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Excerpt: "e-Paper displays have great readability under sunlight, and only consume power when updated. But their refresh rate is limited, and most displays are

Excerpt: "e-Paper displays have great readability under sunlight, and only consume power when updated. But their refresh rate is limited, and most displays are fairly expensive." I've been searching for a tiny computer / screen combination that would work under absolute minimal power; that is, if you were in deep space (or in the deep wilderness), and only had a small (say, 5W or less) solar panel for power, then what tiny computer / screen / keyboard combination would you use? Well, this screen seems like it might be ideally suited to be the screen component of a setup like that...

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
brtkdotse 7y ago
I had one of these back in the mid-90s: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poqet_PC https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poqet_PC It did a lot of trickery, like suspending the CPU between keystrokes, to get a weeks “work” (I was 12) out of it running on two AA batteries.
fit2rule 7y ago
I've had one of these for a few months, and its pretty awesome to be honest: https://thingpulse.com/product/espaper-plus-kit-wifi-epaper-display/ https://thingpulse.com/product/espaper-plus-kit-wifi-epaper-...
robocat 7y ago
Jailbreak a kindle. They are super low power and cheap with lots of features - I’m guessing a 5W solar panel would be overkill if you only update the screen irregularly.
- solarkraft 7y ago
  Came here to say this. I've been playing with doing some development on one, but the kernel must be really old now. Do you happen to know whether there's a way to update it?
- e12e 7y ago
  On that note... The remarkable sipposidly allows access for writing software (I think their dev documentation leaves something to desired..). Might also be an option. Ed: https://remarkable.engineering/ https://remarkable.engineering/
- int_19h 7y ago
  Or better yet, get an Android tablet with an eInk screen. Power consumption will be greater, but assuming the screen isn't refreshed constantly, 5W should still be enough to keep it going.
- puzzlingcaptcha 7y ago
  Also consider Kobo devices which may be slightly more hackable.
egd 7y ago
I'd want to check this before committing, but my understanding is that e-ink is cheap power-wise because it doesn't require power to maintain the image - actually changing the image, though, is more expensive than LCDs or OLEDs, so if you try to, say, watch a video on an e-ink screen, you're going to get worse energy draw than an LCD display.
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  Also this is 0.2fps. (or 0.25fps for the smaller one).
bluehavana 7y ago
Could also try a Sharp Memory LCD. Faster refresh rates and pretty low power consumption depending on usage pattern. Here's an article of someone using it with an ESP32: https://hackaday.com/2020/01/07/how-low-can-an-esp32-go/ https://hackaday.com/2020/01/07/how-low-can-an-esp32-go/
int_19h 7y ago
You can do surprisingly much with today's electronics even on a tight power budget. E.g. Pi Zero W can operate on ~2.5 W. The remaining power can drive a much larger e-Ink screen, or even a small TFT.

deleted 7y ago

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brtkdotse 7y ago

I had one of these back in the mid-90s: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poqet_PC https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poqet_PC It did a lot of trickery, like suspending the CPU between keystrokes, to get a weeks “work” (I was 12) out of it running on two AA batteries.

fit2rule 7y ago

I've had one of these for a few months, and its pretty awesome to be honest: https://thingpulse.com/product/espaper-plus-kit-wifi-epaper-display/ https://thingpulse.com/product/espaper-plus-kit-wifi-epaper-...

robocat 7y ago

Jailbreak a kindle. They are super low power and cheap with lots of features - I’m guessing a 5W solar panel would be overkill if you only update the screen irregularly.

solarkraft 7y ago
Came here to say this. I've been playing with doing some development on one, but the kernel must be really old now. Do you happen to know whether there's a way to update it?
e12e 7y ago
On that note... The remarkable sipposidly allows access for writing software (I think their dev documentation leaves something to desired..). Might also be an option. Ed: https://remarkable.engineering/ https://remarkable.engineering/
int_19h 7y ago
Or better yet, get an Android tablet with an eInk screen. Power consumption will be greater, but assuming the screen isn't refreshed constantly, 5W should still be enough to keep it going.
puzzlingcaptcha 7y ago
Also consider Kobo devices which may be slightly more hackable.

egd 7y ago

I'd want to check this before committing, but my understanding is that e-ink is cheap power-wise because it doesn't require power to maintain the image - actually changing the image, though, is more expensive than LCDs or OLEDs, so if you try to, say, watch a video on an e-ink screen, you're going to get worse energy draw than an LCD display.

pbhjpbhj 7y ago
Also this is 0.2fps. (or 0.25fps for the smaller one).

bluehavana 7y ago

Could also try a Sharp Memory LCD. Faster refresh rates and pretty low power consumption depending on usage pattern. Here's an article of someone using it with an ESP32: https://hackaday.com/2020/01/07/how-low-can-an-esp32-go/ https://hackaday.com/2020/01/07/how-low-can-an-esp32-go/

int_19h 7y ago

You can do surprisingly much with today's electronics even on a tight power budget. E.g. Pi Zero W can operate on ~2.5 W. The remaining power can drive a much larger e-Ink screen, or even a small TFT.