hackertube.io

E-paper hacking: fastest possible refresh rate

Applied Science · tutorial · Watch on YouTube

Consumer devices & gadgetsEmbedded systems & DIY electronicsAudio & video engineering

What it is

Ben Krasnow of Applied Science explains how electrophoretic e-paper displays work and how he modified the driver firmware and waveform lookup tables of a 4.2-inch panel to reach roughly 3Hz partial refresh. It covers the tweakable constants in the refresh process and touches on colored e-ink microcapsules.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Whenever e-ink refresh speed or driving waveforms come up, HN points to this as the clearest hands-on explanation of how these displays work and how to hack them.

  • 4 people recommended it
  • 4 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2018, last 2021

What HN commenters said

  1. “Highly recommended, as usual for him it's a great video/write-up”

    Research into driving e-ink displays and their secret lookup tables

    guitarbill, 2018-09 · Strong recommendation · in “E Ink Waveforms are a closely guarded secret”

  2. “Applied Engineering normally brings some interesting material.”

    Engineering channel with insight into how e-ink displays work

    reom_tobit, 2020-04 · Recommendation · in “Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard”

  3. “Here's a fascinating video on how these displays work, and how you can modify the firmware of the driver to get faster refresh rates”

    How e-ink works and how to modify driver for faster refresh

    sparker72678, 2020-07 · Recommendation · in “Reasonably priced color e-ink display”

  4. “it gives a good overview on the problem space”

    Good overview of the e-ink refresh problem space

    progman32, 2021-01 · Recommendation · in “Show HN: Low-power Kindle-based dashboard”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: e-ink, e-paper, refresh rate, firmware, reverse engineering, displays

Also recommended by the same people