E Ink (8069.TW), a pioneer and leading global developer of ePaper technology, today announced the release of E Ink Spectra™ 6 9-color, a new color system that expands the Spectra 6 platform from six to nine base colors.
This increased range moves ePaper further beyond flatter, muted tones to render more vivid, natural-looking photographs. Audiences can experience 9-color up close in the new Ink 10″ from Aura, a cordless ePaper frame that brings photos to life with E Ink’s paper-like, low-power technology.
E Ink Spectra 6 9-color adds orange, cyan and light green to the existing black, white, red, yellow, blue and green set. The expanded palette supports finer color transitions, resulting in smoother images with less pixelation. Delivering this level of complexity requires a powerful driving system, and the 9-color must be supported by a system-on-chip (SoC) paired with an E Ink timing controller (TCON). The 9-color display module will be available starting in a 10-inch size.
E Ink introduced Spectra 6 as a full-color ePaper platform designed for in-store advertising, indoor signage, home decor and other paper sign replacement applications. Its reflective display brings vivid color to printed-signage applications, while its low-power operation supports timely content updates with reduced energy use. Spectra 6 9-color builds on that platform with a broader set of base colors for more detailed image reproduction.
“When Spectra 6 first launched a few years ago, it established a new color standard in ePaper – color that rivaled the most advanced color paper printers on the market,” said JM Hung, president of E Ink Holdings. “Expanding six to nine base colors allows us to push that standard further and continue to make ePaper an appealing alternative to paper.”
The color possibilities from Spectra 6 9-color come to life in Aura’s Ink 10″, the latest ePaper digital frame in the company’s Ink lineup. Unlike traditional LCD photo frames with a backlit display, ePaper options like the new Ink 10″ recreate the beauty and depth of printed photography without the need for power cords and constant power. E Ink Spectra 6 9-color, paired with Aura’s proprietary dithering algorithm, brings photographs to life with more even tones on faces, richer detail in textures and more natural transitions in gradients. The cord-free, rechargeable frame features a 200 PPI display, up from 150 PPI on Ink 13″, for sharper photo detail that can last up to three months on a single charge. Its smaller footprint is designed to fit a range of spaces, including desks, shelves, side tables and gallery walls.
“Spectra 6 9-color makes a real difference for the images people put on their Aura frames most: photos of loved ones,” said Eric Jensen, CTO and co-founder of Aura. “With nine base colors, our dithering algorithm has more to work with, so it can better capture the subtle color transitions that make photos look their best.”