- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmy.ml
Google recently open sourced Pebble and today, Repebble has put some of the watches up for preorder.
Am I missing something?
The problem is that e-paper is a category of displays, and some companies label reflective LCDs as “e-paper”. Which is subjective (and I personally heavily disagree with that categorization, cause then LCD clocks and Gameboys have “e-paper” displays, too).
But in the comment I responded to it was said Pebble has “eink” display, which is categorically wrong, as that is a very specific proprietary technology, which is e-paper in traditional sense, like the ones in Kindles.
I believe these are sharp’s memory in pixel lcds. They’re much lower power than something like the game boy screen as each pixel retains its state and doesn’t need to be refreshed from the controller constantly. I actually like these little screens quite a lot. Worse pixel density and don’t look as good as e-ink when static, but still really Low power and can refresh way faster and smoother when needed.
I’m not criticizing the screens, they are ok and I loved my Pebble Time Steel until the battery swelled and popped off the screen. I’m just saying that calling these e-paper is a deceptive marketing strategy.
Your response says, “not epaper” which is categorically wrong. I assume you meant to say “eink”
As I mentioned earlier, whether a screen type is considered e-paper is subjective. And in my opinion, reflective LCD isn’t a type of e-paper. You may disagree, but it’s not “categorically” wrong.
Where exactly is that quote from? I had a look through the product page(s) and could only find e-paper being mentioned…
Quote is from Wikipedia. You can see it’s the case for both models here:
Besides, I own a Pebble Time watch and can tell you, it doesn’t perform like a typical e-paper. It has the bad viewing angles of LCD and screen goes blank when power is lost.
That quote is on under features on the article for the original Pebble, right? Might be that the Pebble 2 used a different screen; I can’t really find info on that though.
Regarding the Time, I think the product page for the new Time 2 specifically says how the curved screen lens on the Pebble Time wasn’t that good.
Edit: Found the quote under the Core 2 Time section
From the Verge article:
Ah I see
Epaper and eink are different. Eink consumes no power when idle, and epaper consumes almost no power.
Yet they are also the same - E Ink is an e-paper display.
Electronic paper is a category for any low energy display tech that looks kinda like paper, E Ink is a brand name for a “Microencapsulated electrophoretic display” from E Ink Corporation. Also just known as E-ink because IIRC they have the patent on it so nobody else can actually make them.
Oh that seems to be new since the original pebble