It's been a while since the latest flurry of announcements, so I can't remember the details, but I'm left with the impression that English press release emphasis the application (display) and not the underlying hardware (LCD).

devlib.org says "have jointly announced that they have built a 10.1 inch flexible electronic paper display (which is a fancy term for a flexible LCD panel)." ⇐ Bad translation from the Japanese? Why not the usual verbosity: "announced that they successfully developed"?

See:

arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20030509-292.html

http://www.cnet.com.au/desktops/monitors/0,39029422,40001903...

www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1:120144923/ Sharp+to+commercialise+paper-thin+LCD~R~(Products).html?refid=SEO

etc.

HTH :)

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Note added at 11 mins (2006-04-14 14:58:59 GMT)
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Or just: Paper thin Liquid Crystal

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Note added at 7 hrs (2006-04-14 22:26:48 GMT)
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"Flexible LCD (screen)" seems more up-to-date way to call it.

See:

http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/07/fujitsus-flexible-lcd-scr...

HTH ;)

Paper thin LCD screens are almost here
I ask you, fellow Arsians, who doesn't desire to roll up their LCD and stick it in their back pocket? Oh yeah. Nature.com has the exclusive with photos, and the original paper. Scientific American and Wired both have a bit of interesting coverage as well. A hearty thanks to TheZy for sending this in to me.

I love reporting on scientific breakthroughs that we've all been waiting for! True, the prototypes are still too thick to truly be a paper replacement, but E-Ink is working on that. Improving the LCD response time is also on the slate, as is adapting a wireless interface for the screen.

If you're really interested in reading up on the future of digital paper replacements; Scientific America has a great feature article on the subject.
The real excitement of paper replacement lies not in the bare technology, but in the millions of implementations. I can't wait to see this in action.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20030509-292.html



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Note added at 17 mins (2006-04-14 15:05:02 GMT)
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そしてNHKのブースで、初めてペーパー液晶の実機を見ました。ホントに薄っ！でもしっかり映像は映ってます。筒状に巻いて持ち運べるそうです。いやぁ、改めてNHKすごいなぁと。
http://yaplog.jp/takemag/category_26/

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Note added at 10 hrs (2006-04-15 01:15:28 GMT)
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映画『レッドプラネット』に応用例が登場していました。
多分紙状の液晶はelectronioc paperでそれを応用したスクリーン／ディスプレイがpaper thin LCDという使い分けだとおもいます。

http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/0401/27/news006.html


Electrowetting Allows Video Images for Electronic Paper


Research into developing reliable electronic paper has been going on for some time, but until now images - especially in colour ﾐ have been disappointingly dull. The response speed of the pixels in electrophoretic displays has also been slow, making video content and animations sluggish viewing.

Electrowetting, a process developed by Robert Hayes and Johan Feenstra of Philips Research Eindhoven, has now been enhanced to form a reflective display that is much faster than electrophoretic displays. The display has a coloured oil film next to a white substrate. The film is reversibly controlled via DC voltage control, and the colours achieved are four times brighter than reflective liquid crystal displays, and twice as bright as other emerging technologies.

The two-dimensional microfluidic motion uses a white reflector that is integrated into an optical stack. The reflector is formed as a white polymer foil with a thin electrode layer of indium tin oxide and a fluoropolymer insulator. The oil film is contained using a thin film fabrication procedure. ﾔA black or transparent polymer sheet, typically 50ｵm thick, is laser cut to provide the required pixel sizes and patterns. It is then glued onto the insulator-covered substrate with a low viscosity two-part epoxy. Liquids are dosed and the test cells are sealed with an ITO-covered glass slide,ﾕ says Hayes and Feenstra.
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=2400