Its key characteristics mean it’s now starting to transform other product areas as well, as designers realise its potential to enhance their users’ experiences in ways they previously couldn’t.
Why e-paper displays are ideal for signage
Indoor and outdoor signage is a perfect example. Because e-paper has a very wide viewing angle and you can read what’s on the screen even in bright sunlight, it enables you to display live information (that can be updated remotely) where this may not have been practical or even possible with other display technologies.
What’s more, e-paper requires so little energy that a display can be battery- or even solar-powered. Operators therefore don’t face the cost and complexity of installing mains wiring to provide energy to their displays.
E-paper displays can also be built into watertight and/or reinforced units if required, thereby protecting against the elements and vandalism.
Public transport signage
Take the example of a live arrival times sign at a bus or tram stop. TFT LCDs or LED matrices aren’t always feasible in such locations: there may be no mains power, or bright sunlight may make a TFT LCD unreadable. With e-paper, neither of these things would matter.
Consequently, transport operators or local authorities could install e-paper displays across their networks, enabling those even in rural, remote locations to have real-time service information available at a glance. The information on the display could be wirelessly updated every few minutes, using e-paper’s partial refresh capability to keep power usage to a minimum.
Indeed, the aforementioned bright sunlight that would have made a TFT LCD impractical, could be harnessed through a solar panel to power the e-paper display. This would reduce the need for periodic battery replacement, thereby helping minimise the operational cost of a large network of signs.
E-paper signs such as these would improve the travel experience for passengers and encourage more people to use public transport.
Call bell status display
In various industries, including hospitality and healthcare, call bells are common. But in many cases, once you press the bell, you don’t know how long you’ll have to wait for attention, or even if your call has been acknowledged. An e-paper display in the call bell unit could be used to provide information back to the person who pressed the bell: is someone on their way? How long are they likely to be?
Like in the public transport example, a call bell with a built-in e-paper display could be designed to be waterproof, making it suitable for outdoor use.
Again, having up-to-date information available in this way can dramatically improve the customer experience, whatever sector the call bell is used in.
Room availability signage
Electronic signs at the doors of function and meeting rooms in hotels and offices, showing live room availability, aren’t uncommon. For anyone walking past a room looking for somewhere to hold an ad hoc meeting, such signage means you don’t have to pull out your smartphone or laptop to check if it’s booked. Consequently, the signs enable you to find a suitable room more quickly and spend more time being productive.
Yet in many cases, installing this type of signage requires significant investment and upheaval, because of the need to run mains power to each unit to drive an always-on TFT LCD. But if such a sign were to use an e-paper display rather than a TFT LCD, the need for power cabling could be eliminated. The unit could be completely wireless, making installation significantly easier and faster – and hence making the product more appealing to potential buyers.
In this way, e-paper could extend the benefits of electronic signage to more people and more businesses.
How could you use e-paper displays?
These are just three examples of how e-paper displays can noticeably enhance customer experiences. There are many other possibilities besides; what could an easy-to-read, low power display add to your designs?
Author profile:
Scott Soong is CEO of Pervasive Displays
