Viewing Distance
The fill factor of a Magink display (area of active display relative to the display as a whole) is very high at >90% – most of the display area is active in providing an image. Thus, there are no significant dark areas between active areas of the display – this is most important in reflective displays. This high fill factor also means that the viewing distance can be quite small before the picture breaks up and becomes pixilated. In still image mode the display looks good from 8-100 m, with the ideal viewing distance being between 10-50 m. Magink display images are thus far superior to technologies exhibiting a low fill factor with the same pixel resolution that become pixilated long before this. In video mode the minimum viewing distance is about 6 m.

Pixel Size
Our current pixel size is 9 mm. Each tile is 18 x 18 pixels and the image is defined by the total number of pixels in any given display.

Temperature Range
Temperature range of the Magink display is between -20°C and 50°C on the panel. In outdoor displays cooling is provided, and in low outdoor temperatures there is no need to heat the panels. In cooler outdoor temperatures, the speed of image change slows a little, but the image quality is unaffected. The speed of image change for static images is about <170ms at 15-30°C. The video mode is typically used for indoor applications, where temperature ranges between 15-40°C.

Location and Lighting
The lighting of reflective displays is critical – they simply reflect what ambient light is available. So whereas they are less suitable for shady or dark areas, they are ideal in well-lit locations and particularly fit well in very bright direct or (even better) diffuse sunlight. At night, front lighting (not backlighting) is used – exactly like traditional paper displays.

Image Rendition
The color space of a Magink display is different to the color space of, for example, a printer. In order to provide high-quality, realistic and pleasing images, an automatic profile system converts incoming images into the Magink color space, thus making the image on the display as close to the original as possible. A soft-proof system also allows the user to see on a monitor what the image will look like on the display prior to its actual appearance there.

Modes of Operation
Magink displays can operate in static mode, characterized by high-quality color images with high contrast in which an image is changed in about 150msec at a temperature of 20°C. Magink displays also work in video mode, where video images are shown at 60 frames per second; this is best operated at temperatures of 15-40°C and optimally at about 20-30°C. Video mode is typically used for indoor applications.

Modularity
The displays are assembled into modules that consist of a 3 x 3 panel array. Each module is approximately 20" x 20" and in metric measurements 51 x 51cm. These can be configured into any size and shape based on a module building block.

Color
Full color is achieved by having three layers of liquid crystal – red, green, and blue –between sheets of glass. The distinct advantage of having three layers of liquid crystal is that if, for example, a red color is required, all the pixels in that area will be red – displaying almost 100% of the area as red. In conventional displays, only 33% of the area would be red while the remainder would be black. The three-layer system clearly provides a much brighter color than would be the case in normal displays.  The color gamut is very large for a reflective digital display.

Power
The bi-stable nature of the display leads to the potential for low power usage; in principle, the display only needs power when the image has to change. As with any bi-stable display, this situation becomes most advantageous when the number of image changes is minimal, with long intervals between changes. In this situation, the activating electronics can be reduced between changes, thus conserving power. In liquid crystal displays, the image change itself consumes very little extra power compared to keeping the electronics active. In situations where images change more frequently, the bi-stable nature of the display is less effective at reducing power budgets, since these are dominated by the efficiency of the electronics accepting incoming images and converting them to driving signals that activate the display.