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> taking pre-orders for $749. ... There’s also a black-and-white only model that sells for $679.

So only $70 more for color? I find that surprising unless there are some massive differences like DPI or longevity or something.

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The color is effectively an extra sticker and some software. All that's different between the screens is a color filter is added as layer during manufacture. With the software changes it knows which pixels to make white or black when combined with the filter to make the desired color.

There are a bunch of tradeoffs with this method. Contrast is worse because of the color layer, color has lower DPI too.

Historically color e-ink takes a DPI hit even on B&W workloads. Perhaps they solved it, but then why such a small price delta?

Only thing I can imagine is that each black & white pixel becomes a red or green or blue subpixel taking the dpi down to a third unless they have some subpixel hinting.

That’s exactly how it’s done. They apply a sticker to the screen with little red/green/blue dots aligned to the eInk pigments. Every “pixel” can then be turned black or coloured. It looks pretty washed out, but works.

In this video you can see Jerry peel off the sticker at the end:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JNF5R11mX-8

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