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E Ink, a spin-out from MIT Media Lab, has been working on development of their frontplane technology since 1997, and last year it saw its first commercial application, the Sony LIBRIe e-book reader. While this is not a flexible-screen device, as it uses a rigid backplane like a conventional LCD, the device has been much acclaimed for its high-resolution, high-contrast display.

The big drawbacks with the current generation of electrophoretic displays are firstly that they have slow refresh times, since the pigment particles take time to move, and secondly that they are monochrome. According to Darren Bischoff of E Ink "these problems have already been solved in our labs and we will be demonstrating a colour display in late 2005. Refresh times are also being improved and or commercial product will be 50 percent faster next year, in the lab we have recently demonstrated display refresh rates at video speed."

Bishoff agrees that full colour, fully flexible displays that can switch fast enough to show video are still some way off, however, he emphasizes that flexible monochrome displays are here right now.

Plastic Logic, which entered into a cooperation agreement with E Ink in December 2004, is already producing A5 displays using flexible organic electronic backplanes and E Ink frontplanes from a pilot manufacturing plant. They will be shipping engineering samples to companies interested in using the technology in their products within the next few months.

Plastic Logic are now installing new equipment at their plant that will allow them to build 150dpi resolution A4 displays, according to company spokesman. "Our partners are already designing products around our displays and we expect to be conducting field trials of a 100dpi e-reader in mid 2006."