[mdp]

I have been checking for news about CLEARink from time to time: it seems that in the past few days some good info came out.

They opened two offices to distribute the 45 people team: together with the main R&D in Fremont (CA), they now have an electrical engineering group doing chiefly quality assurance in Eindhoven and an office in Shanwei occupied in starting up manufacturing in China.

Recently R&D achieved further improvements: 30% more color gamut, double contrast, double resolution, halved voltage (which makes now the consumption only 10% of LCD). Shown at SID Display Week 2018 were 202 DPI displays with subpixel rendering.

Current phase is the translation of the lab prototype manifacturing in the volume product process (there was a two months delay owing to the "expected unexpected foreseeable unidentifiable" obstacles).

In Q1 2019 there will be the release of small displays and wearable applications.

A few days ago it was officialized «a partnership agreement with a leading tablet maker to supply CLEARink tablet displays beginning in 2019». A focus is confirmed on Electronic school books - which are stated to be in trial manifacturing in China since months. The release is planned for Q2 2019.

The displays can feature frontlight - in a customized implementation forced by the technology, but twice as efficient as the usual one. A proof of concept of flexible displays was done, but there is currently little request from the Supply side; flexible displays cost more, and they are not required for robustness. Bistable displays are also delayed, since the current focus is to deliver video.

The prototypes at Display Week 2018 in Los Angeles showed:
-- Small display (wearables/mobile): B/W, 1:16 contrast, 202DPI, 83% white reflectance;
-- Small display (wearables/mobile): color 30% NTSC, 1:16 contrast, 202DPI, 35% white reflectance;
and the
-- Palm display, the same one shown last year: color 20% NTSC, 106DPI, 35% white reflectance;