E Ink Co. dominating screen market for the Kindle 2 & Nook, for now

Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader has started something big in the publishing industry that mirrors what’s already happened in the music industry. Digitization of content. The difficulty with books always has been that reading hundreds of pages of text on screen is hard on the eyes. The Kindle 2 and Barnes & Noble’s Nook both solve that problem with the help of technology from E Ink Company.

E Ink is what makes the Kindle 2 and Nook so easy to read, and the technology works by integrating a grid of microcapsules on each screen that are prodded with electricity to display white, black or a shade of gray. Think of a marquee sign in an airport or in the stock market that displays text on a series of illuminated bulbs. Those bulbs can create the illusion of motion and formations of text or imagery based on how the brain processes negative space. But why is E Ink easy to read while LCD monitors strain the eyes?

The first reason comes in the form of refresh rates. LCD monitors, depending on how they’re hooked up, are updating the screen constantly to display the latest data. It looks like a still image to the eye but causes strain. Second is the nature of backlit screens, which are essentially shining bright light in your face. Anyone ever use their cell phone as a flashlight? It’s a perfect case in point.

In contrast, eBook readers using E Ink have no backlight and display a truly constant image – just like paper. One difference between paper and eBook readers though is cost, and a large part of what drives the cost of the Kindle 2 and Nook are their screens.

E Ink Co. is dominating the market right now for eBook reader screens but competitors are expected to drive price down and delivery color screens starting next year, according to NPR. Now if only they could make E Ink touch screens.