Philips develops color e-paper; 1 million color options for e-readers

Philips Research has developed a new color e-paper technology that could allow you to change the color of a gadget with the push of a button.

The technology, which offers more than 1 million colors to choose from, could be applied to e-book readers, as well as on walls inside the home or on the exterior of gadgets -- allowing you to change the color of your smartphone to match what you're wearing.

Color e-paper looks like conventional paper, but can generate color using ambient light for rendition, like conventional paint. The benefits of Philips' new "e-skin" tech are many: its color is vibrant, even in bright outdoor conditions; it can be transparent; colors can be precisely tuned; and the technology is relatively inexpensive.

Better still, its energy efficiency means it can go places a backlight can't fit.

“The first applications using the technology could be e-skins for small devices such as MP3 players or cell phones...the technology is highly scalable,” said Kars-Michiel Lenssen, principal scientist at Philips Research, in a statement.

Lenssen said the technology could be used where LEDs or OLEDs aren't preferred, such as in low-power portable devices, or for a more subtle color application.

The science of the "e-skin" works using electrophoresis, which offers the ability to control the motion of particles in suspension with an electric field, because the particles carry a surface charge. Monochrome e-paper, the kind found in e-book readers, works by applying an electric field perpendicular to the surface to get the particles inside moving.

Color e-paper, on the other hand, uses "in-plane electrophoresis," which involves the application of an electric field parallel to the surface. The technique allows for transparency and, with an electrode in each pixel, control over shades of color.