E Ink, TOPPAN and Philips Demonstrate World's First High Resolution, Active-Matrix Color Display With Electronic Ink

Business Wire, July 1, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & SUNNYVALE, Calif. & TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 2002--

Companies on Track to Commercialize Ultra-Low Power Color Displays

for Handheld Consumer Electronics in 2004

E Ink Corporation, the leading developer and marketer of electronic ink technology for paper-like displays, and two strategic development partners -- TOPPAN Printing, Ltd., the global market leader for color filter arrays in the flat panel display industry, and Royal Philips Electronics, a leading supplier of mobile display solutions (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) -- today announced the demonstration of the world's first high resolution, active-matrix color display developed with electronic ink. A prototype of the display was first exhibited to industry leaders at last month's Society for Information Display (SID) Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts.

This color display was developed jointly by integrating technologies from all three parties -- E Ink's electronic ink technology, a custom color filter array produced by TOPPAN and an active-matrix backplane from Philips. This ultra-low power, reflective, image-stable color display is capable of displaying 4,096 colors and is being developed for multiple mobile applications such as PDAs, mobile communications devices and electronic readers. The display measures 5.0 inches diagonal with a resolution of 320 x RGB x 234 (80 pixels per inch (ppi)). As with all electronic ink displays, standard manufacturing technologies are used to produce the components including the TFT (thin film transistor) backplanes, IC drivers and color filter arrays.

"There is a great demand for handheld devices with high quality color displays that are thinner, lighter and more rugged. We continued to see this firsthand at last month's Society for Information Display Symposium," said Dr. Johan van de Ven, chief technology officer for the Mobile Display Systems Business Group of Philips' Components division. "Our partnership with E Ink and TOPPAN will help us to rapidly accelerate our time-to-market for color electronic ink displays in order to fulfill this need."

These color electronic ink displays are targeted for commercialization in 2004. Using E Ink's electronic ink technology in components made by TOPPAN, Philips plans to first introduce monochrome displays (ranging from black & white to 4-bit gray scale initially) for handheld devices and portable consumer electronics next year.

Color electronic ink displays promise a number of major benefits for handheld applications compared to existing display solutions. Unlike LCDs and OLEDs, electronic ink displays have a paper-like look with readability under all lighting conditions including bright sunlight. LCDs typically have a narrow viewing angle, beyond which the color image is effectively lost. Color electronic ink displays can be viewed at any angle - or illuminated from any angle - without any loss of contrast and brightness.

This next generation of color displays using electronic ink technology requires dramatically less power, enabling less battery bulk and longer battery life, while increasing readability. Today's displays with state-of-the-art color require large power supplies limiting future potential for improving the design, portability and quality of the device.

"High resolution, color displays made with electronic ink technology offer the best of both worlds," notes Dr. Dan Button, vice president of Business Development at E Ink. "With E Ink's electronic ink, one can achieve displays with great readability and ultra-portability."

"This color development prototype represents an exciting step in TOPPAN's development of a technology platform for electronic paper devices with E Ink," said Mr. Tsuyoshi Matsuo, head of Technical Research Institute at TOPPAN. "We believe that electronic ink displays represent a strategic new class of future displays and we remain enthusiastic and committed to working with E Ink to develop these next generation displays."

In February, E Ink and TOPPAN expanded their strategic partnership into manufacturing of E Ink products and distribution in Japan, with TOPPAN investing an additional $25 million into E Ink. In March, E Ink and Philips announced the completion of phase one of their joint development agreement and committed notable resources towards commercializing high resolution electronic ink displays in mid-2003.

About Philips

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 32.3 billion in 2001. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 186,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, and medical systems. Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.>