E-Paper Display Explained | Feature, Advantage, Disadvantage

Disclaimer: E-paper Displays may Cause:

For more information, please visit ORIC Electronics.

• Decreased eye strain (we’re talking zero dark circles)
• Severe relaxation
• Increased reading addiction
• Uncontrollable page-turning
• Enhanced focus

Remember when parents would caution children to read books instead of screens to protect their eyesight? Now, E-paper displays have made those concerns a thing of the past!

Whether it’s preventing myopia in kids or alleviating digital fatigue in adults, E-paper technology has transformed reading experiences promoting healthier habits for all.

As the world shifts towards sustainability, E-paper display or Electronic Paper Display 0emerges as a game-changer. By replicating the look and feel of paper, this technology reduces the carbon footprint of traditional displays.

E-Paper Technology- Digital Reading, Analog Comfort

With its energy-efficient design and minimal blue light emission, the E-paper display is poised to revolutionize the way we engage with the world around us.

E-paper display, short for Electronic Paper Display, is a type of screen technology designed to mimic the appearance and readability of traditional or printed paper. These energy-efficient displays are commonly used on mobile devices, E-readers, smartwatches, etc.

Now you can read all day without worrying about your eyes…but still worry about your procrastination!

Principle of E-Paper Operation

E-Paper operates primarily using electrophoretic technology, which manipulates charged particles suspended in a fluid to form images. Let us try to understand the process in a detailed manner.

Electrophoresis:

Each microcapsule in an E-Paper display contains particles of different colors and electrical charges.

Typically, these particles are black (negatively charged) and white (positively charged), suspended in a clear fluid.

Applying an Electric Field:

When a voltage is applied to specific regions of the display, it generates an electric field. This electric field causes the charged particles to either rise to the top or sink to the bottom of the microcapsules based on their polarity.

If the black particles move to the top and the white particles to the bottom, the pixel appears black.

If the white particles move to the top and the black ones to the bottom, the pixel appears white.

Image Stability (Bi-Stability):

Once the particles are in place, they stay there without requiring further power, giving E-Paper displays their bi-stable characteristic.

This means the display can hold an image indefinitely, even without a constant power supply, making E-Paper highly energy-efficient.

Refreshing the Display:

To change the image, another electric field is applied to rearrange the particles into a new pattern.

While this consumes power, it is only needed when updating the display, unlike LCDs and OLEDs, which require constant refreshes.                                                                                                                     

Different Categories of E-Paper Displays

Core Features that Define E-Paper

E-Paper’s Journey: From Bookworms to Supermarket Aisles! 

Stop 1: The Bookworm’s Paradise 

You’re sitting in a sunlit park, reading a thriller on your Amazon Kindle. The screen is perfectly clear, and the battery? Well, you haven’t charged it in three weeks! Welcome to the world of E-Paper e-readers. These love sunlight and their power-saving tricks mean no more “battery anxiety.” Next time you lose yourself in a 500-page novel, thank E-Paper for not letting you down.

Fun Fact: Over 487 million Kindles have been sold since their release, proving that E-Paper is a bookworm’s best friend!

Stop 2: Supermarket Sweep with E-Paper 

No more paper labels or wasted time updating prices manually! This is E-Paper in action, saving time, money, and tons of paper.

Market Buzz: By , electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are set to be a $8.37 billion industry!

Stop 3: The Futuristic Bus Stop 

While waiting for the bus, there’s no need to strain your eyes to read the schedule under the bright sun. Thanks to solar-powered E-Paper signage, the schedule is crystal clear, and best of all, it barely uses any energy. It’s not just futuristic, it’s already happening in countries like the US!

Use of Solar Power: E-Paper signage runs on solar energy, meaning real-time updates with minimal environmental impact!

Stop 4: Smartwatches That Go the Distance 

Your smartwatch just hit day 7 without needing a charge. Sounds like a dream? It’s the reality with E-Paper-powered wearables! The Pebble smartwatch was a game-changer, offering a battery that lasted up to 10 days. And yes, you could still check your steps, notifications, and heart rate without burning through battery life.

Fitness Goals: E-Paper is why fitness trackers can keep up with you for days without needing a recharge!

Stop 5: Green Meetings 

Step into a boardroom where there’s no need for sticky notes or wasteful printouts. Conference rooms now feature E-Paper displays to show meeting schedules running for months on a single charge. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it’s also the smartest way to keep things organized.

Sustainability Tip: Using E-Paper in offices can significantly reduce paper waste and energy consumption.

The Ups and Downs of Digital Ink

Practical Guide to Using E-Paper Displays

Innovative DIY Projects Using E-Paper Displays

1. Raspberry Pi-based Smallest Touchscreen Laptop: Carry a compact Raspberry Pi-based touchscreen laptop with an E-Ink display, perfect for discreet ethical hacking tasks. Check out the project here: Raspberry Pi Smallest Touchscreen Laptop with E-Ink Display.

2. Finger-Size Full-Touch E-Ink using Raspberry Pi: In this project, a DIY smartphone using an E-Ink display and Raspberry Pi is built. This full-touch, compact runs a Linux-based UI and can be accessed via any OS using VNC HDMI. It’s capable of performing all the essential functions of a regular , with the added benefit of an E-Ink display. Check out how to make your own E-Ink here: DIY E-Ink Project.

Topic created by Jean-Marc Zingg

Hello, I searched this Forum for ePaper on Arduino and got the impression, there is not much meaningful information available yet. I found a supplier that is very helpful also for small and hobby users on AliExpress, see e.g.

~~https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4-2-inch-SPI-E-paper-Display/.html.~~

I have done some initial hobbyist work for my IoT sensor network, to display slowly changing temperature and humidity values, on several of their displays. The displays I use are connected through SPI, using their DESTM-S2 connection board.

See also related topic Waveshare e-paper displays with SPI and library GitHub - ZinggJM/GxEPD: A simple E-Paper display library with common base class and separate IO class for Arduino.

Please give me a hint, if I overlooked important existing information for this topic on this forum.

Addition: now I know a lot more about e-paper displays from Good Display. See following posts.
And Good Display has updated their web-page to provide actual demo code for their e-paper displays:

Now schematics of the demo boards are available as well! Thank you, Good Display.

http://www.good-display.com/download_list/downloadcategoryid=35&isMode=false.html

GDEW042T2 : 4.2" 400 * 300 black/white e-Paper from Good Display

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/E-Paper/_.html

The company is the world’s best epaper display supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

I received my 2 displays and I have created my GDEW042T2 display class for use in my IoT project.

My display class is a subclass of Adafruit_GFX, to have graphics and text rendering.
It needs roughly 20kB available RAM to buffer the black/white image.
ESP or STM32 systems have just enough free RAM, e.g. Arduino Due.
I used Wemos D1 mini, STM32F103RB-Nucleo, and some STMF103C8T6-mini systems.

I share this display class with you, as a possible reference for your evaluation or work.

The actual version is on GitHub,
I try to provide limited support and answers in this topic.

neutrinos:
Hello,
Maybe you can help me ?
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=.0
Thank you.

How do you expect to get an answer, if the link in your post produces side-effects.

I saw your post, but I get an error when I open the only link in your post.
And after that I get strange behavior in my browser and need to restart it to be able to post.

So I won't be able to help unless you provide useful information.

My experience with e-paper is only with Good Display and Waveshare 4.3 e-paper.

ZinggJM:
How do you expect to get an answer, if the link in your post produces side-effects.

I saw your post, but I get an error when I open the only link in your post.
And after that I get strange behavior in my browser and need to restart it to be able to post.

So I won't be able to help unless you provide useful information.

My experience with e-paper is only with Good Display and Waveshare 4.3 e-paper.

Thank you very much.
Link goes to a free public website stocking pictures,
http://fr.tinypic.com/view.php?pic=9k2ddi&s=9
and I have added the same picture in best resolution in attachment
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=.0;attach=

I do not know witch sort of e-paper it is.

What you seem to have is a Electronic Shelf Label.

How did you get it? Is this item missing somewhere?

Shelf labels are either bought in considerable quantities for shop use,
or as evaluation units for developers of shop supplies.
For the second case, the supplier certainly provides any support needed,
but maybe for a rather high price.

The only help I can provide is a link to iflabel.com, aka Dalian Good Display.
So you can compare your item to these shelf labels.

http://www.iflabel.com/

I will not try to open the link to your picture, it seems the site uses dubious cookies.

Jean-Marc Zingg

ZinggJM:
I will not try to open the link to your picture, it seems the site uses dubious cookies.
Jean-Marc Zingg

You can download the same picture in best resolution in attachment
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=.0;attach=

ZinggJM:
What you seem to have is a Electronic Shelf Label.
How did you get it? Is this item missing somewhere?
Jean-Marc Zingg

This is not an Electronic Shelf Label, there is no radio or infrared receiver.
It is a preprogrammed advertising label that always displays the same rotating message (under 3.3V) for an article.
As the article was modified, the commercial change the advertissing label by an other displaying a new rotating message. He wanted to discard this one that I disassembled for maybe reuse.

The difference is SPI versus parallel connection. And screen resolution, which means more RAM needed for HD display to buffer e.g. bitmaps rendered by Adafruit_GFX.

I have added HD e-paper support to my GxEPD library, available on GitHub. For more information see there.

Jean-Marc

P.S. and of course ESP has not enough pins for parallel connection. Arduino Due has not enough RAM, and to produce the special voltages of +15, -15, +22, -22 with the correct power On timing is not easy.

See also e.g.:

http://www.good-display.com/download_detail/downloadsId=232.html

ZinggJM:
The connection scheme for DESTM-S2 to any Arduino should be clear from the heading description of the source files. Standard SPI connections used, plus busy line and BS to GND. Caution: 3.3V supply, use series resistor for signal lines on 5V Arduino.

  DESTM32-S2 pinout (top, component side view):
       |-------------------------------------------------
       |  VCC  |o o| VCC 5V
       |  GND  |o o| GND
       |  3.3  |o o| 3.3V
       |  nc   |o o| nc
       |  nc   |o o| nc
       |  nc   |o o| nc
       |  MOSI |o o| CLK
       |  DC   |o o| D/C
       |  RST  |o o| BUSY
       |  nc   |o o| BS
       |-------------------------------------------------

No, the heading description is not clear enough. I should provide a drawing, but this is not my strength.

Note that the 5V connection is not needed. More information can be found here:

http://www.buy-lcd.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=&search=DESTM32-S2

I add a relevant part of it here for the jumper position:

This pinboard DESTM32-S2 is used for 1.54 inch, 2.04 inch, 2.13 inch , 2.7 inch, 2.9 inch, 4.2 inch, 7.5 inch E-paper display.
Position1.While shorting RESE and 3.0Ω resistor, this model is suitable for the following E-Paper displays:
1.1.54 inch E-Paper Display: GDEP015OC1, and GDEWZ04
2.2.04 inch E-Paper Display: GDE021A1
3.2.13 inch E-Paper Display: GDEWB1
4.2.9 inch E-Paper Display: GDEH029A1
5.7.5 inch E-Paper Display: GDEW075T8 and GDEW075Z09
Position 2.While shorting 0.47Ω resistor and RESE, this mode is suitable for the following E-Paper displays:
1.1.54 inch E-Paper Display: GDEWT8
2.2.13 inch E-Paper Display: GDEWZ16
3.2.7 inch E-Paper Display: GDEW027W3 and GDEW027C44
4.2.9 inch E-Paper Display: GDEW029T5 and GDEW029Z10
5.4.2 inch E-Paper Display: GDEW042T2 and GDEW042Z15

Jean-Marc

If you want to learn more, please visit our website hdmi lcd.