Why are there no E-Ink screens on the market?

[ManDay]

Whenever there is mention of larger E-Readers there are also people who are planning to use them as a word-processing screen. Let alone that there are few (two, if I'm not mistaken, Sony's DPT-S1 and the Pocketbook CAD) devices which actually have a suitable screen size, those would have to be hacked in order to use them for anything the firmware was not designed for.

All this (and my very own being annoyed of the lack of options) suggests the question why is no one selling a "plain" E-Ink Screen of adequate size, yet?

There is E-Ink Holding and yet, they are not providing the trivial option to just buy an E-Ink screen, which would be but a technical banality to manufacture and practically little to no finanical risk. There is a plethora of "crowd funding" campaings collecting money for the most ridiculous of endevours ($50,000 for a bowl of potato salad should sound familiar), yet, no one has heard of any project, aiming to provide just the most basic large E-Reader or just an E-Ink screen?

Am I missing something here? Why is E-Ink so hard to come by?

[Calenorn]

I think a larger screen is going to be crucial for the development of the electronic textbook business. Most ereaders and phones are just too small to be useable with PDF files.

Will that larger screen be eink? I don't know. Eink is certainly easier on the eyes for reading a long time. But it would have to be color to be used with textbooks.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

I think a larger screen is going to be crucial for the development of the electronic textbook business. Most ereaders and phones are just too small to be useable with PDF files.

Two solutions are being developed:

1- Don't rely on PDF, but rather use an actual ebook format. Preferably epub3-derived...
2- Don't use eInk, but rather use the much cheaper color LCD tech.

eInk is not the only viable road to electronic textbooks and PDFs are actually contraindicated for a sophisticated etextbook platform, which really needs live embedded objects.

More importantly, neither the big textbook companies nor their hardware partners are interested in eink for textbook use. That hope died with Kindle DX and the lawsuits.

[latepaul]

Word processing on eInk you say?

OK it's not exactly what you're looking for, but it might be worth following.

[binaryhermit]

I don't know that there's that much demand for a stand-alone e-ink screen.
So manufacturers are understandably reluctant to take the risk involved in releasing such a product.

[Phogg]

Large eInk is ideal for a market as large as textbooks and much more lucrative.

Architectural blueprints.

Thirty six by thirty six inch eInk could be very profitable if the durability was there and if the price could be held down to maybe seven or eight thousand dollars. Changes to the blueprints made during construction could be updated to every copy needed in real time, while maintaining an accurate record of who authorized each change and when each change was made.

[ManDay]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

I don't know that there's that much demand for a stand-alone e-ink screen.
So manufacturers are understandably reluctant to take the risk involved in releasing such a product.

That argument doesn't fit in with my picture.

http://www.eink.com/faq.html

What does E Ink sell?

E Ink sells display modules to device makers who wish to integrate our reflective displays into their application. […]

E-Ink Holding is producing items and sells them. Maybe I'm just being ignorant and they would actually sell me a random 13 inch screen if I went asking, but something tells me that it's not that easy.

In either case, it doesn't look like a lot of "additional manufacturing" or "risk" to me. The screens are there, and given how many folks are programming their own Raspberry Pi these days, I bet there is a market for a few "stand alone" E-Inks screen, too. I certainly would buy one. Then why can't I?

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by latepaul

Word processing on eInk you say?

OK it's not exactly what you're looking for, but it might be worth following.

Hehehe, I was using TakeNote on my PW2 before I sold it. Markdown and Fountain are your friend.

It's really hard to squeeze information from one page in a book, into the five it ends up being in ePub.

[murg]

Originally Posted by ManDay

E-Ink Holding is producing items and sells them. Maybe I'm just being ignorant and they would actually sell me a random 13 inch screen if I went asking, but something tells me that it's not that easy.

They will sell you anything you want, provided they can produce it.

However, it will be a development kit, will not be in a case, may cost a fair bit, and you may have to convince them that your serious about using their screen in your product.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by latepaul

Word processing on eInk you say?

OK it's not exactly what you're looking for, but it might be worth following.

Wow. That is kinda cool.
Assuming they mean it, about the keyboards.

The whole rush to thin has left portable computers with really crappy chiclet keyboards that wouldn't have been tolerated on an 80's home computer. (Spectravision, MSX, etc).

[meeera]

Alphasmart has some inexpensive (on ebay) older devices - LCD, not eink, but a long, long battery life, good keyboard, and very rugged.

[ManDay]

Originally Posted by murg

They will sell you anything you want, provided they can produce it.

However, it will be a development kit, will not be in a case, may cost a fair bit, and you may have to convince them that your serious about using their screen in your product.

"My product"? Here is the problem: I'm not intending to produce anything, just build a device for my own. I don't think they sell single items to individuals (not at reasonable prices, that is).

[markom]

Originally Posted by ManDay

...

Am I missing something here? Why is E-Ink so hard to come by?

It depends on your whereabouts

http://www.leprogres.fr/beaujolais/2...e-bus-caladois

http://www.plasticlogic.com/news/

[murg]

Originally Posted by ManDay

"My product"? Here is the problem: I'm not intending to produce anything, just build a device for my own. I don't think they sell single items to individuals (not at reasonable prices, that is).

eInk will be happy to sell you a development kit.

http://www.eink.com/developer_center.html

[ManDay]

Originally Posted by murg

eInk will be happy to sell you a development kit.

http://www.eink.com/developer_center.html

I'm unsure as to whether you're making a joke, are ignorant of my concern or trying to mock me...