I made a 32" Digital eInk Newspaper
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- Опубліковано 27 бер 2021
- I took a 32" eInk display and turned it into a digital newspaper that updates every day. It's silent, wireless and can run for months without being plugged in.
If you buy the Place & Play Display, please use my affiliate link:
• www.visionect.com/shop/place-...
I've published the code for this project here:
• github.com/graiz/newsprint
The display can show art. Images. Calendar information or anything else from the web... but most of the time I have it rotating through the front page of newspapers from around the country.
Newspapers for me and many others have largely become intangible. We get our news from mobile devices and webpages.
I wanted to be reminded of both the diversity of news and the journalism
that goes on around the clock.
The eInk technology is most commonly found in digital book products like the Kindle. The same technology is powering this display. This particular unit is the Visionect 32" place and play display.
The unit is pricy. It retails for $2,500. It's expensive but well
engineered. It has a brushed aluminum casing and a glass pane to prevent
scratching and hazing. The price is driven largely by the low number of devices produced and the initial applications of these as signage in airports, hotel, museums and other installations.
The unit is initially setup and added to the WiFi and charged via a USB cable but once the initial setup is complete, it can be hung-up.
While the core setup is simple, the unit is not really designed or setup for
consumers to own. Unless you're technical I wouldn't recommend running
out and buying one.
The software needed to run the unit is broken up into two parts. The first part is the server component that connects to the display and can push images and content. This is setup via a docker container and I was able to get it running on my home Synology NAS backup server.
The second part is the part that I wrote to fetch newspaper files from
online sources like freedomforum.org, a non-profit, that works on the first
amendment freedom of the press issues.
The newspaper portion runs as a simple web-application fetching large format PDF files and resizing them to fit the large format display.
The result is a display that is both engaging and passive. There's no
buttons, no UI, nothing to touch or fiddle with... The newspapers cycle
every 10 minutes. In the morning there's always a fresh front-page to skim.
The beauty of eInk is that it's 99% more efficient than traditional displays like LCD. This means that the display can run for months and when it needs charging I can simply top-it-up.
Why did I build this? I saw something similar online a few years ago and I
couldn't find it for sale so I decided to built it myself.
I worked on a newspaper when I was in
college and my editor in chief Mike Bossi would always tell people to read multiple newspapers. He said that the truth is never in one paper or one story. Every writer has bias by getting multiple perspectives gives you a better picture of the truth.
This digital display is a little reminder of that.
While most websites are powered by content management systems and templates. Traditional newspapers are sill designed by hand. I worked as a layout editor and there's a lot of beauty and design in a newspaper. The
columns are easy to read, the headlines are easy to glance and the photos
compliment the story.
I cannot say how much I love this project, but I cannot buy a 2000 e-ink display... a dream for the future I guess
They should be dropping in price
@@TheJpwzrd Maybe in 10 years. It's €2300 as of now.
@ found any cheaper alternatives by any chance?
@@InheritTheField Not as far as I can tell. For that size, all brands are around the same price.
Maybe use 3 smaller ones and hope the price is more shoulderable?
This is so badass! I'd totally do it if I had a spare $2,500 laying around. Awesome!
Agree that it's too expensive. It's not for everyone but I thought it was a better way to experience art than buying a random NFT. :)
@@idcrafter-cgi as long as it makes you happy it's worth it 😃
And I'm happy to report that this project created such momentum that there's an open source project for this and one company called Blendle is selling this with all things assembled together.
Watching again after an year and it still impress me. 💙
This is unlike anything I'd seen on the internet. Appreciate the fact you'd open souced the code behind it. Would love to see if any big tech company take this as inspiration to ship something like this on consumer level ❤️
Excellent! E-ink is so much more calming to read than bright color screens. It looks gorgeous!
This is magnificent. Genuinely magnificent. Very well done, and a great reminder of the diversity of news, but also how technology and art can intertwine together.
Damn, now I have a hitch to try out such project!
Reading through the comments, it’s disappointing that it is not possible to source the raw display and parts, although it looks like this is a bare as it gets in terms of display.
I have sourced the parts and it can be done with just an eInk display, a display driver and a raspberry pi. Unfortunately the savings are minimal and the added engineering is significant. As a prototype my model works but if I wanted to commercialize it, I'd need the display that costs to be 1/5th to make the math work.
Love it Greg, keep It up
Kudo. This is a great combination of aesthetics and tech.
Thanks! I had a lot of fun building this.
Thanks for this presentation.
Greg, this is a fantastic idea. I love the idea of waking up to different newspaper front pages. Unfortunately beyond my very limited computer skills and budget!
I know! This tech should be much more affordable, I think a lot more people would buy it.
I just bought one using the affiliate link. I'm planning to do the same, love your project! thank you for sharing :)
Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for watching.
I believe what you built has a big market in waiting at about $500 and a huge one at $250. E ink should have followed the dramatic price drop curve of say flat screen TVs but they haven't despite kindle's huge adoption. Riches to the team that solves this.
100%. According to people in the know the price of eInk is comparable to TTF and LCD but there are too few people making these. I tried to source raw displays for under $1000 and couldn’t find them.
@@HalfIdeas The reason being that E Ink Corporation holds a ridiculous number of patents on this technology, and their terms are pretty nebulous, to put it mildly. This comes up on HackerNews about once every 6-12 months when there's even the slightest movement in the electronic paper space, be it a new product announcement, or some company announces they're going to license the patents and innovate (Dasung's color eInk monitor comes to mind).
That being said, I love what you've done here. This is truly a prime example of the synthesis of technology and design to create a useful device that provides real value to its user(s).
@@ChrisBBozeman I spoke with the former CEO of eInk... the claim was that the price was competitive with TTF and LCD (at smaller sizes this is actually true). At larger sizes the claim was that this was a volume/demand problem. I've tried to dig into this further but I don't know what volume hardware production looks like. I think you would need to generate Kindle level demand or higher.
@@HalfIdeas you have a great video made by linus tech tips who's explaining that for lcd screen ! I'll try to find it.
@@ChrisBBozeman i liked the electro wetting screen tech, it's like E-ink but with water based colors and at 60hz but it won't retain it's image but looks more vibrant and is like E-ink passively lit. It got eaten up by amazon (if i remember correctly)
I can see a whole bunch of these at urinals, like where they put actual newspapers. Of course, once the price goes down... Which it will. All e ink displays are getting cheaper. Great work. Looking forward to perusing your code.
Absolutely fantastic!
Glad you think so! Thanks for checking it out.
Great tech and BS-free solid presentation. Thanks. As for the "read multiple newspapers" comment, I'll chime in with a quote;
"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate." -N. Chomsky
Take what you will.
Great quote. Chomsky has a lot of gems. Diversity of news sources helps in thinking independently. The quote however is also an observation of how society works in general. It's one of the reasons I blog and make content...
Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. - Steve Jobs
Can't wait to get one of these but in colour using the spectra E ink, hopefully one day someone will produce one for consumers as the colour is spectacular.
I wish this was less expensive, I want to make a coffee table out of this :(
That is such a cool idea!
Maybe try transflective lcds
very cool
I've been looking for large format e-readers for all of my PDF equipment manuals, it would be awesome to have.
This is amazing. Hope my Dasung monitor has 32" size :)
Greg, this is a terrific project. Thank you very much for sharing! I'm considering a similar project and wanted to know how you perceive the image quality specifically for photographs. This seems to have a 16-Color (4-bit) grayscale palette and the blank field (what I consider to be the "white/off" state) has a greenish hue to it. Is that accurate? Would you ever mistake a full-size photo on this display for a professionally printed paper black and white print?
The closest visual similarity is a Kindle display. The blacks are reasonable but the white isn’t paper white but newspaper gray. I have cycled images through it but they aren’t photo quality.
Awesome
Why not schools and offices take this idea and implement it on their platform, such a noble and beautiful idea 💡
Hey Greg, you made it. I am eying the visionnect display since months as a artwork display, probably home/family calendar and whatnot. I think possible usage of such products at home is completely underrated. Calm tech, as Max Braun (the guy with the 42" epaper newspaper) had put it.
I'll probably order one. Thanks for the insights.
How difficult would it be to run a website on it and have it update once every hour?
It's been a fun project for sure. If the price came down it would be more of an insta-buy for people. Running a website on it is fairly simple. You still need to setup the server component via the docker instance but then the software will do website rendering and periodic pretty much out of the box.
I've been wanting a touch screen like this to keep a calendar/to-do-list on the wall 24/7.
This display would be great for always on Google calendar
Yes - I've been playing with - www.invisible-computers.com/ - I agree.
Looks fantastic! It’s a shame it’s so expensive. (Although clearly justified based on the size and apparent quality of the display.) This would be a fantastic option for more people to display in their homes and offices.
Totally agree. I've had a couple conversations with manufacturers on this topic unfortunately even the raw component costs are too high right now.
Can one go even bigger?
new customers needs now a subscription plan to run the screen.
This is correct - I've been talking to the company about it. I don't love this direction.
i didn't like the idea of news paper. but if it as the poster on the wall, works fantastic. really i can change it every day. if it comes in color, i am definitely buying it.
so cool, yet so expensive. I would love to build one that displays my art :)
I'm working with a device that is much smaller and more hackable - should cost about $200 so I hope it will be much more accessible.
@@HalfIdeas let me know when you're there, good luck!
I love this. I'd have it display the weather at the bottom. The price absolutely kills it but it's still cool.
On a related note/rant, I've always found Google Nest Hub and Amazon Echo to be surprising lacklustre in the news/weather display regard. Like, why can't it display a newsticker with the weather. They're strangely frustratingly uncustomizable.
Imagine how wonderful the world could've been if they had gone in the e-ink display direction instead of LCD/LED. They're so much healthier for the eyes, far more energy efficient, just all around far cooler. They are truly futuristic.
We should have e-ink in classrooms instead of clumsy projectors that require all the lights and curtains to be shut every time they are used.
People imagined flying cars and humanoid robots by 2023, but we are still using the same technology from 2000/10s. E-ink is the type of tech that we should have in 2023
agreed. Sadly e-ink is pretty restrictive with their patents and manufacturing. LCDs/LED are made by many manufactures driving down the costs, eInk is made just by eInk Holding Company. This has limited innovation in this area and unfortunately while TV prices continue to drop, eInk has held steady.
VERY nice. What was required to get docker running on the SyNAS?
I have the instructions in the GitHub repo. In short I had to install docker then modify the Visionect container to use different ports. Not super hard but also not point and click.
Thx for the reply. My problem turns out to be that Docker only supports Synology NAS arrays using X64 CPUs. Mine (DS216se) is ARM based processor and does not support Docker 8-(
There may be a way to do this. See stackoverflow.com/questions/52520008/can-i-install-docker-on-arm8-based-synology-nas
When I was prototyping I ran docker on my Mac and only later moved it to the Synology. I had also explored running the container or a low-end Raspberry Pi.
@@HalfIdeas Thx very much again. I will look into this approach.
I'm curious, would this display work with 4K colored pictures? Great video by the way :)
This is a black and white eInk display. They are starting to make color eInk but I haven't been able to find one yet.
Did you use a Vesa wall mount?
Yep. Found a simple mount for $13 that seems to work great. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036LJSRQ
For decades, my dream as a photographer was to have screens like this mounted on the wall so I could upload images and then change them when I got tired of an image. I think by the time the price for these come down (especially for color), I will be another decade older.
Will it work as monitor for computer?
The specific display that I used wouldn't be able to do this but there are eink displays that may be used as monitors. More info here, though I haven't tried them. einkmonitor.com/
Greg, Visionect's website says "Place&Play devices work on a subscription basis." Does that subscription fee apply to your application?
You can either use the place and play with their cloud service or you can run your own server. I’m running my own server so no subscription fee.
How does that compare to the ONYX BOOX Mira Pro 25.3'' which is currently priced at $1750? Thank you.
The Onyx is designed as a monitor. You would need to attach it to a computer and power. The device I showed is standalone mounted to the wall. They each serve a different purpose so hard to compare.
@@HalfIdeas Yes, but you can put a little raspberry or android via hdmi. Thank you for your answer.
damn this display is really expensive, but I bougth one anyway just for a e-calendar, it also syncs with google calendar for the family's custom reminder.
That's exactly what I want to use it for. How was your experience setting it up?
can it be used as monitor?
Refresh rate is too slow. There are eInk monitors but this one doesn’t do that.
What is the current state of e-ink displays of this size? Hoping that the unit economics have improved by 2023
Sadly there isn't a larger market for these sized devices. It's a chicken/egg thing but not a lot of competition.
Can I put an eink screen on an android phone?
Waiting for your reply.
I don't see why not. I believe there are eInk Android tablets, a phone should be possible however eInk does not refresh quickly so it may not work particularly well on a smaller phone device.
@@HalfIdeas recently my samsung phone's screen broke, after watching your video I am thinking of puting an e ink screen on that instead of lcd.
I have kindle and I love the time I spend.
Can you give some guidance. Where can I get a 6inch eink display that will fit on my Samsung M21s?
Me I would like since many years a eink screen with a stylus that can be connected with a linux, not an android, or a matrix of pixel with a stylus with an API, but there is on the market only the onyx boox with low ram, little processor not a secondery monitor. I never understood why they don't create a big tablet for artists.
How much is an e-ink display? Like, if I wanted to create my own ebook
Largely depends on the size of screen. Smaller book sized displays can run a few hundred dollars for test units. Check eInk.com and similar sites for pricing.
@@HalfIdeas awesome! I’ll look into it. Really liked your video btw!
What’s a newspaper?
Hi there, how can I get in touch with you?
www.gregraiz.com
Since Samsung launched The Frame tv, I've been waiting for someone to make a consumer e-ink The Frame, because I think it's ridiculous and wasteful to run a tv all day just for a glance of art here and there. 2500 USD is too high. Maybe at 700 this would become a hit.
I presume this could be done with a much smaller e-ink display?
Yes, this should be doable with a smaller eInk display. The code may need to be adjusted but there's nothing resolution specific in how I did this.
At 2.20 what OS does he use.
This is the Synology NAS user interface. They have a web based OS that's pretty impressive. You can try a demo of it here: demo.synology.com/en-us/dsm
Wish it could be cheaper. Would lower-res be cheaper? i wonder
There is a smaller version that is cheaper from the same site. The plug and play 6" and 13" are $749 and $999 respectively. Still too expensive IMO but it's an option. www.visionect.com/ref/graiz/
Tha is what I want for my house, eink frames with different stuff changing all the time, sadly too much money for me.
Does anyone know that to choose for only reading books hisense a7cc (colored e ink) or hisense a7(uncolored)
maybe the color one if u r into maybe say medical college or so But for a regular person or manga reader saty with the black and white one.though the price point is really good for the color one
K, now do this in 72inch color E-ink and sell me one. Because this is what I want and no one makes it and I can't buy it and it'll actually be something i'll use. But yeah the prices have to come down and this has to become more commonplace because it's genuinely a technology that removes eyestrain and is actually useful and the power saving is a big deal.
Экран бы на 100 дюймов и цвет.
Its basicsally Harrry potter newspaper?
So, you didn´t do it? you´ve purchased it. I need something like this but for tracking stocks market, so when I saw this "I made" and watch the video I was dissapointed, cuz I want to make my own.
sorry you're disappointed. I did write the software myself. You could do something similar focusing on the software side of stocks rather than the hardware side of the eink. If you want to go the hardware route you can get a raw screen and drivers from www.eink.com/
I just want an A4 sized e-ink reader to read academic papers that doesn't cost a similar price. Somehow the market can't accomplish that. I'm starting to think there's a conspiracy here. THEY don't want you to be off on a relatively unhackable device reading and learning where they can't observe you 100% of the time
SMARTPHONES
I want to get rid of my monitor or even phones and tab display. After all these years there's no competitive innovations in this technology. It's just nuts we still can't afford this so called to be cheapest technology!
The $2500 for the display is one thing but it's absurd that this is some IOT junk with an annual subscription. Absolutely no reason it can't run off a local server.
I agree with you on this. When I purchased this and made the video there was no subscription to the product and I do run it off of a local server. I've given the same feedback to the company.
I hate to brake it to you, but in our days there's no truth in any news paper. It looks really cool though. I wish it was more affordable.
Hi Brother. I really need you to get in touch with me. I am intrusted in a business modal project similar to it.