Nice idea:
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There was some discussion around this a (long) while ago on HN, where @minute also commented: Hi, I'm the project lead of MNT Reform, an open hardware laptop that just starte... | Hacker News
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I’ve been eying these: https://www.good-display.com/product/385.html for a while, looks like the interface with the display is parallel which could make it easier to interface? haven’t seen any real info on them and they’ve been pre-release for a while.
another project to keep an eye on would be the Pine64 pine note: https://pine64.com/product/pinenote-developer-edition/. The development work here on the pine note could open the door towards easier open source epd design adaptations.
I would be super interested in an e-ink/e-paper screen. The screen in the PineNote might also fit the bill, and be more versatile due to its LED frontlight.
E-Ink rocks!
At the moment I run a disassembled Boox Mira 13.3" screen in a custom housing with a headless Thinkpad X230. This works well for everday use.
My plan was to modify a MNT Reform to e-ink, but this poses two big problems:
- All currently available e-ink screens are 4:3 ratio, so one would need a complete new case for the reform, which is a bummer as this is one of best parts of the Reform.
- The only reliable standard for connection of ePD dispays is HDMI, everything else is still sub-par DIY stuff. The Reform only has an external HDMI port, internal there is only the eDP. I do not know what is needed to convert that signal to HDMI. So either one needs a mainboard mod, or a eDP-HDMI adapter board.
battery savings from an e-ink screen would be pretty large, and if productivity is what you are really using the laptop for, then you would be well served.
I do wonder about refresh rates, and if things like movies could be viewed on it.
I’m pretty sure, you can’t watch movies with e-ink. E-ink is for slow computing: Reading emails, documentation, editing text, IRC and Jabber can work well, which were perfect for me. Videoconferencing and movies have to happen on a different machine then.
You can, sort of. The resolution is very low, the frame rate is not great, but if you need to get information in video form, you can do that. Here’s a video being played on an e-ink phone (skip to 11:15):
I’m surprised. It is much better than I imagined.
For a video call I would accept the quality, but probably not for watching movies.
Thanks for link!
eink just announced gallery 3, which has very impressive specs:
At the moment I run a disassembled Boox Mira 13.3" screen in a custom housing with a headless Thinkpad X230. This works well for everday use.
is there any way you might be able to share some of the details of the custom housing you made for the X230? I’m looking to accomplish the same.
Sorry for reviving an old thread, but this is a very compelling post and I can’t find an equivalent elsewhere
About the internal HDMI problem, this is no longer an issue: with RCM4, there is internal HDMI now.
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This isn’t exactly 4:3, and is connected over SPI 960×680, 13.3inch E-Ink display HAT (K) for Raspberry Pi, SPI interface | 13.3inch e-Paper HAT (K)
The upper operating temperature limit for these e-ink screens (50 °C) makes them infeasible in the Pocket Reform with some of the newer SoMs, doesn’t it?
Not sure about the temperature. You probably would not want any external part of the chassis to reach 50 degrees, that’s not a comfortable temperature.
What is more problematic is that the screen is slightly too large (for the non-pocket reform) so a different model would be needed.
Another problem is that most of the screens do not support partial updates.
There is another interface offered which typically does provide partial updates: parallel. However, these screens are few and the choice of sizes is limited. Also the question is what kind of parallel interface, and what could be used to drive it. There are a lot of pins going to the display which you can surely configure as parallel RGB or low speed gpio but the other options will vary by SoM.
reform with an e-ink would have insane battery life, you’ve literally just taken the biggest power consumer and turned it into the least power consuming component.
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There is an open hardware e-ink interface board that supports some parallel displays: About — EPDiy 2.0.0 documentation
With that the protocol should be clear, and the board itself could be used for interfacing the display. Unlike Raspberry Pi the Reform does not have a 40pin GPIO connector with anything and everything on it so the interface board may be needed.
The ED097TC2 is available from Aliexpress and also from waweshare: 1200x825, 9.7inch E-Ink raw display, parallel port, without PCB The interesting part is that waweshare also sells similar 10" display which I cannot find on Aliexpress because I do not know the type: 10.3inch E-Paper E-Ink Raw Display, 1872×1404 Pixels, Black / White, 2-16 Grey Scales, Parallel Port, Without PCB While the interface has similar parameters it is not clear that it would be compatible. There is this EDP interface board documentation https://www.c-dis.net/media/images/upload/ED097TC2_ES103TC1_ES133UT2_ES133TT3_Web.pdf that suggests ES103TC1, ES133TT3, and ES133UT2 as alternatives to ED097TC2 so these are likely the displays to look for. There is ED133UT2 adapter for EPDiy but compatibility of the other display types is unknown EPDiy
These displays are quite narrow and would not fill the Reform lid horizontally but are about as tall as the opening for the existing display - 9.7" slightly smaller, 10.3" slightly taller. At least for the 9.7" display the protocol is known, and it could be good prototype.
There is another interesting display on Aliexpress 27.43€ 14% OFF|Neues 11,3 Zoll ed113tc1 eink Bildschirm 2400 × 1034 230ppi epd Display| | - AliExpress spec: https://www.data-modul.com/sites/default/files/products/VB3300-LCA-specification-12053273.pdf This is definitely not compatible with the known supported displays - it has 50 pin cable, while the supported displays are 33pin. The display is slightly smaller than the existing display opening in the Reform lid.
For pocket reform probably even smaller display would be needed, perhaps one of the 6" screens supported by EPDiy would fit. The display specifications typically state operating temperature up to 50 degrees, and storage temperature up to 70. In one of the test protocols it is noted that the high temperature test is done with blank screen. This suggests two potential problems at high temperature:
- shorter image retention
- permanent image burn-in as seen with other display technologies under various conditions
At any rate there is a number of e-readers with the CPU right under the screen and they work without problems. The CPU in the pocket reform is not particularly powerful, and is designed to be cooled by the back cover opposite the display. 50 degrees is a temperature at which handling a device is no longer comfortable, and above that you would get burns. I would expect this to work out not too bad.
There is another related problem: the display properties change with temperature. The e-ink displays come with a temperature sensor that the driver can read to adjust for temperature. This only works if the temperature is even across the display, with unevenly heated display you will get display artifacts.
My suggestion to anyone who wants to try mounting an e-ink display on a pocket reform is to get a couple of copper plates as well. One to replace the back cover to improve heat dissipation, and one to put under the display to spread any heat that gets to it evenly. Also a roll of kapton tape in case some area of the plates could touch something and needs to be electrically insulated.
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Could the Next model be designed to accommodate slightly bigger screens, both LCD and potential ePaper?
Whatever size you pick there will be some displays that fit and most that don’t. The displays listed above should fit well enough for a prototype. There is aspect ratio mismatch so either you get blank space on the sides, or on the bottom. You already have some blank space on the bottom with the original display.
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Remember that the reform is open hardware. If you want to fit a slightly larger display than the stock display, just modify the CAD models of the lid and 3d print a model that fits your custom display. There are others who already 3d printed the back of the display, showing that this is possible.
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