E-reader types

An e-reader, also called an e-book reader, is a portable electronic device designed primarily for reading e-books and magazines. E-readers have a similar form factor to a tablet and usually refer to devices that use electronic paper, which results in better screen readability, especially in bright sunlight, and longer battery life compared to a tablet. An e-reader’s battery typically lasts for several weeks. Unlike an e-reader, a tablet has a screen that allows for higher refresh rates, making it more suitable for interactions such as playing a video game or watching a video clip.

 

Types of electronic paper displays

All types of electronic paper displays have lower power consumption and better sunlight contrast than LCDs. Some have a backlight that allows reading in low light conditions. When the backlight is off, all look similar to “ink on paper” and are easy to read in bright environments.

 

E Ink

E Ink Corporation’s 1st generation technology, also known as E Ink Vizplex. Although the term “eInk” can be used for all electronic paper displays, “eInk” and “E Ink” are trademarks of E Ink, which manufactures most electronic paper displays in devices.

 

E Ink Pearl

E Ink’s 2nd generation technology that has higher contrast and a greater number of different grayscale levels than the earlier technology. Another revision of Pearl is Mobius, which uses bendable plastic for the display.

 

E Ink Triton

E Ink’s 3rd generation technology that offers the ability to display color on the display.

 

E Ink Carta

E Ink’s 4th generation technology, which has higher contrast and a greater number of different grayscale levels than the earlier technology. The displays have a pixel density between 212 and 300 ppi.

 

SiPix

An earlier competitor to E Ink that offered displays with near-instant page change. The company was acquired by E Ink in December 2012.

 

LG Flex

Electronic paper that allows for a flexible screen and is still in development. These screens allow users to bend the e-reader without damaging it and fold it to put it in their pocket.

Electronic paper readers come in a variety of sizes. Many small e-readers have a screen size of about 150 or 180 mm, while some of the larger commercially available readers have a screen size of about A5 (257 mm) or A4 (364 mm).

 

Other mobile text viewers

All modern smartphones (Windows Mobile, iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Linux), tablets and other computing devices have software for reading e-books.

Some portable multimedia players and older phones have a text viewer, such as several Cowon players, including the Cowon D2 and iAUDIO U3, and the Mobipocket Reader for Symbian OS. Palm OS-based devices and smartphones are also suitable for reading books. Palm OS supports PalmDoc, iSilo, Mobipocket Reader, PDF, HTML conversion, Text Format, Handstory, TealDoc, and many other software titles, as well as word processing.