Samsung Demo Hybrid E-Ink Video Display

Pixel Qi's 3Qi display may be drawing attention right now, but Mary Lou Jepsen should stay on her toes: Samsung's LCD arm have been demonstrating a 10.2-inch color e-paper display that's capable of showing video.  The panel, which was shown at the recent SID expo, incorporates both e-ink and LCD technology, switching between "memory mode" and "dynamic mode" pixels.

The active matrix panel sandwiches "a kind of cholesteric liquid crystal" which can be flicked between the two states.  In "memory" mode, the pixels remain stable without continuous power input, while in "dynamic" mode they react more like an LCD panel and can show moving images.

"We are not interested in ordinary e-paper displays like the ones being developed by everyone else ... So, this time, we planned to do something that no one else would do" Samsung Electronics spokesperson

The current prototype measures 10.2-inches and runs at 320 x 240 resolution.  It's capable of displaying 64 colors and has a sub-25ms response time.  According to the eyes-on report from Tech-On!, the concept is far from ready for prime-time deployment, either as e-paper or a video display.  Samsung have not given any indication of when they expect the panels to be commercially viable.