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Comment by y1n0 | original | GameBoy on E-Paper ESP32 at 30FPS [video]
[−]y1n0 · 2026-10-11 Sun 05:22 UTC · link
I don’t know if this particular display is magnetic particles or not, but epaper is not synonymous with eink. Something can be called epaper and still be lcd based. So I feel the video is misleading by declaring epaper is particle based.
[−]Lerc · 2026-10-11 Sun 05:29 UTC · link
Ok I'm confused now. So is this thing considered epaper, eink, both or neither?

Is one a subset of the other? If so which is the superset?

[−]y1n0 · 2026-10-11 Sun 05:52 UTC · link
E ink is a trademark name for electrophoretic displays (magnetic particles) by the company also called E ink.

E-paper is an informal category that anyone can use for any display type.

The display in this video/article is also electrophoretic, but not all displays called e-paper are and it’s aggravating. An example: https://kentdisplays.com/products/color-epaper-displays/

[−]1317 · 2026-10-11 Sun 07:14 UTC · link
if this display is one that everyone understands is epaper then what's the problem
[−]mdp2021 · 2026-10-11 Sun 08:18 UTC · link
> if everyone understands ... then what's the problem

"E-paper" means very little. It may mean "static" (and yet not necessarily "bistable", not even necessarily "efficient"), it may mean "reflective"... It is a marketing term.

So no, there is no real "agreed understanding" in it.

[−]cubefox · 2026-10-11 Sun 09:40 UTC · link
It's not just a marketing term. Everyone agrees that it means reflective screen, with reflectivity somewhat approaching real paper.
[−]cubefox · 2026-10-11 Sun 09:32 UTC · link
Technically true, but I'm pretty sure the great majority of "e-paper" displays are in practice electrophoretic displays, most of which are made by the company E Ink.

Some 15 to 20 years ago there were a lot of other companies trying to create reflective (= e-paper) screen technology based on principles other than electrophoresis, some with native color or fast pixel response times, but they all closed shop.

The only other major type of e-paper that is still used is simple reflective greyscale LCDs. These are not bi-stable but achieve fast pixel response times. The main disadvantage is that they have significantly worse reflectivity, resulting in rather greyish whites.