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Published online 1 April 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.202
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Bendy displays close to market
Second-generation e-paper can be rolled up, use almost no power and even display video.
E-readers such as the Amazon Kindle and Sony Readers have brought e-paper to the masses. With bright screens, contrast and resolution that rivals that of ink on paper and a reflective display that can be read even in bright sunlight, the devices make reading much more comfortable than on a computer screen.
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The emerging e-paper technology is incredibly exciting. My biggest fear perhaps is that the temptation to move from passive to active displays will be too great, ending up with the energy consumption advantages of current approaches being lost. And the ability of current e-ink based displays to operate for a long time on miniscule amounts of power is pretty impressive. Last September, Esquire magazine published a limited run of issues with an e-paper front cover display. (http://2020science.org/2008/09/30/small-particles-are-sexy-synthetic-biologists-are-sexier/) Six months on, mine is still operating.