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Colored E Ink is now shipping, but it still has a long way before it hits e-readers

Colored E Ink is now shipping, but it still has a long way before it hits e-readers

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When E Ink first unveiled its Advanced Color ePaper (ACeP) in 2016, we were optimistically hopeful for the possibilities of comics, magazines, and textbooks in color on our Kindles. That appears to still be a distant dream. The company announced today that it’s just starting to deliver its ACeP products to clients for digital signage.

E Ink has launched three color displays before ACeP: Spectra, Prism, and Triton. You may have seen them in retail settings on electronic shelf tag labels. But unlike Spectra, which has three pigments of electronic ink, or Triton, which displays 16 levels of grayscale and 4,096 colors, ACeP is much more vibrant. ACeP displays 32,000 different colors with a resolution of 1600 x 2500 pixels and 150 ppi. The company says that allows the ink to produce full color in each pixel. E Ink believes this tech will hit mass production at the end of the year, so we might see E Ink signs and posters in color soon.

Electronic shelf tag labels on E Ink Spectra.
Electronic shelf tag labels on E Ink Spectra.
Image: E Ink

Unfortunately, it might be a long time before we see colors on our Kindles. E Ink president Johnson Lee told Good e-Reader, “Since e-readers are not our focus for this product line, we are not announcing a date to expect it.” That makes sense since added pigments slow down refresh rates, but perhaps the tech will keep improving as long as there is a market that demands it.