[Electronic (paper) reader test report team leader: Hao Zhen province, deputy team leaders: Wei Yushan, Zhang Li, special expert: Xu Yanfang, special reviewer: Sun Guofu, research team members: Gao Ning, Zhang Dingnan, Shi Kun]
Test background
With the continuous development of papermaking technology, the varieties of paper are gradually enriched and the quality is getting better and better, but the environmental problems that have arisen have also become very prominent. Electronic paper was born under this background. In fact, as early as 1975, the concept of e-paper was first proposed by Nick Sheridon, a PARC researcher at Xerox. However, it was not until April 1996 that Bell Labs of MIT successfully manufactured a prototype of e-paper. Although electronic paper is called "paper", it is actually a soft display similar to paper. To make the display have the soft, rollable and foldable characteristics of ordinary paper, the key is to use plastic, thin glass or metal sheet Such flexible substrates replace the glass substrates of existing displays. In addition, the electronic paper display is a display medium with memory characteristics, so the electronic paper does not consume power when displaying the screen, and only needs to consume power when the screen is updated. Compared with the traditional LCD display, the power consumption is greatly reduced. At present, there are four main types of electronic paper display technology in development in various countries: electronic ink display technology (E-ink), electronic powder fluid display technology (QR-LPD), cholesterol liquid crystal display technology (Ch-LCD) and bistable Column liquid crystal display technology (BiTNLCD).
The emergence of electronic (paper) readers not only accompanied the continuous maturity of e-paper technology, but also benefited from the rapid development of a batch of high-tech technologies such as network technology, expanded storage technology, and wireless mobile technology. Before these electronic (paper) readers appeared, these technologies had unwittingly caused another drastic change in human reading habits, but this essential change was only gradually revealed after the emergence of electronic (paper) readers. Clue. 171 years ago, the invention of the telegraph separated the information content from the carrier for the first time, and after the computer was created, humans stripped the text from its carrier. The most direct performance is the digitization of information, and the most revolutionary result brought by this is the birth of the Internet and the advent of the information age. It can be said that human beings have completed another new and old replacement of the text carrier.
Before the advent of e-paper technology, this change could not be accepted by everyone because it could not find a more ideal carrier. Radiation, screen flash, and high energy consumption were obstacles to the development of existing display technologies. The advent of e-paper technology completely dispelled this concern. Although the technology is still immature, we have every reason to believe that another revolution in the era of human text reading is beckoning to us! Although the appearance time of electronic (paper) readers is short, its display technology has been developed very rapidly. At present, the two major technology camps have completed the upgrading and new products have been fully put on the market.
From December 2007 to December 2008, the Digital Publishing Laboratory of the China Publishing Science Institute successively purchased two batches of 14 mainstream e-reading products on the domestic and foreign markets, using advanced equipment to display technology, operating functions, and expansion capabilities. In terms of professional tests, we have written a comprehensive test report of electronic (paper) reader products in the industry.
Test method description
This test separately tested the three aspects of display effect, direct reading format, and use function. On the basis of the three aspects of the test, a comprehensive assignment was carried out, and finally three major rankings and a comprehensive ranking were launched. The test methods are described as follows:
display effect
The experiment refers to the definition of the performance parameters of the light-emitting display device, and based on the human vision and color theory, establishes a measurement method for the black and white contrast of the reflective electronic (paper) reader, and establishes the perceived clarity of the device's text display through the main observation evaluation experiment. The correlation between the objective contrast and the relative brightness of the white field can be used to predict the subjective perceived quality of the device through the measurement of objective parameters. The experiment is divided into two parts: one is the measurement of the contrast of black and white; the second is the establishment of the perceptual quality index of the clarity of the black and white contrast of the text display. Finally, the experimental method is used to give a pros and cons analysis on the perceived quality of the black and white contrast definition of the text of the 12 electronic (paper) readers participating in the test.
Use function
Five functions are included: reading function, human-computer interaction function, auxiliary function, wireless transmission function, and extended function. Each major function includes multiple sub-functions, a total of 16 items. Testers conduct tests based on these 16 test indicators.
Direct reading format
The direct-read format refers to a file format in which an electronic (paper) reader can be directly read without software conversion. According to the test statistics, there are currently 32 mainstream electronic (paper) reader direct-reading formats on the network. Testers use special conversion software to create test files for each format and import them into the product for testing. .
Comprehensive ranking assignment criteria
For comprehensive ranking, we assign values ​​to the three indicators of display effect, direct reading format, and use function. The evaluation of assignments uses a percentage system. The assignment criteria are as follows: Use function assignment: According to importance, it is divided into three grades of 2, 4, and 6, with a total of 44 points; display effect assignment: According to the ranking sequence, the number of progressions is decreasing, with a maximum score of 24 points and a minimum score of 2 points Tolerance is 2; direct-read format assignment: assign 1 point for each format, a total of 32 points.
Note: Because the LCD screen size of the Braun EV series products cannot meet the test requirements, they failed to participate in the evaluation of the display effect, and the final score is based on the approximate value of the overall performance of the traditional LCD display technology in this test, not accurate data . [next]
Ten conclusions
1. The rapid development of electronic (paper) readers has obvious advantages compared with paper readers
2008 is a year of rapid development of electronic (paper) readers. Many manufacturers have joined this field, and new technologies and new products have been launched at a rapid rate during this period. At present, the known companies developing e-paper are E-ink, SiPix, Polymervision, Yuantai Technology, and there are also multinational giant companies such as Sony, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Philips, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Siemens, Epson, etc. Although most of the electronic paper based on E-ink technology is still an expensive luxury product at this stage, it is foreseeable that with the expansion of the industry and the continuous improvement of manufacturing technology, electronic paper will certainly be popularized in people's daily lives.
We can also see this trend from the comparison between the new and old generation products. Taking the E-ink display technology as an example, the difference between the two generation technologies in terms of promotion time is less than two years. However, the second-generation technology compares and responds in black and white. Great progress has been made in speed and compatibility. At present, this technology has been very close to newspapers in terms of text display, and gradually left other e-paper display technologies behind, including the traditional strong LCD technology. For the technology that has just been marketed, the speed and potential of such development is really amazing.
Electronic (paper) readers have many similarities with paper-based readers, such as presenting content by reflecting ambient light, display effects similar to paper, longer lifespan, and even realizing handwritten annotation functions. The characteristics of paper-like is one of the reasons that electronic (paper) readers are favored by the market once they are launched. In addition, electronic (paper) readers also have many advantages that are unmatched by paper: the large storage capacity allows people to not only transfer their favorite books as much as possible into this lightweight personal reading terminal, in Carrying a "personal library" with you in the near future is also expected to become possible, which is something traditional books can never do. In addition, reader products with wireless transmission function can help users to download or share their favorite readings through the Internet anytime, anywhere, which will greatly change the way we buy books, "buy and read" becomes possible.
Second, in terms of reading experience, electronic (paper) readers are close to paper, but far from paper in touch, writing, etc.
Electronic (paper) readers have been constantly compared with traditional paper since its birth. After several years of hard work, today's products have made great progress in terms of display effects, and are very close to paper readings. But in other respects, electronic (paper) readers still have a long way to go. In fact, so far, no product has all the advantages of traditional paper, such as thin display media, any curl, no power consumption, any writing and drawing, high resolution, high whiteness, excellent contrast and low cost. .
Among them, in addition to the display effect, the writing function is the most important. As e-paper display screens gradually enter mainstream applications, e-paper's support for writing and drawing becomes important. For example, in emerging applications such as electronic textbooks, it is essential to support handwriting. Because students are accustomed to making notes and notes on the key content mentioned by the teacher, and pen input provides flexibility and freedom that other input methods cannot easily achieve, the performance of current electronic (paper) readers in handwriting input is still There are some flaws. The test found that there are only 5 products that support the handwriting function, and the use function is not perfect. In some occasions where timely recording is required, the response speed of some products makes this function almost tasteless. In addition, different writing habits are also very different. If electronic paper is to become a new generation of text carrier, how to express the user's writing style is just right should be considered by technology manufacturers.
3. E-ink technology has obvious advantages in text display, but it is inferior to LCD technology in refresh speed and gray scale index.
The display effect of reading products is the most important index of electronic (paper) readers. This test found that E-ink's second-generation Vizplex technology is comprehensively ahead of LCD display technology and E-ink's technology in terms of text reading. Many manufacturers have reported that they will use E-ink display technology in a new generation of products, which indicates that the development trend of electronic (paper) reader display technology is tilting towards E-ink.
It cannot be ignored that the advantages of liquid crystal display technology in gray scale and refresh rate are still obvious. At present, almost all liquid crystal display technologies can achieve 16-level grayscale, while the current mainstream models of E-ink technology can only achieve 4-level grayscale, which makes electronic (paper) readers using E-ink technology Performance ability is weak. In addition, the refresh rate is still a flaw in E-ink technology. For technical reasons, we can only determine the page turning time of the e-reader by visual inspection. But even so, the liquid crystal display technology's page turning without delay is still significantly better than the performance of E-ink technology displays in this regard. Therefore, for E-ink technology, the huge progress of the text display effect is indeed gratifying. [next]
Fourth, the font replacement function of most products is missing, the main bottleneck lies in the font copyright
Among the 14 products participating in the test, only Hanlin's V2 products support this function. For a reading product that uses paper books as its target, the lack of font functions is a pity. Although there are some cracking methods for professional players on the Internet, they are not easy for most users to implement.
In fact, this function is not technically difficult to solve, the problem is mainly focused on the copyright of the font. One is that the cost of the font is too high, and the merchants are unwilling to pay too high a fee for such a simple technology; second, if the manufacturer bypasses the font provider to provide this function by itself, there is a copyright risk for users to use the font. Although electronic (paper) readers can not give people a good texture of book, paper, ink, but can show their unique reading charm from other aspects, and changing fonts is such an indispensable function. We have learned from all aspects that in fact since Hanlin V2 and its follow-up products have successively launched this feature, very good results have been achieved, which also shows that the market demand exists.
Fifth, the support file format is still mainly based on plain text, and the support rate of HTML, DOC, PDF and other common formats is not high
HTML, DOC, PDF are currently the most widely used file formats in the world. Web pages are the main channels for netizens to obtain a lot of Internet information. PDF and DOC are used in electronic documents of daily official documents in various fields. With the continuous popularity of electronic (paper) readers, users' requirements for their functions will be further increased. improve. Whether it can get rid of the positioning of pure reading equipment and become a file management portable terminal integrating editing, reading, Internet roaming and other functions, will largely depend on the support of these important file formats.
We believe that the future electronic (paper) reader should be an open reading platform, and its reading content should not be limited to e-books, but should also have the ability to edit office documents (such as DOC), read web information (HTML) and so on. This puts forward higher requirements on the direct reading ability of the reader. In the test, we found that only half of the products that can support the mainstream format of digital newspaper HTML. In addition, the support rate of the PDF format is also very low, only 5 models. However, PDF has become a publishing standard used by various standards organizations around the world for safer and more reliable electronic document distribution and exchange. , Widely used by government agencies and educators, such a highly used format deserves wider attention from electronic (paper) reader manufacturers. In addition, the support for the commonly used formats of DOC offices is not satisfactory, only one of them.
As a new type of reading product, electronic (paper) readers should not only focus on traditional resources, but also have a forward-looking vision, focusing on some emerging information platforms, so as to highlight the electronic ( Paper) The sense of time and vitality of the reader.
Sixth, the advertisement loading is still stuck in the promotion of its own products, the test is strong
When reading a book, there will be some blank pages at the junction of two chapters or paragraphs, and these pages will undoubtedly provide businesses with the opportunity to load ads similar to web pages. At this point, although the domestic Hanlin company has put this idea into practice, it is only some promotional slogans for its own products, and the test is strong. We believe that such attempts are positive and innovative. It can be expected that after solving the copyright and other issues, this function will further promote the promotion of electronic (paper) readers, and the further promotion of products will in turn further attract more advertisers.
7. Limited by digital copyright protection, inconvenient circulation restricts greater spread
Inconvenient circulation is another problem with current electronic (paper) readers. Among the 14 products, only the Dr. Yi M218B product of Guangzhou Jinchan Company can realize the point-to-point file transmission function between two identical products through the WIFI network, thereby achieving the function of circulation. In fact, in the traditional reading era, people are accustomed to borrowing from each other, sharing traditional paper printed publications, or making data for their own use by copying, scanning, etc. (although there are individual infringement issues); in addition, circulation is sometimes a fun , There is an old saying that "the book cannot be read without borrowing".
In contrast, an electronic (paper) reader is a personal item, similar to a mobile phone or a personal computer, which is not easy to circulate to each other. Although electronic (paper) readers can implement sharing functions by loading technologies such as infrared or Bluetooth, the digital copyright protection issue may have technically limited the realization of this function. Unless everyone owns an electronic (paper) reader and everyone is willing to pay for each kind of reading, it is almost impossible to communicate the contents of electronic books with each other like circulating paper books. Manufacturers should always take the needs of users as the direction of their efforts. Although there are risks, they mean opportunities. After all, disseminating knowledge is a very worthwhile cause in any era, and it is expected that domestic manufacturers will further enhance this function. [next]
8. Only five products have annotation function, and the handwriting technology based on LCD screen is dominant
When reading printed materials, people can scratch or annotate on them at random, and electronic (paper) readers currently only have 5 products with this function. There are four models annotated by brushstroke. Except IRexIliad, the rest of the products use LCD touch screens, namely Founder E612, Founder E312 and Hanlin V2. It should be particularly pointed out that although the Hanlin V2 product uses E-ink display technology, its annotation function is realized through the STN LCD sub-screen, so we have also classified it into the category of LCD touch technology.
Of the 14 products, there are a total of 6 models that can be operated by brushstroke. But whether it is handwritten annotation or pen touch operation function, there is only one product based on E-ink display technology. Although this has a certain relationship with the current low refresh rate of E-ink display technology, the high production cost may be the main reason. In real life, traditional paper is not only used for reading, but can also record content by handwriting. Therefore, in order to successfully replace paper, electronic (paper) readers must meet both reading and writing requirements. Although cumbersome keyboard input has already achieved a certain penetration rate, it is an alternative way when the handwriting technology is not mature. On the other hand, it is not difficult to see that the intuitive traditional input methods still have a broad support base for the various handwriting phones that are currently selling on the market. This puts forward higher requirements for electronic (paper) reader manufacturers, that is, electronic (paper) readers should have some traditional writing functions.
On May 26, 2008, Wacom and E-Ink announced a partnership to integrate Wacom ’s world-leading digital pen input solution Penabled with E-Ink ’s new Vizplex e-paper display. At a time when designers of e-books, tablets, electronic newspapers, PDAs, electronic notebooks, and other similar devices are very keen on pen input technology, the cooperation between Wacom and E-Ink can be described as the right time to help mobile Computing manufacturers have developed exciting new consumer products.
9. Keyword search promotes electronic reading into the post-catalog era
In the past, when people read a specific chapter of a book, they used to locate it through bookmarks or directories. Nowadays electronic (paper) readers can realize keyword retrieval through technical means, which will greatly facilitate readers' reading. Imagine if you want to find a beautiful sentence that you have read before, then even if you only remember "only words", you can use this function to list similar chapters in the reader for you, just like your own search The engine is the same.
Among the 14 products currently participating in the evaluation, only half of the products have this function, and 3 of them only support the title or author search. The most powerful feature of this feature is Amazon's Kindle product. Kindle not only supports local search, but also supports Google and Wikipedia, which undoubtedly adds a lot of convenience to readers. Readers can search for content that interests them at any time through the wireless network while reading. And this is also of great significance to students: if they encounter unknown knowledge during the learning process, they can search through the Internet at any time, which greatly enhances the students' ability and interest in independent learning. Domestic Dr. Yi M218B has done a great job in this respect. M218B can also realize both local and remote search. Although Internet search is limited to books and MP3, local search is already very powerful and can fully meet the needs of users.
10. The use of domestic products does not lose foreign products, but it does not yet have independent intellectual property rights for core display technology
Taking the two products of Hanlin V2 and Dr. Yi M218B as examples, Hanlin V2 has the world's original PDF rearrangement technology. This technology solves the problem that PDF can only zoom the full layout but not the font alone, so that when reading PDF files, users can realize automatic line break typesetting like reading TXT files. Although the SonyPRS-505 can also achieve this function at present, it requires the accompanying software for conversion, and Hanlin V2 does not require third-party software to achieve direct reading. It is a little regret that because the rearrangement operates on the entire file, if there are formulas and charts in the file, it may be disrupted. However, I believe that Hanlin V2 can further improve this function and provide users with a comfortable reading experience.
Dr. Yi M218B's technology of reading PDF files without delay has also been well received by users. From the current test situation, no matter which display technology is used, the page turning speed of the PDF file is not satisfactory, and individual products have even affected the reading effect. When we researched this technology of M218B, we also found that, in fact, this function is not limited to display technology, and it can be fully promoted. The outstanding performance of domestic products is far more than that. The partial refresh capability of Hanwang N510 will increase the page turning speed of electronic (paper) reader products using E-ink technology to a new level.
However, it should be noted that although domestic electronic (paper) readers have certain advantages in the development of the use of functions, the development of core display technology has not yet stepped out of the laboratory and formed competitive independent intellectual property rights. .
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