Hi luka-birsa,
Do you think E-Ink computer monitors will ever be a thing?
This is something that I'm personally really looking forward to to relieve eye strain commonly caused by LCD monitors.
You can acually buy them today - Dasung did manage to productivize them enough for people to try them out. But it's really hard to compete on price, especially with consumer 27" 4k display costing 100-200$.
Pricey, small and really not the best design, but it's a start. I say it's a start but at the same time I'm afraid this is the best we're likely to get, given that the e-ink market is not growing and the technology isn't competing with cheap LCD screens and tablets.
A shame; I wouldn't mind a modern, affordable take on the typewriter with an E-ink screen (13 or 15 inch) and mechanical keyboard. I could probably build one if I have a lot more expendable income and time.
It's a very niche product. Most people opt for modern OLED displays for consumer needs, so it's really a chicken and egg problem. I'm sure if you start buying in bulk companies will notice. Sony is working on a bunch of consumer E Ink devices and I'm sure they would be more than comfortable doing this at scale, as long as there is a need.
Thank you for your reply Luka. Do you personally think E-Ink monitors can offer consumer advantages to LED monitors?
Can the same latency be achieved in these displays? (< 4ms between input and result on screen)
With current E Ink technology no. Even if it was technically feasible (not sure about that), nobody is focusing on high refresh rates. Increasing refresh increases battery consumption and that means you're taking away one of the key benefits of EPD.
We tested 8fps video on our devices a while back and in the end you're getting a B&W display with 8 FPS updates... Why wouldn't you go for something like LCD or OLED instead? I don't believe you can beat LCD at being LCD.
There are other technolgies that promise fast update times, that offer similar characteristics (look into ClearInk), but they are nowhere near where E Ink is in terms of maturity.