水墨屏科普:电子墨水如何重现纸墨的优雅
E Ink screen explained: How e-paper replicates the elegance of ink on paper

在数字时代,有一项技术执着地模拟着纸张的阅读体验,它让我们在喧嚣的屏幕世界中保留了一片宁静的阅读之地.
In the digital age, there's a tech that faithfully simulates the reading experience of paper. It gives us a serene reading spot amidst the noisy screen world.

在阳光下,没有传统液晶显示的反光现象,文字清晰可见,仿佛印刷在纸张上一般.这就是电子墨水屏,一种革命性的显示技术,它不像普通屏幕那样主动发光,而是像纸一样依靠环境光反射成像.
In the sun, there's no reflection like traditional LCDs, and the text is clear as if it's printed on paper. This is an electronic ink screen, a revolutionary display tech. Unlike regular screens that emit light, it reflects ambient light like paper.

电子墨水是一种革新信息显示的新方法和技术.像多数传统墨水一样,电子墨水和改变它颜色的线路可以打印到许多表面,从弯曲塑料,聚脂膜,纸到布.
E-ink is a revolutionary new method and technology for information display. Similar to traditional ink, e-ink and the circuitry that changes its color can be printed onto various surfaces, ranging from curved plastic, polyester film, paper to cloth.

与传统纸的差异是:电子墨水在通电时改变颜色,并且可以显示变化的图像,像计算器或手机那样的显示.
The difference from traditional paper is that electronic ink changes color when powered on and can display changing images, just like a calculator or a phone screen.

电子墨水由麻省剑桥的E-Ink公司开发并推向市场化.E-Ink公司基于MIT的先驱工作创建于1997年,旨在将这项技术从实验室迁出,转化为实际商品.
E-Ink, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, developed and commercialized electronic ink. Founded in 1997, E-Ink leveraged the pioneering work of MIT to transition this technology from the lab to a practical product.

对肉眼看来,电子墨水像一瓶普通墨水,但悬浮在电子墨水液体中有几百万个细小的微胶囊.每个胶囊内部是染料和颜料芯片的混合物,这些细小的芯片可以受电荷作用.
To the naked eye, e-ink looks like regular ink, but there are millions of tiny microcapsules suspended in the e-ink liquid. Inside each capsule is a mixture of dye and pigment chips, and these tiny chips can be influenced by an electric charge.

为了理解电子墨水的微胶囊,可以把它想象成清晰的塑料水球.水球内包含几十个乒乓球,水球内充入的不是空气而是颜料水.
To understand the microcapsules of electronic ink, you can think of them like clear plastic water balloons. Inside the water balloon are dozens of ping-pong balls, and instead of air, the balloon is filled with pigmented water.

如果从顶部看水球,我们可以看到许多白色乒乓球悬浮在液体中,于是水球看起来呈白色.从底部看水球,你只不过看到的是颜料水,于是水球看起来呈黑色.
If you look at the water polo from the top, you can see many white ping-pong balls suspended in the liquid, making the water polo appear white. If you look at it from the bottom, all you see is the pigmented water, making the water polo appear black.

把这些几千个水球放到一个容器里,并使这些乒乓球在水球的顶和底之间运动,你就能看到容器在改变颜色.这就是电子墨水工作的基本原理.
Put these thousands of water droplets in a container and make the ping-pong balls move between the top and bottom of the droplets. You'll see the color of the container change. This is basically how electronic ink works.

事实上,这些“水球”是100微米宽的微胶囊.在1平方英寸上,大约包含10万个微胶囊.如果在一页纸上打印电子墨水,则一个句子包含30多个微胶囊.
Actually, these "water droplets" are microcapsules measuring 100 micrometers in width. On a square inch, there are roughly 100,000 microcapsules. If you print electronic ink on a page, a single sentence contains over 30 microcapsules.

电子墨水屏的工作原理是通过在微容器底端施加不同电压,以控制不同颜色粒子在微容器中的位置,从而实现显示颜色的改变.
The working principle of an e-paper display is to apply different voltages to the bottom of microcapsules to control the position of particles of different colors within the microcapsules, thus achieving changes in displayed colors.

带黑白两种颜色的带电粒子在液态胶囊中,在电场的作用下上下浮动而形成画面.
Charged particles in black and white colors float up and down in a liquid capsule under the influence of an electric field, creating a visual effect.

在形成画面后,颜色粒子就停止运动,即使断电画面也不会消失.这就是电子墨水的双稳态效应.
After forming an image, the color particles stop moving, and the image won't disappear even if the power is turned off. This is the bistable effect of electronic ink.

电子墨水不同于其它显示工艺能保持图像达数周,而且不耗费任何额外的电能.用电子墨水产生的一个显示,可保持图像达几周,并不需要附加功率输入.
E-ink is different from other display technologies in that it can retain images for weeks without consuming any extra power. A display made with e-ink can keep images for weeks without requiring additional power input.

电子墨水屏主要依靠反射外界环境光实现画面显示,这种方式模拟了墨水和纸张的特性.与其它显示技术相比,电子墨水的反射率和对比度较佳.
E-ink screens primarily rely on reflecting ambient light from the environment to display images, mimicking the properties of ink and paper. Compared to other display technologies, e-ink boasts superior reflectivity and contrast.

在亮光包括直射阳光下,其它显示材料感觉有些淡而难以阅读.相反,基于电子墨水的显示才真正容易看和读.
In bright light, including direct sunlight, other display materials feel a bit washed out and hard to read. In contrast, displays based on electronic ink are really easy to see and read.

因为电子墨水是柔软的,它可以用到原先显示技术必须要用到刚劲坚硬和平的表面所不能用的地方.
Because electronic ink is flexible, it can be used in places where traditional display technologies require rigid, hard, and flat surfaces.

电子墨水可以打印到纸上,产生柔性书和报纸一样的显示效果.它也可以打印到布上,或者打印到类似手机和其它电器非平面的奇形怪状的表面.
E-ink can be printed onto paper, creating a flexible display effect similar to books and newspapers. It can also be printed onto fabric, or onto non-flat, irregular surfaces like phones and other electronic devices.

当电子墨水技术发展到彩色阶段,出现了两种主流技术路线.
When e-ink technology evolved to the color stage, two main technical paths emerged.

使用CFA技术的彩色墨水屏是在传统灰阶墨水屏的基础上,增加了一层彩色滤光矩阵(CFA).
The color ink screen using CFA technology is based on the traditional grayscale ink screen, with the addition of a color filter array (CFA) layer.

与灰阶墨水屏相同,它需要调节像素产生黑,白,灰等不同的状态,实现像素点的亮度控制.
Just like grayscale ink screens, it needs to adjust pixels to produce different states like black, white, and gray, to control the brightness of pixel points.

使用CFA的墨水屏控制方法和灰阶墨水屏相似,具有控制简单,刷新时间快的优势.但是,由于CFA的加入会带来严重的光衰减.
The ink screen control method using CFA is similar to that of grayscale ink screens, offering advantages like simple control and fast refresh times. However, the inclusion of CFA can lead to significant light decay.

另一种实现彩色的方式是使用彩色墨水粒子.例如使用CMYW,即cyan(青色),magenta(品红),yellow(黄色) 和 white(白色) 的四色粒子.
Another way to achieve color is by using colored ink particles. For instance, using CMYW, which stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and white particles.

通过施加不同的电压来控制四色粒子的位置进行颜色的混合.这种通过粒子混合的方式,相较于基于CFA的墨水屏,可以实现更高的分辨率和色彩饱和度.
By applying different voltages to control the position of four-color particles, color mixing is achieved. Compared to CFA-based ink screens, this particle mixing method offers higher resolution and color saturation.

从技术原理来看,电子墨水屏主要分为微胶囊型,微杯型等电泳式显示技术.
From a technical standpoint, e-ink displays mainly fall into two categories: microcapsule and microcup electrophoretic display technologies.

微胶囊型电子墨水是最早实现商业化的技术之一,由E Ink公司开发.
Microcapsule e-ink is one of the earliest commercialized technologies, developed by E Ink.

根据显示颜色能力,电子墨水屏可分为:
Based on their color display capabilities, electronic ink screens can be categorized as follows:

• 黑白水墨屏:最初级和常见的类型,主要显示黑白两色
  Black and white ink screen: The most basic and common type, mainly displaying black and white colors
• 三色水墨屏:在黑白基础上增加了红色或其他颜色
  Tricolor ink screen: Adds red or other colors to the black and white base
• 四色水墨屏:如E Ink Spectra 3100,增加了黄色粒子
  Four-color ink screen: like the E Ink Spectra 3100, with added yellow particles
• 全彩色水墨屏:如E Ink Kaleido 3(基于CFA)和E Ink Gallery(基于粒子混合)
  Full-color ink screen: such as E Ink Kaleido 3 (based on CFA) and E Ink Gallery (based on particle blending)

从应用领域来看,水墨屏已经形成了多元化的产品矩阵:
In terms of application areas, the ink screen has already formed a diversified product portfolio:

• 电子阅读器:如Kindle,BOOX等,是水墨屏最经典的应用
  E-readers, like Kindle and BOOX, are the most classic applications of ink screens
• 电子价签:在零售领域快速放量,办公,制造,医疗,金融等多领域均有潜在应用空间
  Electronic price tags: rapidly expanding in the retail sector, with potential applications in various fields such as office work, manufacturing, healthcare, and finance
• 公共显示:如公交站牌,允许在阳光下清晰显示,且节能环保
  Public displays, like bus stop signs, should be able to show clearly in sunlight while being energy-efficient and eco-friendly
• 消费电子:开始在平板,显示屏及可穿戴等多终端渗透
  Consumer electronics: Starting to penetrate multiple devices like tablets, displays, and wearables
• 创新集成:如华硕Project Dali概念PC,在笔记本A面集成彩色墨水屏实现个性化外观
  Innovative integration: Take ASUS's Project Dali concept PC as an example, where a color ink screen is integrated onto the A-side of the laptop for a personalized look

尽管电子墨水屏具有诸多优点,但也面临一些挑战:
Despite the numerous advantages of e-ink screens, they also face some challenges:

• 刷新速度慢:响应速度慢,不适合动态图像,翻页或刷新时有延迟
  Slow refresh rate: The response time is sluggish, making it unsuitable for dynamic images. There's a delay when scrolling or refreshing the page
• 成本较高:上游供应链结构较为单一,使得终端厂商的议价能力非常有限
  High costs: The upstream supply chain structure is relatively monotonous, which severely limits the bargaining power of end manufacturers
• 彩色技术尚不完善:彩色墨水屏在色彩表现和刷新速度上仍有提升空间
  Color technology is not yet perfected: there's still room for improvement in color representation and refresh speed for color ink screens

尽管如此,电子墨水屏仍在不断发展.根据洛图科技数据显示,全球电子纸平板的出货量为1254万台,国内市场销量达到了123万台.
Despite this, e-ink screens are still evolving. According to data from LoTo Technology, global shipments of e-paper tablets reached 12.54 million units, with domestic sales reaching 1.23 million units.

彩色墨水屏的市场份额从2.7%增长到8.6%,显示出强劲的增长势头.
The market share of color ink screens has surged from 2.7% to 8.6%, indicating robust growth momentum.

从1997年E Ink公司成立,到早期应用于零售店的大面积Immedia显示,再到如今普及的电子阅读器和电子价签,电子墨水屏走出了一条与众不同的发展道路.
Since its inception in 1997, E Ink has forged a unique path in the development of electronic ink displays. From its early large-scale Immedia displays used in retail stores to the now-ubiquitous electronic readers and price tags, the company has consistently pushed the boundaries of what's possible with electronic ink technology.

未来,随着彩色技术的成熟和成本下降,我们可能会在更多意想不到的地方看到它的身影——也许是会自动变换图案的壁纸,也许是能够改变颜色的衣服.
In the future, as color technology matures and costs come down, we might see it popping up in more unexpected places - maybe in wallpaper that changes patterns automatically, or maybe in clothes that can change colors.

电子墨水屏不试图取代纸张,而是让数字世界与纸张和谐共处,这或许正是它在喧嚣时代中最珍贵的价值.
E-ink screens don't aim to replace paper; instead, they facilitate a harmonious coexistence between the digital world and paper. This might just be its most precious value in this noisy era.