3 ms·

A printer would be a cheaper solution

by tartoran 5y ago

mdp2021 5y ago
> A printer would be a cheaper solution Only if you do not plan to change the visualized contents frequently.
- kwhitefoot 5y ago
  A cheap black and white laser produces pictures at least as good as most e-ink devices and in higher resolution. A toner cartridge for my Canon costs about 100 USD and will print 2000 sheets. 2000 sheets of A4 cost about 30 USD. An e-ink display that size costs 100s of USD so I can afford to reprint the picture thousands of times before I hit the cost of the e-ink display. And anyway, art galleries do not change the content frequently so they could afford to use a higher quality printer and higher quality paper.
  - mdp2021 5y ago
    > art galleries do not change the content frequently No. :) The art galleries the original poster mentioned trying to clarify the question do not. Art galleries do display dynamic art, increasingly. And mentioning E-ink in the context of art installations makes little sense if the the technology were used for static content only. Sgustok is a marvellous repository, though infrequently updated nowadays: https://sgustok.org/video/category/installyacii https://sgustok.org/video/category/installyacii
dredmorbius 5y ago
That depends on the application, scale, and frequency of changes, etc. E-ink displays can update without human intervention. If you're working with a large number of individual items or displays, then you'd have to factor in the human labour cost. Keep in mind that smaller displays (6--8") can be obtained for ~$20--50 either used or in bulk, and if you're looking a labour costs, these would actually pay for themselves in a few days. Sooner if displays are over a widespread area, are updated often, and/or are hard-to-reach. A few A4/letter sized notices at doors which an admin staff could update daily or weekly? Stick with paper. A few hundred or thousand over a large campus or outdoor area, updated multiple times daily? E-ink is probably a better fit, and certainly competes with other digital / electronic signage.

A printer would be a cheaper solution

mdp2021 5y ago

> A printer would be a cheaper solution Only if you do not plan to change the visualized contents frequently.

kwhitefoot 5y ago
A cheap black and white laser produces pictures at least as good as most e-ink devices and in higher resolution. A toner cartridge for my Canon costs about 100 USD and will print 2000 sheets. 2000 sheets of A4 cost about 30 USD. An e-ink display that size costs 100s of USD so I can afford to reprint the picture thousands of times before I hit the cost of the e-ink display. And anyway, art galleries do not change the content frequently so they could afford to use a higher quality printer and higher quality paper.
- mdp2021 5y ago
  > art galleries do not change the content frequently No. :) The art galleries the original poster mentioned trying to clarify the question do not. Art galleries do display dynamic art, increasingly. And mentioning E-ink in the context of art installations makes little sense if the the technology were used for static content only. Sgustok is a marvellous repository, though infrequently updated nowadays: https://sgustok.org/video/category/installyacii https://sgustok.org/video/category/installyacii

dredmorbius 5y ago

That depends on the application, scale, and frequency of changes, etc. E-ink displays can update without human intervention. If you're working with a large number of individual items or displays, then you'd have to factor in the human labour cost. Keep in mind that smaller displays (6--8") can be obtained for ~$20--50 either used or in bulk, and if you're looking a labour costs, these would actually pay for themselves in a few days. Sooner if displays are over a widespread area, are updated often, and/or are hard-to-reach. A few A4/letter sized notices at doors which an admin staff could update daily or weekly? Stick with paper. A few hundred or thousand over a large campus or outdoor area, updated multiple times daily? E-ink is probably a better fit, and certainly competes with other digital / electronic signage.