Friday, September 22nd 2023

BOOX Super Refresh Technology Explained

Reading a mystery novel on an ePaper device, as tension grows, you start flipping through the pages faster and faster to uncover who the murderer is. Second to spoilers, what may bother you could be ghosting—faint traces of previously displayed text lingering on the screen. For most E Ink products, that's a tricky problem. However, after years of study, BOOX came out with a solution—BOOX Super Refresh (BSR) technology.

Challenges Facing the ePaper Industry
In the ePaper industry, the trade-off between display and responsiveness is a long-existing puzzle. And the issue mostly comes down to how electronic ink works. The content you see on the screen is created by up to millions of microcapsules, each roughly the diameter of human hair. Within these microcapsules are charged black and white particles. Depending on varying electrical fields, different particles change positions, becoming either visible or invisible on the top of the capsule, thus forming what you see on the screen.
The root cause behind ghosting and response lag lies in the time it takes for particles to move from one place to another. The more details of an image need to be presented, the more particles need to be moved. Which in turn leads to a longer time for particle movement and greater challenges in precise control of electrical fields.

Owing to those technological hurdles, it's almost unavoidable to encounter faint traces if you turn the pages too fast or consume dynamic content. And lags occur when you switch quickly between different apps or input too many words at one time.
BOOX's Solution: BSR Technology Unveiled
To overcome these industrial challenges, BOOX kept its head down and dove into technical problems. All the efforts transformed into the development of BSR technology.

What is BSR?
BOOX Super Refresh (BSR) is an exclusive technology of BOOX unveiled in 2022 to enhance the refresh performance and image quality of its ePaper products. What's behind this breakthrough is a series of powerful hardware and software incorporated into every Tab series tablet and BOOX's keen insights into users' needs.

Categorize User's Needs
With years of experience catering to all kinds of consumers, BOOX divided activities on ePaper devices into two main categories. The first requires occasional human-machine interaction such as reading, in which you may only tap the screen after tens of seconds, and the content is static. While the second contains frequent human-machine interaction. For instance, when dealing with a complicated assignment, you might need to switch between apps or browse websites with GIFs and videos. Lots of swipes, taps, and scrolls happen in a short period of time.
BSR: Four Refresh Modes
Based on the frequency of human-machine interaction and the dynamism of contents, BSR offers four refresh modes: HD Mode, Balanced Mode, Fast Mode, and Ultrafast Mode:
  • HD Mode is designed for deep reading. You can enjoy incredibly sharp text with the least ghosting, just like reading printed books.
  • Under Balanced Mode, BOOX coordinated demands for clear display and intermittent interaction. Quick screen response is assured when you are skimming books or images.
  • Fast Mode aims at a smooth experience of browsing websites or activities that involve lots of scrolling. Subtle ghosting may occur but responsiveness is enhanced.
  • Ultrafast mode provides the most rapid response to dynamic content. Though some detail would be lost it enables you to watch videos and seamlessly use different apps.
Conclusion
People's needs are diversified. Every user has their unique studying and working habits. This is precisely why BSR was brought out. Underneath swift page-turning and smooth scrolling, every crisp picture and line of words is BOOX's rigorous analysis of the user's intention, coupled with high-performance hardware and software. Through patience and exploration, BOOX stands out and helps our users live a more productive life.
Source: Boox Blog
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1 Comment on BOOX Super Refresh Technology Explained

#1
TechLurker
Semi-related; It's nice to see e-ink really coming into its own. I've already seen some shops using color e-ink as e-signage, and from a distance it really looks like a printed poster compared to a more obvious LCD/LED screen. From what I've read, they also run cooler and don't have the kind of burn-in cheaper e-signs have, and are cheaper to waterproof too, making them viable for outdoor, poster-style adverts. The main sticking point is that color e-ink is still has lower average resolution that b/w e-ink.
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