E-ink panels come in two types, one with a flexible backplane and one with a rigid blackplane. The former are durable and resistant to blunt blows; the latter a

E-ink panels come in two types, one with a flexible backplane and one with a rigid blackplane. The former are durable and resistant to blunt blows; the latter are not. The ones with a flexible backplane don't necessarily require a rigid polycarbonate covering layer; there are commercial devices like the Fujitsu Quaderno that just use them raw. But if you were targeting young children who might take sharp objects to the screen, you'd want to use a covering layer.