Rewriting the Paper

The dawn of civilization blessed on human race with the exploration of papyrus and invention of Paper. Through paper, man learned how to write and educate, convey his emotions, and express his self. In 20th century, Flood of Information Technology (IT) rendered many old means of information but paper is still the most suitable medium of passing and getting the information.

Phillips has made a prototype of e-Paper which has more functionality than the e-reader currently being used and has the familiar ease of paper.

The Readius is the world’s first prototype of a functional electronic-document reader that can unroll its display to a scale larger than the device itself. With four gray levels, the monochrome, 5-inch QVGA (320 pixels x 240 pixels) display provides paper-like viewing comfort with a high contrast ratio for reading-intensive applications, including text, graphics, and electronic maps.

  Using a bi-stable electrophoretic display effect from E Ink Corp., the display consumes little power and is easy to read, even in bright daylight. Once the user has finished reading, the display can be rolled back into the pocket-size (100 mm x 60 mm x 20 mm) device.

Based on Philips Polymer Vision’s PV-QML5 rollable display reference design, the Readius was created in order to demonstrate the viability of the rollable-display concept in mobile applications and to gain customer feedback at the IFA 2005.