Market Report - Makers Hope E-Paper Prints Money

Japanese companies already use electrophoretic display, or EPD, for everything from watches and mobile phones to e-readers.

ZHANG: With Earth Day approaching and more companies looking to cash in on the "green" boom, electronic paper, already popular in Japan, may soon help eliminate waste, and turn a tidy profit, the world over.

Long predicted to replace traditional book or newspaper pulp, e-paper is not yet printing money, but tech firms hope its popularity may eventually mimic the real thing.

Japanese companies already use electrophoretic display, or EPD, for everything from watches and mobile phones to e-readers. Limited color, lower power use, and freedom from traditional paper are some of the attractions of the new technology.

E Ink, which manufactures the technology used in Sony's Reader tablet and Amazon's Kindle, says consumers will migrate to the technology based on higher paper and energy costs in an overall green push.

[Ryosuke Kuwada, V.P. Asia-Pacific Region, E-Ink]:

"The BRIC nations like India and China are consuming so much paper as their economies expand that the cost of A4 size paper is up 20-30%. As people try to wean paper use as soon as possible, the push for electronic paper is going to intensify."

EPD sends electronic charges along a grid embedded in the paper that cause tiny black and white particles to move, creating text and images.

E Ink is testing a color prototype, seen as key to opening the door to e-magazine and newspaper publishing and ultimately, a greater payday.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ntd
• ntdtv
• news
• electrophoretic
• epd
• e-reader
• Earth
• Day
• E-Paper
• japan
• E-Ink
• Ryosuke
• Kuwada

[RandySpeeg]

That's not what they meant, they said e-paper is not yet printing money. It was a joke, meaning the technology has not yet become profitable.

[bobbobato]

Because it uses barely any power, and you could theoretically fold it up and put it in your pocket.

[mquiroz90]

Make newspaper we have now into e paper

[verul123]

What about my paper airplanes?

[henk8791]

@ytuber28341 Electronic paper uses ink, whereas LCD uses light. E paper is more readable in direct sunlight than LCD and it only uses power when the contents of the screen change.

[ytuber28341]

They have mini-palmtop laptops for that! LOL!

[fdgnightmare]

1.- it's portable.

2.- it saves paper and energy

3.- better dpi than lcd

[Jenfucius]

We have less trees to cut down

[ytuber28341]

LCD uses 25% the power of a CRT.

Laptops have LCD screens.

O-LED is supposed to use less than LCD.

Anywho, just a waste of LCD screen to me!

Duplicity, anyone?

[ytuber28341]

Why have electronic paper?

We already have the web, so why do we need e-paper?

What is different from seeing it on an LCD or CRT screen?

DOH!

[gabbergandalf667]

I guess and hope these gadets will be widely used in lets say about 10 years, but I doubt it will replace the book, many people,including me, love just the way a book "feels". On the other hand, I never held e-paper in my hands so maybe I better be quiet...