Annoncé aujourd’hui, le nouveau papier électronique couleur (e-paper) développé par Fujitsu Laboratories propose un rapport de contraste de 7:1, et serait capable de réécrire une image HD (1024 x 768 XGA) à une vitesse de seulement 0.7 secondes. Selon le fabricant Japonais, ce serait le meilleur papier électronique du moment en termes de qualité de couleur.

Fujitsu exposera son papier électronique au Forum Fujitsu 2010 qui se déroulera du 13 au 14 Mai au Tokyo International Forum.

Communiqué de presse

Kawasaki and Tokyo, Japan, May 7, 2010 — Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced the development of a newly-enhanced color electronic paper (e-paper) that features the world’s highest-level color image quality. By extensively redesigning the panel structure and image re-write methods of Fujitsu’s previous-version color e-paper, in addition to offering bright color, Fujitsu has improved contrast ratio to 7:1 (a threefold improvement compared to Fujitsu’s previous version), and has made the image re-write speed twice as fast at 0.7 seconds compared to Fujitsu’s previous color e-paper, thus enabling smooth image transitions and color display quality that is at the highest levels available for color e-paper.

Fujitsu’s feature-enhanced new color e-paper will be exhibited as reference at Fujitsu Forum 2010, Fujitsu’s largest annual event in Japan, to be held May 13 – 14 at Tokyo International Forum.

Background

E-paper is being heralded as an environmentally friendly electronic display medium that is lightweight and thin like paper, consumes little power, and allows an image to be freely redrawn. While most e-paper applications to date – such as e-book readers – have been monochrome (black and white), Fujitsu Laboratories pioneered the development and practical use of color e-paper, and in 2007 Fujitsu Frontech Limited brought to market FLEPia, the world’s first portable information terminal equipped with a color e-paper display.

The new feature-enhanced color e-paper developed by Fujitsu Laboratories and to be commercialized by Fujitsu Frontech employs a layered construction found in cholesteric liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels with an image memory function, and makes use of the reflective properties in each color layer where the cholesteric liquid crystals reflect a specific wavelength of light of red, green, or blue (Figure 2). Compared to the reflective displays using a color-filter array widely used in conventional LCDs, Fujitsu’s cholesteric LCD method allows for a display that features colors with greater vibrancy and brightness.

Fujitsu Frontech is scheduled to commercialize the new color e-paper technology this fall for the Japanese market. Fujitsu will continue with further development of its new color e-paper to apply it in portable information devices and other various applications.