For a long time, people have the impression that electronic paper products can only display black and white, are not suitable for displaying "dynamic content", and are small in size. Now, this stereotype may be shattered. In recent times, there have been frequent reports of cooperation between electronic paper company E-Ink and panel companies Innolux, Visionox, and TCL CSOT, gradually revealing to the industry new prospects for electronic paper in large sizes and in the era of the Internet of Things. Application possible.
html More than 210 years ago, e-paper and e-book reader ecosystems joined forces to create a new reading experience. Now, e-paper is joining forces with panel companies to promote the advent of oversized e-paper and color e-paper. In the future, electronic paper with bright colors and variable sizes may become one of the ideal displays in the Internet of Things era.Another type of screen in the Internet of Things era
Speaking of electronic paper, the first thing that comes to people's minds is e-books. More than ten years ago, e-books set off a reading revolution with a display quality that was almost paper-like, as well as more convenient and eye-friendly e-books. However, with the emergence of terminal electronic products such as tablets and large-screen smartphones, the e-paper market has been impacted. The color display and video smoothness brought by LCD, OLED and other display panels are unmatched by e-paper. Therefore, some consumers in the industry were once "pessimistic" about the future of e-paper.
Today, the development of electronic paper may break people's inherent views.
As the largest supplier in the global electronic paper market, E Ink Technology is actively integrating with major display panel companies. On May 4, Yuantai Technology joined hands with Innolux to jointly develop the large-size ACeP full-color electronic paper market. Since then, Yuantai Technology has cooperated with Yiwu Qingyue Optoelectronics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Visionox, to manufacture electronic paper label modules. Recently, TCL Huaxing also officially cooperated with Yuantai to manufacture 42-inch e-paper TFT backsheets, becoming the largest generation factory in the world to manufacture e-paper TFT backsheets. The relevant person in charge of TCL revealed to a reporter from China Electronics News that TCL Huaxing has always hoped to provide more subversive and innovative high-quality products in the field of smart business displays and create a wonderful vision beyond imagination for users, so the layout of the electronic paper business is essential of.
In the IoT era, the large number of terminal devices has been installed, and the requirements for low power consumption have become more stringent. E-paper is based on the two principles of bistable and reflective, and has the characteristics of continuous screen display without power consumption or ultra-low power consumption. "The battery life of e-paper can reach 3 to 5 years. In the future, e-paper is likely to play a greater role in the field of smart displays." said Zhang Yue, chief of the business planning department of Chongqing BOE Smart Electronic Systems Co., Ltd. Li Zhenghao, chairman of
Yuantai Technology, said in an interview with a reporter from China Electronics News that at present, Yuantai Technology mainly focuses on two application areas: consumer electronics and IoT. The former accounts for 70% of the share, and the latter accounts for 70% of the share. 30%. "But judging from future trends, the application of electronic paper in the Internet of Things must be a step-by-step process, and the share will become larger and larger." He said.
According to Luotu Technology’s forecast, benefiting from the global deployment of 5G, big data, and the Internet of Things, the compound growth rate of the global e-paper display terminal market will reach 50.6% in the next five years, and the global e-paper market will exceed US$60 billion in 2025. .
Nuggets of large-size market
Today, e-paper products have covered many fields such as new retail, education, medical care, transportation, logistics, mobile and wearables. Especially large-size electronic paper is providing support for the construction of smart cities.
For example, in the field of intelligent transportation, when large-size e-paper is used in bus stop signs, it can be powered by only a solar battery energy storage system. There is no need to dig roads and bury wires, and it does not need to be connected to the mains power. installation, helping to promote the development of a green, sustainable urban vision. Currently, solar e-paper bus stop signs have been introduced in Shanghai and Fuzhou in China, New York and Boston in the United States, Copenhagen in Denmark and Naju in South Korea.
is different from previous small-size electronic paper products. Obviously, large-size electronic paper can give the final product more room for "innovation" in the application field and provide more diversified products. However, the previous maximum size of a single e-paper was 42 inches.The expansion of the size of
electronic paper is inseparable from large-area display technology. It is imperative to use higher-generation lines to produce electronic paper. TCL Huaxing uses 8.5-generation lines to manufacture electronic paper TFT driver boards for Yuantai. The industry's top priority is also the information "Bigger area". "If the market has demand for larger-sized e-paper applications, TCL Huaxing can assist Yuantai Technology to launch larger-sized e-paper products with the support of the 8.5-generation generation line." TCL told China Electronics News.
In this regard, industry insiders analyzed that TCL Huaxing’s 8.5-generation line will not only bring larger-sized e-paper, but also include e-paper products in most mainstream display sizes. However, the increased product variety is only one of the advantages of the 8.5-generation line. From a market perspective, it should be noted that the higher the LCD panel generation line, the greater its total production capacity per unit time. Huaxing’s 8.5th generation line will help the electronic paper market, which is likely to mean a round of “capacity explosion”.
In addition, using mature high-generation lines to produce electronic paper will make it possible to reduce product costs.
Take the traditional e-paper market as an example. The price of an e-paper reading device is often close to that of a tablet computer. However, there is no significant "cost difference" between e-paper reading devices and tablet computers in terms of smart configuration, network configuration, storage configuration, touch configuration, and even the TFT structure of e-paper and LCD panels. Moreover, reflective e-paper does not have the backlight cost necessary for an LCD display, so in theory e-paper products should be cheaper.
Fudan University professor Gu Zhihua analyzed that the reason for the high price of electronic paper products is the limited market size. If produced with a high-generation line such as Huaxing's 8.5-generation line, more 42-inch e-paper panels can be cut, which will not only break the supply scale of e-paper, but also lower the cost of a single piece of e-paper, which will increase the competition of e-paper end products. force. "This may be a historic turning point in the development of the electronic paper industry." He said.
Colorful, can be used on the road
In addition to breaking through the size boundaries, color is also an important part of restricting the expansion of electronic paper into more application scenarios. Therefore, color electronic paper came into being.
At present, electronic paper has evolved from the original three colors of black, white, red, black, white and yellow to multi-color printed color electronic paper, and even full-color electronic paper. In 2019, Yuantai Technology's color electronic paper was officially mass-produced, and electronic paper achieved a full-color transformation.
Currently, color electronic paper is dominated by two major technologies, namely color printed electronic paper and full-color electronic paper. Among them, full-color electronic paper is made using E Ink ACeP technology. It has excellent visibility and low power consumption in light environments. It has a wide range of applications and can display complex full-color colors and images. .
With the continuous breakthroughs in color e-paper technology, panel company Innolux is optimistic about the market development prospects of color e-paper. It also invested in the production and manufacturing of full-color e-paper modules in May this year, and joined hands with Yuantai Technology to jointly develop a 28-inch long strip. Full color electronic paper. Hong Jinyang, chairman and CEO of
Innolux, said that in response to the global 5G and AI development trends, which are connected with the transformation waves of smart life, digital entertainment, health management, etc., the application of panels tends to be diversified. The cooperation between Innolux and Yuantai Technology involves the manufacturing and sales of color electronic paper, which will promote Innolux to become a comprehensive panel technology provider and gain market competitive advantages.
replaces paper posters in public and commercial areas with full-color electronic paper, reducing resource consumption, promoting energy-saving and smart paperless applications, and contributing to the development of smart cities to implement sustainable environmental management.
In addition, color e-paper labels are also the vanguard of smart retail. Combined with wireless transmission technology, color e-paper labels can update product information and prices in real time, and realize functions such as intelligent inventory replenishment, in-store inspection guidance, and consumer interactive experience, reducing store operating costs and improving efficiency in the retail industry. At the same time, the label is also anti-freeze and can be used in refrigeration, cold chain and other scenarios.
It is reported that at present, many retail companies including Hema, Su Xiansheng, JD.com, Tmall, Carrefour, etc. have used e-paper labels.In addition to being the most energy-saving electronic device currently capable of displaying a large area,
e-paper can also be used as a flexible and flexible product as light and thin as "paper" because it has no backlight. Especially after full color is achieved, the applications of electronic paper will be more diverse. Commercial scenarios with special decoration requirements will generate huge market value, thereby unleashing the application potential of e-paper in the Internet of Things era.
Li Zhenghao told reporters: "For example, in terms of architectural applications, we use electronic paper that can change different colors to make products similar to tiles for collage. Designers can decide how many colors to use on the building surface according to their own needs. Presented on. "
is based on the application of color e-paper technology. E-readers, the traditional product of e-paper, will face another surge in demand, especially in major economies such as the United States, China, and Europe, where online browsing and digital reading are Habits are spreading and will become the main market for e-paper. It is understood that Yuantai Technology's color e-paper production capacity is currently tight, and the demand for e-paper film materials is increasing.
