Beautiful e-ink display spotted at a train station in a small town in Germany

https://mastodon.social/@tracyspcy/117024900051637161

123 points · 25 comments · view on lemmy.world

25 Comments

yakko@feddit.uk · 19 pts · 37d (8 replies)

So big. I've been a fan of this technology since Sony's first one about twenty years ago, only recently was able to get one big enough for my liking.

jimerson@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 36d (7 replies)

Kobo?

yakko@feddit.uk · 5 pts · 36d (6 replies)

Yeah the 10" black and white one. I made a custom case for it, pics in my post history if you wanna see.

jimerson@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 35d (1 reply)

Very nice. Also, keep up the great work with your art! You've developed quite a talent.

yakko@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 34d

Thank you! I haven't drawn in a while, I need to get back into it. Doing the 2025 Inktober pushed me to the next level, I would love to develop more. My job's kind of boring so I'm always doing creative stuff just to stay sane.

IncogCyberSpaceUser@piefed.social · 2 pts · 36d (3 replies)

I'd like to see it but I can't find the post that you're referencing.

yakko@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 36d (2 replies)

Sorry it's a few posts older than I'd realised, had to go digging. Here it is!

https://feddit.uk/post/41070161

IncogCyberSpaceUser@piefed.social · 2 pts · 36d (1 reply)

Oh, I did end up scrolling past it because I was imagining a typical phone case type case.
That's awesome and well made! Thanks for sharing.

yakko@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 36d

Thanks! I'm still a little self-conscious about using it in public since I don't really have the dress sense to go with it, so I probably end up looking a bit like I stole it. But I am happy with the workmanship. Have since started filling the insides with iron-on patches. Wish I could figure out how to attach a stand-up arm to the insides, that would be sweet.

EggInDisguise@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 14 pts · 36d

The retail store I worked at in 2020 had an e-ink sign that was included as part of a display, and when the display had to come down they told us to throw the whole thing away. Management wouldn't let me take it home and stuck it in the compactor, I was so fucking pissed.

Jokes on them though, the batteries didn't like being crushed and started a fire.

tracyspcy@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 37d

Btw Blönsdorf, Brandenburg

ndupont@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 6 pts · 36d (1 reply)

We need that on EV charging stations too, you just cannot read anything under direct sunlight

tracyspcy@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 36d

Right, saw a ev station in my district recently and it used some tft colored display and with sun light we have they use backlight very hard and it is still barely readable. My thought was why they don’t use simple lcd display, that would be much more readable

flyingSock@feddit.org · 6 pts · 36d

I have also seen these at small stations in niedersachsen. Very neat.

criticon@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 36d

I say a few at JR Osaka station last week, they look neat

https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20191127-osakastation/

VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 36d

They're all over small train and bus stations in some regions.

Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 10d

the fact that e-ink isn't standard for outdoor displays yet pains me so much, instead we're not only drawing a bunch of electricity to power LCD displays but then ontop of that we have to power fans to cool them down! It's insane!!

If we could at least use OLED panels it wouldn't be too horrifying, but jesus christ LCD feels like using incandescent bulbs

Hiro8811@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 36d (5 replies)

Problem with eink is that it's proprietary so you need a license

tracyspcy@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 36d (4 replies)

To produce?

jimerson@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 36d (2 replies)

E Ink is covered in patents so companies have to pay a license to even use it. There have been several alternative E-Ink-esque technologies, with their own pros/cons, but it'll be difficult to disrupt the E Ink market because the massive supply chains in place allow them to produce it so cheaply.

If a new technology hopes to do it, it'll need to address two things: higher refresh rate while keeping energy usage low.

tracyspcy@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 36d (1 reply)

Wow this sucks. I was always curious why it so slowly adopted .. seems proprietary licences pushing this back

jimerson@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 35d

That always does seem to be the way of it.

Hiro8811@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 36d

Yes, like ARM CPUs, manufacturers need a license to be able to produce them

starlinguk@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 35d

I hate them. I can't read them.

tracyspcy@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 36d