Skip to main content

Business > News

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 Colour e-paper trials begin on Tokyo trains

Electronic paper displays replace traditional ads on trains in Tokyo

Martyn Williams

  • Email to a friend
  • Print this article
  • Bookmark this page
  • RSS feed

Commuters in Tokyo are getting a chance to experience some cutting-edge display technology – although they might have to look hard to see it.

On three commuter trains some traditional paper advertisements have been replaced with colour e-paper displays. The displays, while technologically advanced, proved difficult to read during a demonstration on Thursday.

Question of the day!

Mark Hattersley
Editor in Chief

Do you share your creations online?

Question of the day!

Do you share your creations online?

% of Macworld readers agree with you

Yes
TBC
No
TBC

What do you create and how do you share it?

124 characters remaining

Follow the conversation at @TabletChat

paintings & illustrations, mostly, which i upload to flickr.RT @fragmentedm

I draw manga/anime characters. I also do graphic design and photography.RT @spialelo

Yes. I usually put them up on my #deviantart account for feedback on how to improve.RT @spialelo

The 13.1-inch displays are made by Hitachi and based on Bridgestone Corp's "electronic liquid powder" technology. There are two displays on each of the three trains, mounted on the carriage wall at either end of the train.

Each display is connected to a smaller unit that contains companion electronics and an 8MB memory that can hold 37 advertisements. Each ad is shown for two minutes in a continuous cycle.

Electronic paper is still in its infancy. While it has been shown in prototype form for several years, the technology has only recently started making its way into commercial products. One of the highest profile uses is the Sony Reader electronic book, but it offers only a monochrome display. Colour e-paper development still lags behind.

The displays in the trains offer relatively low resolution, at 50dpi (dots per inch), and can only show eight colours. There's also no backlight, so on-screen images appeared quite dark and ads utilising dark colours, such as red and black, were quite difficult to read. Reflections on the display's protective plastic cover also caused problems.

The month-long tests are relatively high-profile because the trains in question run on the Yamanote Line, which runs in a loop around the centre of Tokyo. It's used by about 3.5 million people each weekday, making it one of the city's most important and heavily used railway lines.

The trial will gauge feedback from travellers and see how the system performs in a real-world environment, said Nobuyuki Ogura, a senior manager with Hitachi's transportation information systems division in Tokyo. They follow a trial last year in which a monochrome e-paper display replaced a wall poster at Tokyo Station, he said.

Hitachi will continue working on the screens and hopes to have a commercial panel ready for use by March 2008, he said.

Email A Friend

Email this article to a friend or colleague:



PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the recipient know who sent the story, and in case of transmission error. Both your name and the recipient's name and address will not be used for any other purpose.

<<prev article | back to news index | next article>>

Latest News


More news...