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arXiv:1605.05174physics.optics

Optical teardown of a Kindle Paperwhite display by OCT

Bart Johnson, Walid Atia, Mark Kuznetsov, Noble Larson, Eric McKenzie, Vaibhav Mathur, Brian Goldberg, Peter Whitney

Abstract

An optical teardown, or reverse engineering, of an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite electrophoretic display was performed by Optical Coherence Tomography at 1060 nm. The display incorporates an optical diffuser, lightguide and scattering layers for white light illumination, capacitive touch sensing, and an electrophoretic display. All these layers can be imaged by OCT as well as the thin film transistor array on the back side for driving the pixels. Phase sensitive OCT is used to measure motion of the pigment particles as the display changes between black and white.

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physics.opticsOptics

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Linked by 2 identifiable commenters in 3 comments across 3 threads, from Apr 2020 to Nov 2024.

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Discussed in comments3 threads

  1. MomBoard: E-ink display for a parent with amnesia 1 comment

    • A little off topic, but on the subject of E-Ink, here is an analysis of a Kindle display with optical coherence tomography images: https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.05174

      OptCohTomoView on HNParent context

  2. Glider – open-source eInk monitor with an emphasis on low latency 1 comment

    • "Optical teardown of a Kindle Paperwhite display by OCT": https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.05174 OCT = Optical Coherence Tomography This paper shows what is going on inside the display.

      OptCohTomoView on HNParent context

  3. Deep sea squid communicate by glowing like e-readers 1 comment

    • The light on the Kindle does not come from behind the text. The lightguide is in front of the text. It directs the light from the edge LEDs down, where it reflects off the text and back up through the lightguide out to your eyes. Here is a detailed tear down of the Kindle…

      tzsView on HNParent context

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