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What is E Ink’s Kaleido colour tech and how does it work?

If you’re shopping for a new e-reader or e-note device, you may have come across the term ‘Kaleido’ when browsing various specs. 

Kaleido is a display technology created by e-paper pioneer E Ink for use in its colour displays. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the e-reader technology.

What is E Ink’s Kaleido colour tech? 

Kaleido is a colour display technology created by E Ink, the company behind the e-paper (electronic paper) displays commonly found in e-readers and digital signs. 

The display technology is based on E Ink’s existing greyscale displays combined with a plastic colour filter layer. This differentiates Kaleido from E Ink’s glass-filtered Triton displays. 

Kaleido was first announced as “Print Color” in December 2019. As of 2023, the technology is currently in its third generation of Kaleido.

What is E Ink Kaleido 3? 

Kaleido 3 is the latest version of E Ink’s Kaleido colour display technology. The update was announced in April 2023. 

Kaleido 3 delivers richer colours than previous versions of the technology. There are 4096 colours in total along with 16 levels of greyscale, making Kaleido 3 an improved way to present colourful images on e-readers. E Ink also optimised the design of its ePaper module structure with this generation to increase the colour saturation by 30% compared to Kaleido Plus. 

E-readers powered by Kaleido 3 have a black and white resolution of 300ppi and a colour resolution of 150ppi up from 100ppi on the Kaleido Plus. 

Kaleido 3 also supports E Ink’s ComfortGaze front light. This reduces the amount of blue light reflected off the surface of the display to make reading more comfortable on the eyes. To add to this, the ink now supports videos and animations, giving users more options when choosing what to consume on their e-paper devices.

Kaliedo 3 is available in 7.8-inch, 10.3-inch and 13.3-inch panel sizes and can be found in a range of e-readers and e-note devices, as well as in signs and on select smartphones.

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