Hannstar unveils reflective LCDs at IFA 2024. Using 80 percent less energy than regular LCDs but having response time of 7ms, they are marketed as a new green signage alternative to e-paper.
Taiwanese manufacturer Hannstar wants to showcase an alternative to E Ink-based displays: Under the Hannspree brand, the company is marketing so-called Ecovision Paper Displays. Despite their deceptive name, these do not use e-paper panels but reflective LCD technology that uses almost as little power as color e-paper displays but can also show moving images.
Flicker-free and bright like e-paper
The big difference between regular, transmissive LCDs and reflective LCDs ist that the latter don’t require a backlight; they utilize the ambient light to illuminate the color filters in the display. This eliminates the biggest power drain in LCDs and makes them extremely thin. Reflective displays get brighter with more light, have a very low blue light component. The Hannstar displays also feature an anti-glare coating, which is supposed to make them suitable for use in areas where high-brightness screens are usually needed.
From our perspective, the standout feature of the Ecovision Paper displays is their response time, which is 7 milliseconds, similar to a regular IPS panel. This is a key advantage over e-paper: The E Ink Spectra 6, for instance, takes up to 12 seconds to fully refresh an image and can therefore only display static content. Similar to E Ink’s latest version, the Hannspree displays are also full-color, with 8-bit depth reproducing 16.7 million colors.
In this video, Hannstar explains in more detail how its technology works:
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Reflective LCD in itself is not a new thing but has appeared before in display prototypes, such as a 42-inch version by BOE at ISE 2023. Some manufacturers have similar models in their portfolios, but none have marketed them as mainstream products it seams. As invidis content partner Sixteen:Nine notes, some issues with the technology in the past have been viewing angles and color reproduction.
How Hannspree has tackled these issues will be revealed at IFA where the company will introduce three product lines at IFA 2024, including a digital signage line. This line includes two displays: a 23.8-inch mobile display with a 9,600 mAh battery and an adjustable stand on wheels, and a 28-inch display designed for fixed mounting. The other lines will feature monitors and a new generation of the Hannsnote e-reader series that has already been available on the market for 315 euros.
invidis will evaluate how the technology performs as a digital signage display during our visit to IFA, where Hannspree will be exhibiting at stand P20 in hall 27.
