6 ms·

€ 899 is absurdly expensive for this device. As much as I'd love to play with non-intrusive "low-dynamic" displays, this is just too expensive. https://www.vis

€ 899 is absurdly expensive for this device. As much as I'd love to play with non-intrusive "low-dynamic" displays, this is just too expensive. https://www.visionect.com/product/place-and-play-13/ https://www.visionect.com/product/place-and-play-13/

napsy 6y ago
I agree, it's expensive if you compare the price to an LCD. But as this is e-paper technology with completely different use cases, the manufacturing costs are still high. Keep in mind that, currently, e-paper is not a substitute for classic LCD panels. Where e-paper shines for me is very low battery consumption. For example, the mentioned device can hold up to 6 months without a single battery recharge and is completely wireless.
- bergie 6y ago
  WaveShare has e-paper modules between 5" and 7" costing around 50 EUR. You can drive them either from a Raspberry Pi or a ESP8266 microcontroller. We're using a small one as an instrument panel on our boat https://github.com/meri-imperiumi/dashboard#readme https://github.com/meri-imperiumi/dashboard#readme
  - napsy 6y ago
    Nice project! Yes they are indeed cheaper. It's really up to your taste. The device I'm using is already in a casing and comes with a sophisticated software that can render any modern HTML5 on the device with full JS support.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - Y_Y 6y ago
      Like say, running Firefox on a raspberry pi?
- martin_a 6y ago
  Amazon can somehow put those displays in a Kindle for what... 90€? Maybe they have some mix-calculation going on with book sales, but in comparison a Kindle should cost around 400-500€ when looking at those numbers here.
  - 0_____0 6y ago
    yeah those are subsidized devices
    - martin_a 6y ago
      Clearly making a loss with me then. Sorry, Amazon! :-)
    - WorldMaker 6y ago
      Right, Kindles presumably have a high attachment rate (owners buy more ebooks) so Amazon can subsidize based on that attachment rate, and also the base model Kindle prices include direct advertising subsidization. (Check the "without ads" SKUs prices for something somewhat more comparable.) Don't forget too many of the screen prices above are essentially single screen "retail" prices and Amazon would likely have better bulk wholesale prices worked out in their supply chains.
some1else 6y ago
You might prefer the 6-inch Joan Home device[1] (€ 249). It runs a productivity app[2], but the hardware and software stack is by the same company. 1: https://getjoan.com/shop/joan-home/ https://getjoan.com/shop/joan-home/ 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lRFsbLFUKk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lRFsbLFUKk
- martin_a 6y ago
  Yeah, that might be nice for some people, just give me a 13" display with a HDMI input. I'll figure the rest out.
- schwartzworld 6y ago
  Cute bezel, but for not much more you can get a full Android 10 tablet with an eink screen. And for like $220 less you can get a whiteboard and take 30 seconds to write your meeting times on it.
  - martin_a 6y ago
    Do you have any information on that 10" tablet with E-Ink?
    - schwartzworld 6y ago
      Is that other thing 10"? My bad, the one I was thinking of us 7". https://www.boox.com/ https://www.boox.com/ Edit: sorry I meant it runs Android 10, not is 10"
      - martin_a 6y ago
        It's interesting anyway, thanks! edit: And there's a 10 inch version, too.
  - manicdee 6y ago
    Something like this perhaps? https://laughingsquid.com/plotclock-a-robotic-clock-that-writes-the-time-with-a-marker/ https://laughingsquid.com/plotclock-a-robotic-clock-that-wri...
trok 6y ago
I was excited, until I found out how much it costs.. For some time I have been looking a small screen that would be used for displaying various information. However, I don't want to build the hardware myself as I feel that the result might not be safe for 24/7 usage. I've been checking digital photo frames, but have not found any solution which would allow updating the image directly and without requiring reverse engineering of an app or the device itself.
- napsy 6y ago
  Finding cheaper solutions is tricky. I myself am not that strong in electronic engineering, so assembling my own small device is a no-go for me. But yes it would definitely be possible with a small LCD and rpi.
- erenst 6y ago
  Inkplate[1] might be a good option for around 100€. Compared to Joan it's less polished. You can get 3d printed case and it requires some coding (it doesn't support rendering HTML). I'm working on a personal dashboard for the screen. I'll create a website in React and then use rendertron[2] to get the screenshot on the Inkplate. [1] https://inkplate.io/ https://inkplate.io/ [2] https://github.com/GoogleChrome/rendertron https://github.com/GoogleChrome/rendertron
  - trok 6y ago
    Thanks for the tip, I will check it out. :)
  - lemonspat 6y ago
    Have you found a battery for this that might make it fit well in a 3d printed case?
- nathan_f77 6y ago
  I've been using a first-generation iPad a digital photo frame. I use the LiveFrame [1] app, which still supports very old versions of iOS (9.5). The iPad had just been sitting in my closet for a few years, since I couldn't update it to the latest version of iOS, and most apps stopped supporting it. I was about to throw it away before I had one last attempt at doing something useful with it. I'm really glad I found the LiveFrame app and was able to get it working. It also has a web browser that can display almost any webpage (although it would probably struggle with the latest CSS features.) So you could show a dashboard web page to display some information. I would recommend looking on eBay to see if there are any cheap iPads or Android tablets. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/liveframe/id860372559 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/liveframe/id860372559
kzrdude 6y ago
I was dreaming of making a 30" e-paper stellar/planetary map wall display, until I realized the cost of these.
- martin_a 6y ago
  That's kind of what I'm thinking about. I want a large "slow" display on the office wall to show me statistics, calendar entries and whatnot for our team. Don't want to attach a bright, shining display to the wall if the information only changes twice a day or so.
robocollab 6y ago
If you'd like a cheaper alternative (and don't mind a little DIY) I wrote a library that lets you render HTML onto low cost ePaper displays using a Raspberry Pi. https://github.com/samsonmking/epaper.js https://github.com/samsonmking/epaper.js

napsy 6y ago

I agree, it's expensive if you compare the price to an LCD. But as this is e-paper technology with completely different use cases, the manufacturing costs are still high. Keep in mind that, currently, e-paper is not a substitute for classic LCD panels. Where e-paper shines for me is very low battery consumption. For example, the mentioned device can hold up to 6 months without a single battery recharge and is completely wireless.

bergie 6y ago
WaveShare has e-paper modules between 5" and 7" costing around 50 EUR. You can drive them either from a Raspberry Pi or a ESP8266 microcontroller. We're using a small one as an instrument panel on our boat https://github.com/meri-imperiumi/dashboard#readme https://github.com/meri-imperiumi/dashboard#readme
- napsy 6y ago
  Nice project! Yes they are indeed cheaper. It's really up to your taste. The device I'm using is already in a casing and comes with a sophisticated software that can render any modern HTML5 on the device with full JS support.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - Y_Y 6y ago
    Like say, running Firefox on a raspberry pi?
martin_a 6y ago
Amazon can somehow put those displays in a Kindle for what... 90€? Maybe they have some mix-calculation going on with book sales, but in comparison a Kindle should cost around 400-500€ when looking at those numbers here.
- 0_____0 6y ago
  yeah those are subsidized devices
  - martin_a 6y ago
    Clearly making a loss with me then. Sorry, Amazon! :-)
  - WorldMaker 6y ago
    Right, Kindles presumably have a high attachment rate (owners buy more ebooks) so Amazon can subsidize based on that attachment rate, and also the base model Kindle prices include direct advertising subsidization. (Check the "without ads" SKUs prices for something somewhat more comparable.) Don't forget too many of the screen prices above are essentially single screen "retail" prices and Amazon would likely have better bulk wholesale prices worked out in their supply chains.

some1else 6y ago

You might prefer the 6-inch Joan Home device[1] (€ 249). It runs a productivity app[2], but the hardware and software stack is by the same company. 1: https://getjoan.com/shop/joan-home/ https://getjoan.com/shop/joan-home/ 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lRFsbLFUKk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lRFsbLFUKk

martin_a 6y ago
Yeah, that might be nice for some people, just give me a 13" display with a HDMI input. I'll figure the rest out.
schwartzworld 6y ago
Cute bezel, but for not much more you can get a full Android 10 tablet with an eink screen. And for like $220 less you can get a whiteboard and take 30 seconds to write your meeting times on it.
- martin_a 6y ago
  Do you have any information on that 10" tablet with E-Ink?
  - schwartzworld 6y ago
    Is that other thing 10"? My bad, the one I was thinking of us 7". https://www.boox.com/ https://www.boox.com/ Edit: sorry I meant it runs Android 10, not is 10"
    - martin_a 6y ago
      It's interesting anyway, thanks! edit: And there's a 10 inch version, too.
- manicdee 6y ago
  Something like this perhaps? https://laughingsquid.com/plotclock-a-robotic-clock-that-writes-the-time-with-a-marker/ https://laughingsquid.com/plotclock-a-robotic-clock-that-wri...

trok 6y ago

I was excited, until I found out how much it costs.. For some time I have been looking a small screen that would be used for displaying various information. However, I don't want to build the hardware myself as I feel that the result might not be safe for 24/7 usage. I've been checking digital photo frames, but have not found any solution which would allow updating the image directly and without requiring reverse engineering of an app or the device itself.

napsy 6y ago
Finding cheaper solutions is tricky. I myself am not that strong in electronic engineering, so assembling my own small device is a no-go for me. But yes it would definitely be possible with a small LCD and rpi.
erenst 6y ago
Inkplate[1] might be a good option for around 100€. Compared to Joan it's less polished. You can get 3d printed case and it requires some coding (it doesn't support rendering HTML). I'm working on a personal dashboard for the screen. I'll create a website in React and then use rendertron[2] to get the screenshot on the Inkplate. [1] https://inkplate.io/ https://inkplate.io/ [2] https://github.com/GoogleChrome/rendertron https://github.com/GoogleChrome/rendertron
- trok 6y ago
  Thanks for the tip, I will check it out. :)
- lemonspat 6y ago
  Have you found a battery for this that might make it fit well in a 3d printed case?
nathan_f77 6y ago
I've been using a first-generation iPad a digital photo frame. I use the LiveFrame [1] app, which still supports very old versions of iOS (9.5). The iPad had just been sitting in my closet for a few years, since I couldn't update it to the latest version of iOS, and most apps stopped supporting it. I was about to throw it away before I had one last attempt at doing something useful with it. I'm really glad I found the LiveFrame app and was able to get it working. It also has a web browser that can display almost any webpage (although it would probably struggle with the latest CSS features.) So you could show a dashboard web page to display some information. I would recommend looking on eBay to see if there are any cheap iPads or Android tablets. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/liveframe/id860372559 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/liveframe/id860372559

kzrdude 6y ago

I was dreaming of making a 30" e-paper stellar/planetary map wall display, until I realized the cost of these.

martin_a 6y ago
That's kind of what I'm thinking about. I want a large "slow" display on the office wall to show me statistics, calendar entries and whatnot for our team. Don't want to attach a bright, shining display to the wall if the information only changes twice a day or so.

robocollab 6y ago

If you'd like a cheaper alternative (and don't mind a little DIY) I wrote a library that lets you render HTML onto low cost ePaper displays using a Raspberry Pi. https://github.com/samsonmking/epaper.js https://github.com/samsonmking/epaper.js