From menu boards and discount offers to promotional advertisements, digital signage has become an essential medium for delivering information in retail spaces. Now, a new display has emerged — one that can show images without a continuous power supply.
On June 8, Samsung Electronics launched the 32-inch Color E-Paper — an ultra-low-power digital signage solution capable of delivering rich, high-quality visuals.
Behind this innovative product lies Samsung’s proprietary Color Imaging Algorithm technology, developed through close collaboration between the Visual Display (VD) Business and Samsung Research at Samsung Electronics.
Samsung Newsroom spoke with two key figures behind its development — Daewoong Cho from the VD Business and Iljun Ahn from Samsung Research — to learn more about the creation of Color E-Paper.
▲ (From left) Iljun Ahn from Samsung Research and Daewoong Cho from the VD Business
Paradigm Shift: Ultra-Slim, Ultra-Light and Ultra Low-Power
The Color E-Paper sets a new benchmark for digital signage — redefining hardware, operational methods and content expressiveness.
The globally released EM32DX model (32-inch) sports an ultra-slim profile, measuring just 8.6 millimeters at its thinnest point, and boasts a lightweight structure, weighing only 2.5 kilograms with the battery.
▲ Daewoong Cho from the VD Business
“We designed the device to be ultra-slim and ultra-light so that it can be installed easily, even in tight spaces,” said Cho, who led Color E-Paper’s hardware development. “This versatility means it can serve as a menu board at a café entrance or be mounted on a wall to function as a seasonal, emotionally resonant interior display.”
One of the biggest advantages of the Color E-Paper is its ultra-low power consumption, as it draws 0.00W[1] while displaying a static image. This allows content to remain visible for extended periods on battery power alone, significantly reducing energy usage in retail environments. Changing the display image requires only a minimal amount of power as well. In addition, as part of Samsung’s commitment to sustainability, the product incorporates recycled plastics in its exterior and comes in eco-friendly packaging.
▲ Content for the Color E-Paper can be easily created, replaced and managed through the Samsung VXT platform.
Samsung VXT enhances the Color E-Paper experience with content visibility optimization, a preview function that ensures color accuracy before deployment, and other convenient features.
A Display That Runs Without a Continuous Power Supply
The secret behind the Color E-Paper’s ultra-low power consumption is its distinctive method of displaying images.
▲ Iljun Ahn from Samsung Research
“While conventional LCD signage uses a backlight to illuminate images, the Color E-Paper arranges six colors of digital ink in precise locations — just like printing on paper,” said Ahn, who participated in developing the product’s image enhancement technology. “This is also what gives the display its eye-friendly visual texture.”
The display consists of millions of microcups, each containing four colored ink particles (red, yellow, white and blue). When an electrical signal is applied to each cup, the designated ink particles rise to the surface to produce six colors.
“This process closely resembles the printing principle by which ink adheres to paper,” Ahn explained. “Once an image is formed, it can be semi-permanently retained without any further power consumption.”
Rich Images With Just Six Colors Through Samsung’s Proprietary Technology
The Color E-Paper’s strengths go far beyond power efficiency. The product can reproduce vibrant, natural hues using only six colors thanks to Samsung Electronics’ independently developed Color Imaging Algorithm.
“Conventional products had limitations in accurately reproducing input colors, and issues such as distortion and noise occurred in flat or edge areas of images. A solution was needed to overcome these challenges, so the VD Business and Samsung Research joined forces to come up with one,” said Ahn.
The starting point for developing the Color Imaging Algorithm, which enhances both color expressiveness and visibility, was the Human Visual System (HVS). The algorithm was built around a key aspect of human vision: the eye perceives the average color across a certain region, rather than focusing on the colors of individual pixels.
“By leveraging this trait, it’s possible to create the perception of different colors by naturally combining the six colors. The key lies in optimizing the ratio and arrangement of those combinations to avoid any color distortion,” Ahn added.
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