendition, just like conventional paint, so no backlight is needed.
Philips’ technology allows different colors of ink to be built into one layer with each color controlled separately. This means the layer can be transparent, the same color as any one of the inks or even a mixture of multiple colors. Moreover, the saturation of each individual color can be controlled accurately – so any shade can be produced. Recently, Philips successfully realized a simplified, yet advanced version of its e-paper technology: e-skin. Since it is less complicated and less expensive to realize, it enables new applications. And because e-skin makes use of the ambient light, it is an inherently energy-efficient system, making it particularly suitable for application in portable devices as well.
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