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Recently, I tried to contact E-Ink, hoping to get information for an architectural use of some of their supposed products. I couldn't get any real information,

Recently, I tried to contact E-Ink, hoping to get information for an architectural use of some of their supposed products. I couldn't get any real information, conceptual pricing, development kit, summary of capabilities, or anything useful out of their sales staff. I repeatedly explained, I am a well capitalized entrepreneur wanting to incorporate some of their tech into my properties at scale, and that I have a development and construction team ready to work to design and integrate a product for various uses. I my mind, I should be a good potential tech development partner, ready to waste money on their tech. I couldn't get anything useful out of them. I am now convinced that outside of the very basic amazon kindle reader screen type displays, that the technology does not exist as promised or marketed.

falcolas 10y ago
It's been awhile, but I have seen some basic e-ink displays for sale on DigiKey. That said, I agree that it's silly and frustrating that you couldn't get anything out of someone whose job is sales for the company. EDIT: Nevermind, all they offer currently are segmented displays (think calculator LCD style displays). That's crap.
- pcl 10y ago
  I've had good experiences with a 10" eInk dev kit from Pervasive Displays, purchased from DigiKey. Looks like it's out of stock right now, but they've got a 7.4" and a 4.4" form factor in stock: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays/S2A20CS171/S2A20CS171-ND/5400956 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays... https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays/SW074AS182/SW074AS182-ND/4898789 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays... https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays/ST044AS182/ST044AS182-ND/4898786 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays...
  - DenisM 10y ago
    How do you program this? Is it easy to get started with?
    - pcl 10y ago
      At the low level, it's pretty straightforward to work with their dev kits. A Raspberry Pi + some jumper cables + a bit of python gets things going. There are some quirks, since for the most part the board is optimized for internal update speed, not for usability. I ended up putting together some code to update the display given a PNG file, including some basic dithering for greyscale. And I drive all that from screenshots of a browser running in a virtual X terminal on the RPi. The update speed is not the best (several seconds from screenshot to render), but that's fine for my use case, since I'm using it for slow-moving info (weather, bus schedule, tides, etc.) and I'm better at writing HTML+JS for UI than writing bitmaps.
xeemzorz 10y ago
If black/white isn't a core requirement look into BluBoard (bluboard.io). They are a Cleveland-based hardware startup that specializes in 18" epaper displays and related content management systems. Sources: [1] CES News Story - https://bluboard.io/news/bluboard-at-ces-2017-with-fellow-cwru-innovators/ https://bluboard.io/news/bluboard-at-ces-2017-with-fellow-cw... [2] BluBoard Chooses Multitech - http://www.multitech.com/news-and-events/press-releases/lorktech+selects+multitech+for++innovative+digital+signage+solution_o65960 http://www.multitech.com/news-and-events/press-releases/lork... [3] Local News Segment - http://www.cleveland19.com/story/34321031/cleveland-start-up-bluboards-a-sign-of-things-to-come http://www.cleveland19.com/story/34321031/cleveland-start-up... Disclaimer: I am the Director of Architecture at BluBoard
- mbrookes 10y ago
  > They are a Cleveland-based hardware startup > Disclaimer: I am the Director of Architecture at BluBoard Then you should probably say "we are" rather than "they are" so that it's clear from the outset. (PS. When you disclose something, it's a "disclosure".)
- Drdrdrq 10y ago
  Interesting, looks like it's blue/white. Any particular reason for that?
glial 10y ago
reMarkable[0] was mentioned here a few days ago. Do you think they are vaporware? [0] https://getremarkable.com/ https://getremarkable.com/
- DenisM 10y ago
  This looks great. Almost too good to be true.
  - Drdrdrq 10y ago
    They are probably testing waters ("preorder now, get 40% off"). But it sounds great, hope they make it!
mickm 10y ago
It's not e-ink but we have a pretty cool (imho) "alternative" display that might be worth a look for one of your projects: https://breakfastny.com/flip-disc/ https://breakfastny.com/flip-disc/
- Pwntastic 10y ago
  Can you give more info on pricing without me having to request a quote, or is this a "if you have to ask" kind of deal?
greggman 10y ago
Sony has done some interesting e-ink things, of course they were able to partner with e-ink https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9nB6SlsFU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9nB6SlsFU
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
anmorgan 10y ago
Good Display is a Chinese Vendor that seems a little more transparent. http://m.good-display.com/products_list/&pmcId=160&productCategoryColumnId=1.html http://m.good-display.com/products_list/&pmcId=160&productCa... You can buy a demo kit which features a STM32F1 and source code. You can also buy individual screens. I've messed around with the demo board a year or so ago.

falcolas 10y ago

It's been awhile, but I have seen some basic e-ink displays for sale on DigiKey. That said, I agree that it's silly and frustrating that you couldn't get anything out of someone whose job is sales for the company. EDIT: Nevermind, all they offer currently are segmented displays (think calculator LCD style displays). That's crap.

pcl 10y ago
I've had good experiences with a 10" eInk dev kit from Pervasive Displays, purchased from DigiKey. Looks like it's out of stock right now, but they've got a 7.4" and a 4.4" form factor in stock: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays/S2A20CS171/S2A20CS171-ND/5400956 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays... https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays/SW074AS182/SW074AS182-ND/4898789 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays... https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays/ST044AS182/ST044AS182-ND/4898786 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/pervasive-displays...
- DenisM 10y ago
  How do you program this? Is it easy to get started with?
  - pcl 10y ago
    At the low level, it's pretty straightforward to work with their dev kits. A Raspberry Pi + some jumper cables + a bit of python gets things going. There are some quirks, since for the most part the board is optimized for internal update speed, not for usability. I ended up putting together some code to update the display given a PNG file, including some basic dithering for greyscale. And I drive all that from screenshots of a browser running in a virtual X terminal on the RPi. The update speed is not the best (several seconds from screenshot to render), but that's fine for my use case, since I'm using it for slow-moving info (weather, bus schedule, tides, etc.) and I'm better at writing HTML+JS for UI than writing bitmaps.

xeemzorz 10y ago

If black/white isn't a core requirement look into BluBoard (bluboard.io). They are a Cleveland-based hardware startup that specializes in 18" epaper displays and related content management systems. Sources: [1] CES News Story - https://bluboard.io/news/bluboard-at-ces-2017-with-fellow-cwru-innovators/ https://bluboard.io/news/bluboard-at-ces-2017-with-fellow-cw... [2] BluBoard Chooses Multitech - http://www.multitech.com/news-and-events/press-releases/lorktech+selects+multitech+for++innovative+digital+signage+solution_o65960 http://www.multitech.com/news-and-events/press-releases/lork... [3] Local News Segment - http://www.cleveland19.com/story/34321031/cleveland-start-up-bluboards-a-sign-of-things-to-come http://www.cleveland19.com/story/34321031/cleveland-start-up... Disclaimer: I am the Director of Architecture at BluBoard

mbrookes 10y ago
> They are a Cleveland-based hardware startup > Disclaimer: I am the Director of Architecture at BluBoard Then you should probably say "we are" rather than "they are" so that it's clear from the outset. (PS. When you disclose something, it's a "disclosure".)
Drdrdrq 10y ago
Interesting, looks like it's blue/white. Any particular reason for that?

glial 10y ago

reMarkable[0] was mentioned here a few days ago. Do you think they are vaporware? [0] https://getremarkable.com/ https://getremarkable.com/

DenisM 10y ago
This looks great. Almost too good to be true.
- Drdrdrq 10y ago
  They are probably testing waters ("preorder now, get 40% off"). But it sounds great, hope they make it!

mickm 10y ago

It's not e-ink but we have a pretty cool (imho) "alternative" display that might be worth a look for one of your projects: https://breakfastny.com/flip-disc/ https://breakfastny.com/flip-disc/

Pwntastic 10y ago
Can you give more info on pricing without me having to request a quote, or is this a "if you have to ask" kind of deal?

greggman 10y ago

Sony has done some interesting e-ink things, of course they were able to partner with e-ink https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9nB6SlsFU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9nB6SlsFU

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

anmorgan 10y ago

Good Display is a Chinese Vendor that seems a little more transparent. http://m.good-display.com/products_list/&pmcId=160&productCategoryColumnId=1.html http://m.good-display.com/products_list/&pmcId=160&productCa... You can buy a demo kit which features a STM32F1 and source code. You can also buy individual screens. I've messed around with the demo board a year or so ago.