[voldacar]

When can I get one that's several feet x several feet in dimensions, like an actual painting's canvas?

Eink has been around for several years now but apparently they are unable to just make a big panel? That combined with their idiotic pricing scheme makes me think their management is just stupid

[Beltalowda]

If you want to shell out $1500 you can get a 31.2" display[1], $2500 for a 42" one[2]. There's a colour version of that 31.2" one for $2300[3].

The problem isn't inability to make them or "stupid management", just that there isn't a whole lot of demand for these sizes. E-ink displays are great but come with some serious limitations and trade-offs: colour displays are in its infancy at best and refresh rates are an issue. This limits its usage to cases where colour and refreshing isn't very important, but where good legibility and power usage are. The two most common are e-readers and store signage, but the demand for very large displays in that area is very limited.

For an art display the refresh rate isn't a big issue and low power would be a huge boon, but lack of good colour would be more of an issue.

[1]: https://shopkits.eink.com/product/31-2%cb%9d-monochrome-epap...

[2]: https://shopkits.eink.com/product/42%cb%9d-monochrome-epaper...

[3]: https://shopkits.eink.com/product/31-2%cb%9d-color-epaper-di...

[robinsoh]

> Eink has been around for several years now

Several years? They've been around for 25 years!

> but apparently they are unable to just make a big panel?

Yes, that's how supply and demand works. Very few people are willing to buy big electrophoretic panels with all their limitations so there's no demand, so there's no volume, so there's no justification for a factory for it so the stackup for it is handmade, hand kerfed and such so the price will be high.

> That combined with their idiotic pricing scheme makes me think their management is just stupid

What pricing scheme are you talking about? I'd love to see the details you are basing your judgement on.

[goosedragons]

You can buy big panels. They use them for digital signage but the prices aren't better. Here's a 42" one for $2500:

https://shopkits.eink.com/product/42%CB%9D-monochrome-epaper...

Very few companies are making eInk like displays which is why prices are so high.

[robinsoh]

> Very few companies are making eInk like displays which is why prices are so high.

Very few customers are buying electrophoretic displays because of their many limitations. That's the real reason why prices are so high.

In 2006, a 6" display would have cost maybe 10 grand, maybe even more. Today it is in the order of $25 in volume and that's purely because of the volume behind it. Step off the volume path and into hand kerfed like the 42" you mentioned and suddenly it'll be $2000. It is all about volume.

If you want it cheaper, put an order in for a million displays and that'll justify someone's effort to build an actual automated production line for it and it will drop the price by an order of magnitude.

[goosedragons]

I don't think Sony was losing several thousand dollars on each Sony Librie and PRS-500 they produced.

I understand volume . Part of it is having competitors though. If there's literally 1 company making the display you want for your product they're only going to lower the price per unit so much. Where else are you going to go?

[robinsoh]

> I understand volume . Part of it is having competitors though. If there's literally 1 company making the display you want for your product they're only going to lower the price per unit so much. Where else are you going to go?

I don't understand the point you are making. There are many many materials, products where there are only single or a few suppliers in the whole world. Not just in the display industry, but even your software industry like Google, Microsoft, etc. Could you elaborate what exactly you're trying to say? It is completely unclear.

[goosedragons]

If there's multiple competitors for a product they compete and prices are lower overall? If there are no competitors you can charge a higher price. There really isn't much alternatives for eInk that don't totally alter the product. A Kindle with an LCD screen would just be a shitty limited tablet and so Amazon is forced to pay a higher price per unit for an eInk screen than a similar sized LCD.

[robinsoh]

> If there's multiple competitors for a product they compete and prices are lower overall?

Sure, race to the bottom, but that's got nothing to do with OP's original claim of "expensive", nor the costs to actually manufacture electrophoretic displays, nor patents. How many competitors are there for Microsoft Windows? How many competitors are there for Google search?

What price do you think is "not expensive"? How did you determine that price?

> Amazon is forced to pay a higher price per unit for an eInk screen than a similar sized LCD.

Again the comparison to LCD despite all my multiple comments to explain that the two technologies are no where the same in terms of physical stackup, and volumes of multiple order of magnitudes of difference. It is like comparing coca cola to wine, or a toyota corolla to feraris. By the way to claim Amazon is "forced" is ridiculous. In fact, Amazon's volumes is what has enabled electrophoretics stackup to seriously commerciallize and bring prices down at least by an order of magnitude.