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Comment by mortenjorck | Hacker News Reader

It looks like the breakthrough here is in making a large (bigger than e-reader-sized) e-paper display available as a self-contained, HDMI-compatible monitor instead of just a display assembly for OEMs and experienced DIYers.

While I don’t expect this to also be a breakthrough in terms of pricing, hopefully it starts driving the volume that will eventually make this type of display more accessible.

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A slightly more accessible option right now is an AMOLED screen. If you work on applications with a black background, like a terminal or a text editor, it has some of the same benefits. Namely, there's no backlight as individual pixels get lighted on their own.

Sadly, AMOLED hasn't progressed as quickly as we expected and big screens are both rare and expensive. Besides, eInk has some advantages like lower energy consumption.

The trend of darkmode adoption shows actually huge demand for eink: https://forum.ei2030.org/t/the-trend-in-darkmode-adoption-is...

This seems like an interesting site, but that is by far the most off-putting and manipulative text I've ever seen on a cookie notice.

> We know having to press this sucks, but unless we see a decentralized Web 3.0, some elements on our site are cookies baked by others that could track you. You have to put up with this, otherwise, might as well shut yourself out of the world.

edit: tyler109 - given that you've linked that site 11 times so far in this thread, I'm guessing you're affiliated with or run that site? If so, might I ask that you edit the cookie text to not be so... bad? Or much better, add a button to it to let readers opt out of the pointless tracking? Also, if you are affiliated with it, could you maybe disclose it in some of the comments where you link to it?

I'm just a regular forum member there trying to answer the questions. But I will inform the admins.

The forum is less than a month old and you are a moderator, so you are at the very least, a very active member in a very young forum.

https://forum.ei2030.org/about

And OLEDs themselves might be on their way out before they manage to get mass adoption.

Samsung yet again made a breakthrough in LEDs, now, inorganic.

I know little about the details of display technology - do you have any info/links about this breakthrough?

Last public publication 2011: https://www.nature.com/articles/nphoton.2011.295

Then they go dark for 9 years

And almost 10 years later, bang: https://www.sammobile.com/news/samsung-quantum-dot-successor...

It takes a company like Samsung to singlehandedly pursue a pie in the sky science institute level project for 10 years before even a mere prospect of commercial returns emerges.

If you don't care too much about the vibrant colors and viewing angles of IPS and OLED, I can recommend VA screens. They have far better contrast than IPS. The black is indeed black. I find it great for working in dark mode on text. However the colors and viewing angles are a trade-off. Although I find the viewing angles are still better than TN and can be somewhat mitigated with a curved screen.

I personally use a curved 32" 4K VA screen. The resolution, text size and contrast make this great for text heavy work.

I agree about what you said, I've been on ultra wide 21:9 VA with 1500R curve for a couple of years and it's been really good.

I am curious about the new 1000R displays though, at first it seemed like a gimmick - but it totally makes sense curving the screen so much in order to diminish or even radicate the need to refocus your eyes as they look across the panel.

But I haven't had a chance to try it out in person yet due to the current times. Anyone here on ultra wide 1000R?

While I don’t expect this to also be a breakthrough in terms of pricing, hopefully it starts driving the volume that will eventually make this type of display more accessible.

eInk is notoriously proprietary and patent-encumbered, which is largely what makes for the astronomical price. Once the patents start expiring, we should start seeing the prices of displays become closer to LCDs.

Do you have any info on these patents? Interested to learn who owns them, and since when.

The company owns them. There are some references here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Ink

Some of the earliest ones are starting to expire.

I think it also has a very impressive refresh rate for an e-ink display. It's actually usable as a monitor for reading, writing, programming...

It also has impressive response times. I guess you can play videos at 5FPS or so.

Mousing around at even 30 fps can be a struggle. So I am guessing this is better for people who are keyboard-centric.

What I understood of e-ink technology is that it's about the total amount of changes that are involved. It might be feasible to track a 32x32 cursor at 60fps even though a full refresh might take a whole second or two.

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