Fujitsu Laboratories has announced the world’s first film substrate-based bendable colour electronic paper with image memory feature. This new paper is capable of displaying vivid colour images that are not affected even when the screen is bent, the image memory function also enables it to continuously display the same image without any power source.

This all sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, the uses for this type of display are endless; it could very well even save the forests. If the electronic paper is affordable enough to develop, future newspapers could easily release their content in this format. Or how about picking up the morning paper from the newsstand, but as an SD memory chip, pop it into your Fujitsu paper reader and we are on our way to a more efficient and environmentally conscious society.

The great thing about the Fujitsu substrate-based electronic paper is the very low power it requires to change images, which is the only time it needs power; the actual usage when changing images is equivalent to the weak radio waves used in contactless IC cards. Or in terms you may understand more clearly; one one-hundredth to one ten-thousandth the energy of conventional display technologies.

Fujitisu’s electronic paper is manufactured with three displaying layers; red, blue and green of course. Colours are significantly more vivid due to the fact that there are no color filters and polarizing layers that are used in conventional reflective-type LCDs. The technology used is not affected, therefore colours are just as vivid and rich when the screen is bent, it also does not require repetitive data to update the image, so it does not flicker.

Sure there are many more uses for this technology, like electronic shelf display tags, restaurant menus, train or other transit information, operating manuals and even digital media devices. Whatever you see paper used for now, this will do the same and better.

Fujitsu is planning to conduct some marketing trials of their new electronic paper, targeting commercialization by April 2006 to March 2007. I really can’t wait to hold one of these in my hand!