Bridgestone shows off ultrathin, full-color e-paper
Just last year Bridgestone was feelin' pretty good about itself for unveiling the "world's thinnest" sheet of two-color e-paper. These days, the outfit is busy showing off a new version that measures in at just .29-millimeters thick …
Context & Ripple Effects
Bridgestone is iterating fast on a niche it staked out itself: the company claimed the world's thinnest sheet of two-color e-paper just a year ago, and the new 0.29-millimeter full-color version extends that thickness-first pitch into color. The move lands mid-race — the first A4 colour e-paper was only unfurled in May 2007, so large-format color electronic paper is barely months old as a demonstrated category.
The notable wrinkle is who is doing this: a tire maker, not a display incumbent, treating ultra-thin e-paper as a serious product line. Thickness plus full color together is the combination that would let e-paper approach printed posters rather than looking like a novelty screen.
First-order effects
- Bridgestone resets its own benchmark, forcing every other e-paper developer to answer a 0.29-millimeter full-color sheet rather than the two-color version it showed in 2006.
- Device and signage makers evaluating e-paper gain a candidate panel that is, on paper specs, thin enough to be mounted like printed material.
Second-order effects
- Rival display developers face pressure to pair color with thinness — until now many could offer one or the other, and the combined spec becomes the comparison point.
- If Bridgestone can move from demo sheets to manufacturable panels, it opens a supply relationship with e-reader and digital-signage builders who currently have few full-color e-paper options.
Third-order effects
- A sustained thickness-and-color race could pull e-paper from gadget screens toward replacing printed posters and signage, expanding the display market beyond LCD and plasma incumbents.
- That a tire manufacturer is a credible entrant signals the e-paper field is still open enough for non-traditional electronics firms to compete on materials innovation rather than panel-manufacturing scale.
The trend: Electronic paper in 2007 is racing toward print-like thinness and full color, with each vendor demo resetting the spec that defines commercial viability.