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You may not immediately know what an E Ink (or ePaper) screen is, but you've definitely seen one. Pretty much every e-reader, whether it's a Kindle, Kobo, Boox, or even a ReMarkable, uses the technology, which is ideal for long-term use without causing eye strain.
That's been the only use case for E Ink screens for a while now, but I'd argue it's time for that to change. E Ink computer monitors can be amazing for productivity, and I'm ready to beg the industry to make more of them.
Screens are everywhere
And they're tiring
As much as technology has brought us fantastic things, the fact is, many of us — myself included — spend all day looking at screens. A lot of jobs are entirely based around computers, and then we may have hobbies that involve looking at more screens: movies, TV shows, gaming, or even doomscrolling your (least) favorite social network.
Naturally, no one wants to give up their hobbies, so I'd argue it's more important to make that screen time healthier, and that can be done much more easily at work. That's where E Ink comes in.
E Ink panels don't have the harmful characteristics of most typical displays. They work by moving ink bubbles between a couple of layers, making them visible or invisible in the process. Because it's just ink, it works like ink on a piece of paper; you don't need a backlight on the screen, because it's naturally illuminated by your surrounding light. Unless you're in a dark room, the screen is perfectly visible without a backlight, and it actually tends to be more visible the more light there is. So, whereas a typical screen can be nearly impossible to see under direct sunlight, an E Ink display is still perfectly readable.
That's why these displays are perfect for e-readers and you can look at them for a long time without any of the eye strain an LCD or OLED would cause. And that's why they also belong in a computer setup, if you ask me. E Ink displays do have a major downside, though, in that changing the image on the screen takes much longer than a typical screen, and it can come with some visual "glitches" at times. But I don't think that's enough to detract from their benefits.
An ePaper monitor changed my setup
It's great for work
Most of my work revolves around researching and writing at my computer, so I'm one of those people who looks at screens all day. But most of that work feels pretty static. It's almost always reading and writing text, nothing that requires the screen to be updated multiple times per second. So it doesn't really matter if the screen is slower to update; if I'm using it to write, it's still as responsive as I could want it to be.
My main desktop setup uses a super ultrawide screen, so I can't really change it, but when I'm working on my laptop, I've now replaced my typical second monitor with the Bigme B13 portable monitor, which uses an ePaper display, and I much prefer. I had previously tried to turn my Boox Go e-reader into a second monitor, but the wireless connection and the required app added some delay that made the experience less than ideal.
I say I use the Bigme B13 as my second monitor, but really, when I'm working, it's my primary screen. I put my CMS window on that tab and that's where I'm looking most of the time to write. The laptop screen becomes the second monitor, for keeping up with work messages and the like.
It can't be overstated how much of a difference it makes to use an ePaper screen as your monitor. Because there's no backlight needed, it just feels so much more painless to look at, and my eyes don't get tired nearly as fast. Even though this particular screen isn't as good as it could be (compared to other ePaper panels), the natural contrast of an ePaper display, plus the high resolution, make this screen very easy to read without strain.
Your use case may vary, but there are plenty of situations where an ePaper or E Ink screen can do the job just fine. Whether it's writing or reading, it's a great addition. You can use it for messaging, monitoring a dashboard, or even doing research, as long as you don't need the fastest refresh rates.
There need to be more options
Both portable and for desktops
What's truly upsetting about E Ink monitors is that there just aren't enough of them out there. The Bigme B13 was essentially the only option I could find, and it's baffling to me that there isn't more of a market for this. I'm certainly not surprised that it's a somewhat niche market, but I have to imagine things like 500Hz gaming monitors are also not catering to the masses, yet you have bigger brands making those panels.
Boox tried to make a couple of ePaper monitors under the Mira brand, and Bigme itself also had a desktop model, the Bigme B251, but all of those have seemingly been discontinued, and the ones you can find used are ridiculously expensive. But we've seen these displays on plenty of cheap devices, and Lenovo has even included one on some of its ThinkBook models in previous years, so I'm sure it's possible to get these to be cheaper.
ePaper panels make for excellent additions to a setup, and they can make your computer time much healthier, particularly for work. I don't expect that to appeal to everyone, but considering so many jobs are carried out on a computer, I'm sure there's a market for this that's simply going unaddressed.
E Ink screens are great, but too expensive
As much as I'd like to say you should add an E Ink screen to your setup, considering the only option available starts at around $679, that's just not something I can recommend. But if companies make these screens cheaper and more common, I think the potential for this category is huge. These screens truly make using a computer feel less tiring, and I'm sure plenty of people are interested in that. They just need to exist.
