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  • Off-the-shelf not-miniature E-ink screens with ways to drive them?

    From xwindows@xwindows@tilde.club to tilde.projects on Wed Jul 21 12:10:53 2021
    Hey electronics folks,

    I have several potential projects on my TO-DO list which use E-ink screens
    or similar display technology. But the proliferation of E-readers and lack
    of manufacturer-provided documentations means a way to drive them to display something useful could be still unknown for many models.

    But I vaguely remembered there were few of them that got successfully reverse-engineered out there, but can't remember the models or where
    I found the instruction to drive them.

    So, do you folks know of part numbers of non-small E-ink screens that come
    with proper drive information (or with someone already reverse-engineered
    them with success), preferably ones that are parts of commercial E-readers/tablets? [1]

    If you do, please share the model/part-number (and possibly link
    to the documentation too).

    (Note that I'm not looking for business card-sized screens which are
    sometimes seen in hobbyist projects; I'm looking for ones that are A5
    or larger, aspect ratio does not matter)

    Regards,
    ~xwindows


    [1] Which means they are mass-manufactured, thus cheap; and can be sourced
    from discarded E-readers as well.
    --
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  • From freet@freet@aussies.space (The Free Thinker) to tilde.projects on Thu Jul 22 00:21:50 2021
    xwindows <xwindows@tilde.club> wrote:
    Hey electronics folks,

    I have several potential projects on my TO-DO list which use E-ink screens
    or similar display technology. But the proliferation of E-readers and lack
    of manufacturer-provided documentations means a way to drive them to display something useful could be still unknown for many models.

    But I vaguely remembered there were few of them that got successfully reverse-engineered out there, but can't remember the models or where
    I found the instruction to drive them.

    So, do you folks know of part numbers of non-small E-ink screens that come with proper drive information (or with someone already reverse-engineered them with success), preferably ones that are parts of commercial E-readers/tablets? [1]

    https://hackaday.com/2021/06/21/review-inkplate-6plus/
    "open hardware ESP32 development board that plugs into the e-paper
    displays salvaged from old e-readers"

    If you don't want to buy their board, it's supposed to be
    open-hardware so the project should document somewhere the
    connections and protocol for the display that they're using which
    is from the "first or second generation Kindle Paperwhite".

    Failing that, this kit has open-source software which presumably
    has the code for the screen and a hint as to the model used in it
    somewhere. Probably too small though at 4.2", and not an E-Reader
    part:
    https://docs.thingpulse.com/guides/42-espaper-plus-kit/ https://github.com/ThingPulse/espaper-client

    Possibly also of interest:
    http://fread.ink/ https://hackaday.com/2018/07/25/hope-xii-a-foss-operating-system-for-e-readers/

    What's the project/s, if you don't mind me asking?
    --

    - The Free Thinker | gopher://aussies.space/1/%7efreet/
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