Liquavista Unveils Color ePaper Display [Philips Spin-Off Company Shows Off Color Electronic Paper Display]

eReaders have been in the news lately, and one thing that turns a lot of people off to the new devices is the monochrome black and white of the currently commercially released electronic paper displays. We’ve seen a few other prototypes of color ePaper displays, but Liquavista showed off their own attempt at such a display lats month at CES.

The company started as a spin-off of Philip’s Research Labs, located in the Netherlands. The lab produced such technologies as Laserdisc and Compact Disc, and now they’re trying their hand at a color ePaper display. They built a prototype eReader that was viewing magazines and books on a full color 6-inch display made by their firm.

Unlike the Electrophoretic ePaper technology, which was popularized by E Ink and used in such devices like the Kindle, Nook and Sony Reader, the folks at Liquavista are using a technology called “Electrowetting” that involves reflective LCD panels and a water/oil-based interface. The technology is supposedly fast enough to play video content, though Liquavista didn’t show this off.

Despite LCD panels being used, it is still a true ePaper display, and it is still easy on human eyes (no LCD strain) and is readable in direct sunlight. The folks at BeBook have already agreed to a partnership with Liquavista, so we could start seeing color eReaders soon. Liquavista themselves expect the new color displays to be ready for mass production in “2010-2011″.