Startup rattles tin for e-paper monitor with display fast enough to play video
The initial plan is for the "Modos Paper Monitor," which the company describes as: "An open-hardware standalone portable monitor made for reading and writing, especially for people who need to stare at the display for a long time."
The listed specifications sound good: a 13.3", 1600×1200 e-ink panel, with a DisplayPort 1.2 input, powered off MicroUSB because it only takes 1.5-2W.
The company also has some rather impressive demonstration videos, showing that the display is fast enough to play video, albeit in monochrome. There's also a technical explanation of how this is accomplished.
This sounds good, but it also sounded familiar to The Reg FOSS desk. It reminded us a lot of the Paperlike E-ink Monitor which was announced by a Chinese company called Dasung: a 13.3", monochrome, hi-def desktop display. These have been on sale for some years – here's a 2018 review.
Modos launched at the start of the year with plans for an e-paper display laptop, simply called the Paper Laptop. We asked for more information, and founder Alexander Soto told us that the company was working on a community prototype model called the Lancer, based around a Lenovo Thinkpad T42 chassis – partly for its build and keyboard quality, and also because of the availability of aftermarket batteries.
