E-ink screens and LCD screens are the two main categories of digital price tags. LCD screens are common display materials, such as mobile phone screens, TV screens, computer monitors, car screens, etc. E-ink screens have a very long service life. Among existing displays, they are closest to paper in terms of energy efficiency and readability. The following are the specific differences between E-ink screens and LCD screens.
Different working principles
The working principle of LCD screens can be simply described as: through voltage, the liquid crystal molecules in each fixed independent pixel are adjusted in position, so that the screen can display different colors and pictures. Because a stable voltage is required to maintain the state of the liquid crystal molecules, continuous power supply is required to maintain the display effect of the picture, and once the power is cut off, the screen will be black.
LCD screens will refresh continuously, so there will be flickering, but the frequency is high and our naked eyes cannot distinguish it. When shooting a TV screen with a mobile phone camera, you will find some flickering "stripes".
The e ink screen is a display technology based on electrophoresis technology. The process of black and white particles floating up and down in a liquid capsule under the action of an electric field to form a picture. After the picture is formed, the color particles stop moving, and the picture will not disappear even if the power is cut off. Therefore, when you turn to a certain page, the screen will not flicker.
Different display mechanisms
The e ink screen is fully reflective, which means that the display effect will be different as the ambient light changes. The better the external light source, the better the display effect. Therefore, the experience of reading an e ink screen e-book in the sunny outdoors is almost the same as reading a paper book.
LCD screens have backlights, so they are basically not affected by external light sources, unless the content cannot be seen clearly in extreme environments (outdoor sunlight). Therefore, under strong outdoor light sources, the mobile phone screen needs to adjust the brightness to resist the covering effect of ambient light on the screen display.
Afterimage problem
Due to the imaging principle of the e ink screen and the fixed state characteristics of black and white particles, it is easy to see the residual marks of the black particles on the previous page when turning pages in e-book reading. Therefore, the screen manufacturer provides a refresh method to restore the initial state, which is the common "flash screen" problem. It is similar to the process of turning pages in reading paper books.
Since the LCD screen itself is refreshed consistently, there will be no similar process.
Energy saving and power consumption
Due to the characteristics of the e ink screen, no power is consumed during reading, and only a very small amount of power is consumed in the blink of an eye when turning the page. Therefore, the general use cycle of e-book products is about 2 weeks or even a month.
Since the LCD screen always needs voltage to maintain the picture, the screen basically accounts for the main power consumption. The TV needs to be powered all the time to maintain the image, and the smartphone needs to be charged once a day or more.
In the application of digital price tags, e ink price tags are the mainstream of the current market with clear display and long life, while LCD electronic price tags can provide more diverse display methods and vivid display effects. For retailers, combining the two labels is the best choice to provide an in-store image.
