Epson and Plastic Logic Announce Cooperation at electronica 2012

MUNICH and DRESDEN, Germany, November 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Leaders in their respective fields cooperate to broaden
the applications for flexible plastic displays

Epson Europe Electronics GmbH will present a controller/driver developed for Plastic Logic's innovative flexible plastic displays at electronica 2012 in Munich. The collaboration between the two companies has allowed optimisation of performance targeted at displays between 1ʺ and 5ʺ size.

The Epson controller/driver S1D13541 for electrophoretic displays (EPD) combines all of the fundamental components for controlling an EPD on one single module. The S1D13541 contains an EPD controller with four display pipelines, which can be used in parallel to represent up to 16 levels of grey. Furthermore, it contains 480 TFT source driver outputs as well as a built-in memory and supports display resolutions up to 480 x 854 pixels. The module also integrates a waveform memory, a DC/DC booster circuit (optional usage) for the generation of all required display voltages, as well as a temperature sensor.

In combination with an external TFT gate driver, the S1D13541 forms an ideal system, allowing this new display technology from Plastic Logic to be used in a broad range of applications, including healthcare and automotive applications, as well as in mobile devices and smart cards.

Plastic Logic has developed a flexible plastic display technology using organic thin film transistors (OTFT) http://www.plasticlogic.com/technology/. The use of a plastic substrate instead of glass enables completely new applications and products. As a result, Plastic Logic can manufacture flexible plastic EPDs (monochrome and colour) in various sizes (from 1 ʺ to 20ʺ), which are extremely light, ultra-thin, particularly robust and very low power. These displays can be manufactured with thicknesses considerably thinner than 400 µm and with a bendability radius of at least 15 mm.

Dr. Peter Fischer, CTO at Plastic Logic explained: "Plastic Logic's versatile display solutions are all based on plastic and offer our customers the ability to improve their applications, as well as develop completely new products: from a wristband with an integrated flexible display to large area signage. We are delighted to announce the partnership between Epson and Plastic Logic, which has led to the development of a solution focused on our flexible plastic display sizes in the range of one to five inches and based on Epson's EPD controller S1D13541. This will offer great advantages for various applications, including mobile devices and will allow the freedom for new product design approaches."

"In recent years Epson has concentrated its development in particular on the development of unique EPD controllers for eBook customers. Our next objective is to expand our product range to also include industrial and other promising new applications," stated Manfred Wittmeir, IC Department Manager at Epson Europe Electronics. "Electrophoretic displays based on the S1D13541 module are the ideal solution for any customer wanting to develop EPD based applications in a simple way and without the necessity for a complex technical learning process."

Epson Europe Electronics GmbH will showcase the first display samples based on its cooperation with Plastic Logic at electronica 2012 in Munich (13-16 November) in hall A4, stand 224.

About Epson Europe Electronics GmbH

Epson Europe Electronics GmbH is a marketing, engineering and sales company and the European Headquarters for electronic devices of the Seiko Epson Corporation, Japan.

Headquartered in Munich/Germany since 1989 with 60 employees, Epson Europe Electronics GmbH has several European sales representatives and has a European-wide network of distributors.

Epson Europe Electronics provides value added services for semiconductors and quartz devices targeted to the mobile communication, automotive and home visual market. Epson products are recognised for energy saving, low power, small form factors and rapid time to market. Information about Epson Europe Electronics GmbH is available on the Internet under http://www.epson-electronics.de

About Plastic Logic

Since Plastic Logic was founded by researchers from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, the company has been at the forefront of research and investment into plastic electronics. The company has achieved many technological firsts including the production of high quality colour rugged plastic displays, demonstration of animation on an EPD driven by OTFTs and production yields of its flexible plastic displays comparable to the LCD industry.

Plastic Logic is backed by major investors including Oak Investment Partners and Rusnano. Find out more about Plastic Logic and its robust, flexible displays by visiting http://www.plasticlogic.com and http://www.youtube.com/plasticlogic.

Companies interested in working together with Plastic Logic should contact [email protected].

SOURCE Epson Europe Electronics GmbH and Plastic Logic