Partial update technology speeds up and enhances user experience on e-paper displays

Pervasive Displays have announced the availability of partial update display driving technology across its range of electronic ink e-paper displays (EPD). E-paper is a bistable technology, which means that energy is only consumed when the display is changing. Once it has changed, the display consumes no energy and continues to show information, even when disconnected from its power source. Rather than update the whole display image when part of it changes, known as a global or full update, a partial update (or local update) only refreshes the pixels that need to be changed. This approach greatly enhances the user’s visual experience since it does not create the blinking effect typically associated with a global update when all pixels are refreshed. In addition, this method of update takes less time and consumes much less power, further improving the user’s visual interaction with the display. A partial update cycle takes around 300ms-600ms which is a quarter of the time typically required for a global update on a similar monochrome display. The partial update uses two data buffers to contain the current and new images, and by comparing these, the pixels that require updating are identified. The partial update display driving technology has been integrated into the graphics libraries of the semiconductor vendors supported, these including Texas Instruments and Microchip. Examples of application areas for this type of technology are smart home devices such as thermostats and home appliances; IoT applications like alarm systems, sensor devices and public information boards; and personal devices such as name badges, healthcare devices and electronic bag tags.