Active Matrix EPD

SEIKO unveiled at Baselworld 2005 the world.s first .Electronic Ink. or EPD watch, which offered an entirely new kind of display which was ultra-thin, high contrast, and which allowed much higher visibility from a much wider angle (almost 180 degrees). It excited great interest and won a prize at the ¡°Grand Prix d.Horlogerie de Geneve 2006¡±.Having made further R&D in this exciting new technology, SEIKO again attracts huge interest from watch enthusiasts, journalists and industry experts alike with its clear, high-resolution screen that realizes innovative and very detailed graphics.SEIKO is the first and only company to be able to harness Active Matrix EPD technology in a watch. Its display is strikingly clear. Each item of information is three times finer than anything achievable via conventional LCD watch technology and the system allows figures, text and graphics to appear on the screen in a much smoother and infinitely programmable way.Thanks to its 300 dpi screen resolution with 72,000 pixels, each capable of displaying in one of four grey scale shades, the new generation EPD watch offers five different styles of time display, all of which are custom-designed by SEIKO. In the world time mode, the newly designed screen shows time, calendar, the name of a designated city and the time difference from UTC as well as a second local time, its geographical location shown on the globe. The first and second local times can be inverted instantly.The watch is radio wave controlled to keep telling as ultimately accurate time as an atomic clock. It can automatically detect and receive the signal of standard time that five stations across the globe are transmitting, even when the watch is in power-saving mode. The signal can be received manually when necessary. The status as well as result of reception is shown graphically on the high-resolution screen.While it is powered by a self-recharging solar cell, requiring no battery replacement, this watch consumes just 1/100th of the power needed to run a same sized display using the current e-Book technology. The key to this achievement lies in SEIKO.s expertise in IC and other hi-tech electronics, including a TFT to control the signals to the display, an EPD driver to maximize the potential of E-ink technology, etc.Another world.s first watch from SEIKO demonstrates the future of digital time.