What makes eBooks so darn special?

Will the eBook replace its ancestor?

Of all media, the book is the only format that has provided entertainment for centuries while demanding very little in return. So how can eBook technology compete against a seemingly perfect medium?

LCD Screens Just Don’t Work

Over the past 40 years, eBook technology has grown exponentially, with the most significant developments being its display. In the beginning, the first eReaders used small versions of LCD laptop screens. These displays had a resolution of about 90 pixels per inch (ppi), which led to the unsightly pixilation of content¹.

No need to adjust your speakers. This video has no sound.

Modern eReaders use what is called a flexible display. Flexible displays are actually a plastic similar to paper. It’s super thin, incredibly light in weight, and, compared to an LCD screen, is extremely durable. Flexible displays also differ from LCDs because they do not rely on pixels to create content. Instead, eReaders are currently working with something called ‘electronic ink’.

Understanding Electronic Ink

Shortened to e-ink, this new technology displays words and images by using tiny black and white plastic granules that move about inside microscopic, spherical capsules under precise electronic control. This allows for displays that are twice the resolution of ordinary computer screens, are clearly visible in sunlight, and require much less power consumption – making it the only technology which rivals paper¹.

To fully understand the process of e-ink, imagine that the flexible display is divided into a grid-like layout. Within each square are millions of microcapsules or cavities, measuring 100 microns wide. To give you a better perspective of the size, roughly 100,000 microcapsules can fit into a square inch of paper².

Technical illustration of electronic ink

Inside each microcapsule or cavity float pigmented chips or balls with a negative charge and, depending on the e-ink brand, either an ink or oily substance. Each square is wired to microelectronics embedded into the flexible display and when active, apply a positive or negative charge to the microcapsule to create the desired text or images².

eBooks Experiment with Color Displays

Today’s e-ink works with white chips and blue ink, but multicolor displays and motion graphics are in the works. Aside from more developments in e-ink, other possible technologies include ones based on a type of microelectromechanical system and electrowetting.

The microelectromechanical system, currently being developed by Mirasol, uses tiny mobile reflective surfaces to change the state of colors. This is compared to the iridescence seen in nature, i.e., butterfly wings and peacock feathers³.

Technical illustration of Mirasol display

The electrowetting process is presently only available in Europe, having been developed by a company called LiquiVista and hopes to create displays that are capable of producing color or video. While the Kindle is capable of displaying low quality video, the electrowetting process relies on an electric charge to move colored oil drops to change a display’s color or play video at a higher quality⁴.

eBooks have much more to offer than as a means of allowing users to save space. Its screen technologies are giving traditional books some competition with the development of energy-saving technology and adaptable screens, with seemingly more innovations to come. With the advancement of modern technology, one has to wonder if centuries-old book will measure up to that of eBooks within the next 50 years?

Source(s):

1. ^Woodford, Chris. “Electronic Books.” Explain That Stuff!. Apr. 09 2010. Web.

2. ^Bonsor, Kevin. “How Electronic Ink Works.” How Stuff Works. Discovery, 2010. Web.

3. ^”Mirasol Display: Ebook Reader Technology Takes Flight.” eBook Reader Resource. 2009. Web.

4. ^Springmann, Alessondra. “Color E-ink: Electrowetting Brings Color and Video to E-book Reader Screens.” PC World. PC World Communications, Inc., Apr. 23 2010. Web.