E-ink technology moves beyond e-readers

MIT Technology Review : Amazon’s Kindle gets its screens from E Ink, which developed the technology. E-ink works by filling microcapsules with black and white pigments and then using a small electric charge to control which color is visible in each capsule. E-ink screens are very energy efficient and easy to read in bright light, but they have a slow refresh time when changing the image, and it is not easy to add colors to the screen without washing out the image. E Ink is hoping to overcome both of those problems and find new places to use its screens other than in e-readers. The company has already created screens that can show three distinct colors, which they hope to be able to market for store advertisements. The company’s new $40 million R&D lab will, among other projects, develop new screens for use in smart watches and further enhance the ability to add color