no batteries? so the power for loading a new image comes from the NFC field?

I knew eink didn't need much juice to change state but that's still impressive.

Multiple passes is standard for multi-colored eink stuff. I've worked with 3-color red/black/white ones before, but only in applications with a much higher power budget (IT equipment with a status display to show the serial number, IP address, etc that would still be readable when it was powered down or unplugged).

AFAIK the pigment particles are electrostatically charged and the different colors have different strength charges or something like that. So basically it'll reset everything to a known state (probably white = no pigment touching the surface) then use pulses of different strengths to attract the stronger or weaker charged ink.

So with the R/B/W ones you'd see it clear to white, then the black text appear (and IIRC the red, but it showed as black at first), then it would slowly turn red.

I think what was happening was it first used a strong pulse to pull red + black to the visible surface with the black drowning out the red, then weak pulses to remove just the black leaving the red where it was desired.

This multi-pass flow also means that multicolor e-ink is typically used for mostly-stationary stuff like name tags and signage, while you see monochrome used for fast-update applications like e-books.

</infodump>

You said the magic words and summoned a tech nerd (me).

That is the coolest thing I've seen in ages. I want one.

I thought "so cool, and useful when I switch".

I look for "e-ink nametag".

the 1st website is...

"seekink"
...
...

🤣

That's excellent, I really love E- Ink technology.

Reminds me of Lidl, here in Malta.(and I presume in other EU countries as well), they use non powered colour e-ink displays for there on shelf, fridge, freezer price labels, which I was really blown away by when I was watching the staff member use the reader/transmitter device to clear the display then reload it, it's such a fantastic system, and a great application for the technology

This is very cool!

Does it show two hearts when you’re tired?

You are a bad (tm) influence. I have ordered this: ebay.nl/itm/176939268733

When I go poor I will blame you.

Cool!

What does the NFC interface spit out for those who choose to scan it?

It's a neat feature for those who prefer to read on their phone. Or, OOH! Is it it your fedi handle? That's a decent use.

"Here, swipe my nametag, its also my business card and a coupon for lockpick sets. Stay frosty kids"

@faket The passive LCD drawing tablets are cool too, my 5-year-old has one to doodle on.

They use no power to write at all (pressure on the display causes two internal layers to touch, dissipating an electrical charge and allowing the color to show through). Energy is only consumed to erase by re-charging the surface.

Which means you can completely remove the battery *and still draw on it*. You just need to put it back in to erase.