E-paper displays have been around for some time now, made famous by ebook readers such as the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and the various Kobo models. E-paper displays are also increasingly appearing in other devices, including shop shelf tags, shipping labels, watches, signs and even smartphone cases.
But despite the fact that many people see or use these displays on a daily basis, lots of myths and misconceptions revolve around the technology. Here, we look at 11 of these to help you understand why e-paper is becoming such a popular choice for product designers who want to include displays, but have very limited power budgets.
1. An e-paper display only uses slightly less power than a same-size TFT LCD.
While this statement could be true in certain cases, if e-paper is used to its strengths—i.e., for displays that are updated relatively infrequently—it will use considerably less power than a same-sized TFT LCD. This is because it only consumes power when you change what’s on the display. Once an image is visible, e-paper requires no power to keep it there.