E Ink announces Kaleido 4 color e-paper technology

E Ink has announced Kaleido 4, a new generation of e-paper technology designed to improve color vibrancy and text readability in e-readers. The new technology reportedly doubles the color gamut compared to its predecessor, offering a gamut volume of over 40,000. Key technical improvements include a 15 percent increase in white light reflection and a 50 percent increase in contrast, which aims to produce lighter backgrounds and clearer text for better document viewing.

In addition to static reading, the Kaleido 4 supports video playback at up to 18 frames per second. One of the first announced applications for this technology is the M10C II by Hanvon Technology, a device focused on productivity tasks such as note-taking and sketching.

The color e-reader market is seeing increased competition between established brands. While Amazon has entered the space with the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, devices like the Kobo Libra Colour have gained recognition for their color capabilities. However, the industry faces challenges, including price increases for many color e-readers due to a global memory crisis.