E-Paper and Display Week: What a Difference a Year Makes

As I was walking the convention floor on Thursday, I couldn’t help comparing the state of Display Week, and of the e-paper industry, against where they were a year ago in San Antonio. By all measures, the conference as a whole has bounced back, with attendance up nearly 100% over last year. E-paper exhibitors like Liquavista and Bridgestone, who were completely absent from last year’s show, are back this year with impressive improvements in the performance of their prototypes. Liquavista was demonstrating fully functional active-matrix color electrowetting demonstrators, and Bridgestone had a sample of its AeroBee tablet, using its QR-LPD particle-based display technology. Meanwhile, mainstays like E Ink (now a division of TFT manufacturer Prime View International following a December acquisition), LG Display, and Samsung continued to show ever more impressive flexible and glass e-paper panels, with features like in-cell touch and improved color rendition. It’s certainly reassuring to see that so many e-paper companies and technologies have weathered the economic storm and are back in growth mode. --- Robert Zehner, E Ink